Sergeant Lewis

Robert Lewis
Kevin Whately as Robbie Lewis in Oxford, August 2015
First appearance	Last Bus to Woodstock, 1975 novel The Dead of Jericho, 1987 TV
Last appearance	What Lies Tangled , 2015 TV
Portrayed by	Kevin Whately (Television) (1987-2015) Christopher Douglas (BBC Radio) (1985) Robert Glenister (BBC Radio) (1992-96) Lee Ingleby (BBC Radio) (2017) Andrew Bone (stage)
Information
Aliases	Robbie, Rob, Bertie
Gender	Male
Occupation	Police Detective in Thames Valley Police/Oxfordshire Police CID
Title	Detective Sergeant (novels, Morse) Detective Inspector (Lewis)
Spouse(s)	Valerie (deceased)
Children	2; Lyn and Patrick
Nationality	British

Detective Sergeant/Detective Inspector Robert "Robbie" Lewis is a fictional character in the Inspector Morse crime novels by Colin Dexter. The "sidekick" to Morse, Lewis is a Detective Sergeant in the Thames Valley Police, and appears in all 13 Morse novels. In the television adaptation, Inspector Morse, he is played by Kevin Whately. Following the conclusion of the series, Whately reprised the role as the lead character in Lewis, in which the character has been promoted to Inspector.

Lewis is a sergeant on the staff of the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England, and in Inspector Morse is assistant to the eponymous Detective Chief Inspector Morse. Although Lewis's given name is Robert (Robbie), he was rarely referred to as anything but "Sergeant Lewis" or "Lewis."

The background and personality of Lewis – a working class, easygoing family man with a Geordie accent (in the TV series; he is Welsh in the novels) – is frequently contrasted with that of Morse – Oxford educated, RP-accented, lifetime bachelor. Morse frequently uses these differences to insult or demean Lewis, perhaps from Morse's point of view in a playful manner, but Lewis is often not amused by the jabs. In his frustration, Lewis is often more in step with their joint superior Chief Superintendent Strange, himself an evident supporter of Lewis; however, despite a great respect towards Strange, Lewis is always unflinchingly loyal to Morse and follows his lead.

One notable difference between the Lewis from the novels and Whately's portrayal is that Lewis in the novels is an older man in his early sixties. When Whately auditioned for the role and then learned this fact, he considered it unlikely that he would get the part. However, Colin Dexter has consistently stated that the younger Lewis is an improvement on the character he originally created, and that if he could start the novels afresh he would begin with Lewis as he is seen in the television adaptation.