This Sunday night at 8 p.m. KUED debuts the third season of Inspector Lewis, a British detective series that as a sequel to the still much missed Inspector Morse, in many ways more than ably fills its substantial shoes.---

Morse was a 1980s British classic starring John Thaw as an irascible and overly erudite, opera and beer loving cop whose lengthy investigations inevitably made life hell for his subordinate, Sgt. Lewis, played by Kevin Whately.

Morse was killed off in a final episode, but in 2006 a pilot introduced Whateley as Inspector Lewis with a new sidekick, DS Hathaway, played by the urbane and darkly humorous Laurence Fox.

Set in Oxford, the gloriously cranky conflicts of class and entitlement that leant so much fuel to Morse are more than adequately present in Inspector Lewis. Hathaway also brings a certain melancholic air to the proceedings, not to mention a dab hand in seemingly innocently riling up his boss' class-driven insecurities.

The third season opener, 'Counter Culture Blues,'  features the unique pleasures of Joanna Lumley of Absolutely Fabulous fame as an aging, mysterious rock star.