After the end of the ninth and final series of Lewis Whately announced he was to retire from acting after playing Lewis on and off for 28 years. Whately was the patron of the Central School of Speech and Drama Full House Theatre Company for 2011. Whately lives in Woburn Sands near Milton Keynes with his wife actress Madelaine Newton, who starred in the 1970s BBC drama "When the Boat Comes In". Madelaine starred as Morse's love interest in the Inspector Morse episode entitled "Masonic Mysteries" (1990; series 4, episode 4). Whately enjoys rock music and plays the guitar; he has cited Pink Floyd and Dire Straits as bands he has particularly enjoyed. He is a fan of Newcastle United on the football field, but says that he prefers rugby league, and as a cricketer admitted to "Inspector Morse" writer Colin Dexter that he would like to have played cricket professionally for England. Dexter devised the storyline for the "Inspector Morse" episode "Deceived by Flight" (1989; series 3, episode 3) in which Sergeant Lewis had to go undercover in a cricket team to investigate drug smuggling. In August 2014, Whately was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to "The Guardian" expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's independence referendum.