#clare holman

Alphabetical Reasons to Love Lewis, Day 8

Laura Hobson is the second pathologist character created by Colin Dexter for his Morse novels; the character was reprised in the televised series starting in 1995 and is played by the exquisite Clare Holman.  Her witty repartee and passion for the job place her scenes among the best in any episode of Morse or Lewis.  The perpetually lovelorn Morse met many a nubile female that I like to call collectively “Morsenip” (catnip for Morse).  Hobson first appears in the novel the Way Through the Woods, taking over for Max DeBryn when he dies of a heart attack during an investigation.  She is the classic Morsenip- a professional, intelligent music lover who sasses him and seems unattainable.  But in the novel, Morse does finally score with someone, possibly Dr Hobson.  Colin Dexter only uses the pronoun ‘she,’ leaving us guessing if it was Hobson or another woman of interest.  In the TV version of the WTTW, Hobson remains unattainable as she is going out with the annoying DCI Johnson.  True to Morsenip form though, Hobson eventually comes around, but by the time she starts flirting with Morse several years later, Morse is in a comfortable relationship with Adele Cecil.    

Hobson finally meets her match in Lewis, of course.  Sure, the cop/pathologist romance seems like a trope, but Hobson and Lewis are unique because they were never supposed to be together.  There is a realism between these two characters that you don’t see in other scripted relationships.  They were two totally different people who wanted different things from life, yet they somehow found themselves along the same path as they got older.  Their attraction took years to amount to anything as Lewis felt like it was a betrayal to his dead wife.  Hobson for her part didn’t wait around for Lewis; she dated throughout the series, much to Lewis’ dismay.  But it was an interesting journey, and we gradually got to learn more about her- clarinet, Sagittarius, favourite colour blue- not to mention her flatmates from her college days whose betrayal got her nearly buried alive.  She is resilient and made it clear that she does not need a man in her life, but when Lewis finally opened his heart to her, she did not hesitate to let the world know.