Endeavour (TV series)
Endeavour is a British television detective drama series. It is a prequel to the long-running Inspector Morse and, like that series, is set primarily in Oxford. Shaun Evans portrays the young Endeavour Morse beginning his career as a detective constable, and later as a detective sergeant, with the Oxford City Police CID.
After a pilot episode in 2012, the first series was broadcast in 2013, and five more series have followed, with the exception of 2015. The fifth series with six episodes was set in 1968, and the sixth series picked up eight months later, set in 1969. Series seven, set in 1970, began screening in February 2020, with the first episode scheduled to be shown in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theatre on August 9th.
In August 2019, ITV announced that the series has been recommissioned for an eighth series.
Plot
Set in the 1960s & '70s in Oxford, England, the series centres on the early career of Endeavour Morse after he has left Lonsdale College of Oxford University late in his third year without taking a degree, spent a short time in the Royal Corps of Signals as a cipher clerk, and then joined the Carshall-Newtown Police.Pilot (2012)
In the pilot episode, having been transferred to CID after only two years as a uniformed police constable, the young DC Morse soon becomes disillusioned with law enforcement and begins writing a resignation letter. Before he can resign, Morse is sent with other detectives from the Carshall-Newtown Police to the Oxford City Police's Cowley Police Station to assist in investigating the case of a missing fifteen-year-old schoolgirl.Having studied at Oxford gives Morse advantages and disadvantages when dealing with Oxford's "town and gown" divide. During the pilot episode, he tenders his resignation but his superior, veteran Detective Inspector Fred Thursday, the "guv" at the Oxford City Police's CID, sees in him an unblemished detective whom he can trust and takes him under his wing to be his new "bag man", replacing a corrupt detective sergeant.
Series 1 (2013)
Series 1 begins with Morse transferring to the Oxford City Police in 1965 following a double-murder investigation that took place during the pilot episode. Morse is taken under the wing of Inspector Thursday. Thursday names Morse his designated "bag man" and shows him the ropes as Morse begins to solve a string of complex multiple-murders, much to the envy and annoyance of some of his superiors, particularly Detective Sergeant Jakes and Chief Superintendent Bright. Morse displays his obvious genius in solving intricate murders, including several with opera connections. Thursday and fellow-Constable Strange try to steer the young Morse into taking his sergeant's exam, so that he may be relieved of "general duties" and become Thursday's official "bag man". In the last episode of the series, Morse is shot while attempting to apprehend a murderer and is placed on light duties. At the same time, he comes to terms with the December 1965 death of his cold, unfeeling father.Series 2 (2014)
Series 2 begins in 1966 with Morse returning to active duty at Cowley police station, after spending several months on light duty at Oxfordshire Police's Witney station, under the direction of DI Bart Church. Morse is received warmly by Ch Supt Bright and DS Jakes, as DI Thursday begins to keep a more watchful eye on him. As a delayed result of being shot, Morse begins to suffer from stress, and paranoia and increases his alcohol consumption. Despite making several mistakes in the investigation, Morse solves the case, impressing his superiors. During the investigation he suffers concussion after being struck over the head and is cared for by his nurse neighbour, Monica Hicks, in whom he takes an interest. At the same time, PC Strange enters into Freemasonry with many of Oxford's elite, and DI Thursday's daughter, Joan, begins to take an interest in Endeavour. During the course of several cases, pieces of circumstantial evidence go missing, and a murder suspect threatens Morse by claiming association with powerful men who will not take kindly to interference.In the final episode, the looming merger of city and county police and misgivings about corruption lead Thursday to consider retirement, in response to strong hints from Ch Supt Bright about age and health. Disheartened by this, Morse speculates to Monica about leaving the police and going abroad with her. Assistant Chief Constable Clive Deare asks Thursday and Morse to investigate corruption within the police and council covertly. Morse is sent to a rendezvous where he is ambushed by corrupt officers and Thursday is lured to Blenheim Vale, a derelict former wayward boys home, where there was rampant sexual and physical abuse. Morse escapes the ambush and goes to support Thursday, who is shot by Deare, a participant in the abuse at Blenheim Vale. Deare tells Morse he has framed him for the murder of Chief Constable Rupert Standish. Deare is about to kill Morse when he is shot dead by a girl who had also been abused at Blenheim Vale, who then kills herself. Bright and Strange arrive with backup and an ambulance. As Thursday is being loaded into an ambulance, Morse is arrested by officers from another force for the murder of Standish.
Series 3 (2016)
Series 3 begins in spring 1967. Morse is cleared of the murder of Chief Constable Standish and the records in the case of Blenheim Vale are sealed for 50 years. DI Thursday is discharged from hospital, but the bullet could not be removed and has resulted in recurring coughs. Monica has come to realise that she and Morse have gone their separate ways. Strange is promoted to sergeant and Morse considers his future after his time on remand but, with Thursday's encouragement, Morse returns to active duty investigating a murder following a disappearance at a funfair on Cowley Green. After solving a faked kidnapping and tainted fruit being sold at a local supermarket, DS Jakes survives a time-bomb, retires from the force and leaves Oxford. WPC Shirley Trewlove joins the station, to the obvious delight of Chief Superintendent Bright. Strange takes Jakes's place as detective sergeant but assures Morse that they are still friends even though he is now his superior. Thursday shows frequent signs of outbursts against suspects unwilling to co-operate during the investigations, and even uses violence as a way of extracting information. Although Morse is unsure about becoming a sergeant, Thursday assures him he is more fitted to be an inspector.In the final episode, Morse finally sits his sergeant's exam and completes his paper well within the time allowed. An armed robbery takes place at a bank where Joan Thursday works and the armed robbers are trapped along with Morse during an investigation into a killing and payroll robbery. After the robbers are arrested, Joan, emotionally affected by the ordeal, leaves Oxford despite encouragement from Morse to stay. Realising that Joan has gone, Thursday encounters Morse outside his house and figures that he saw Joan leave.
Series 4 (2017)
Series 4 covers summer to autumn 1967. Joan Thursday is still away and Morse learns that his sergeant's exam paper went "missing", which meant automatic failure. Bright finds out that Morse's exam paper was the only one missing and suggests to him that some of his enemies might be sabotaging his career. After solving another complex murder case, Morse refuses to be affected by failing his sergeant's exam and stays in Oxford. He locates Joan in Leamington Spa, in a relationship with a married man. She declines Morse's offer to return to Oxford, and he agrees not to tell her father where she is.In the final episode, Morse gets a job offer in London and considers leaving Oxford. DI Thursday discovers Morse's note of Joan's address. He also pays her a visit and confronts her lover. When she is hit and kicked out by her boyfriend, Joan visits Morse. He asks her to marry him, which she refuses, and he lends her some money as she does not want to return home. Later, Morse gets a phone call to tell him that Joan is in hospital. He finds out from a doctor that she has fallen and has had a miscarriage. After averting disaster at a nuclear power plant, Thursday is promoted to the rank of chief inspector and Morse is promoted to detective sergeant. They are both awarded the George Medal for their actions.
Series 5 (2018)
Between April and November 1968, various investigations continue during the creation of Thames Valley Constabulary from the city and county police forces. The future of Cowley police station is in question, along with those of some of the key members of the team there. Morse, now a DS, is assigned with a new DC, George Fancy, and becomes annoyed with his lack of focus initially. Joan is back in town and occasionally bumps into Morse around Oxford. DCI Thursday's plans for retirement hang in the balance.The final episode, with the gang rivalry looming all over town, includes the death of DC George Fancy and the departure of WPC Shirley Trewlove to Scotland Yard, while the rest come to terms with the death and the closure of the Cowley Station. The series concludes with Morse asking Joan Thursday if her offer to go for coffee was still open. In the last scene, they look at one another before Joan responds.
Series 6 (2019)
Series six starts in July 1969, eight months after the end of series five, with Morse sporting a moustache for the first time. Bright, now assigned to Traffic Division, appears in a road safety film and becomes known to locals as the "Pelican Man". Thursday has been demoted to Detective Inspector and now works at Castle Gate Police Station, where he is joined by Morse and Strange. Castle Gate is run by former adversaries DCI Ronnie Box and DS Alan Jago who frequently abuse their authority and mistreat suspects and younger officers and take credit for Morse's work. Thursday secretly does not like them either but reminds Morse to mind how he goes. It is revealed that Joan declined Morse's offer for coffee and stated any relationship with him could never work. However, they are thrown together during a missing person case. Thursday, Morse and Bright eventually discover that Box and Jago are involved in police corruption. After Box takes Thursday to meet some of Box's powerful and corrupt superiors, Thursday punches Box for his part in the corruption. DeBryn is kidnapped and held hostage at a factory site, where Morse, Thursday, Strange and Bright confront the corrupt officers. Jago admits that he murdered George Fancy with Box's gun. During the confrontation, Box and Jago shoot each other. Jago dies and Box is rushed to hospital. Bright announces his transfer out of Traffic and assumes command of Castle Gate with Thursday as acting DCI and DS Strange and DS Morse.Series 7 (2020)
The series takes place in 1970.Episodes
Cast
| Actor | Character | Duration | Position |
| Shaun Evans | Inspector Endeavour Morse | Pilot, Series 1–present | Detective Sergeant , Oxford City Police CID, Cowley Police Station. Thames Valley Police CID, Castle Gate Police Station. |
| Roger Allam | Fred Thursday | Pilot, Series 1–present | Detective Inspector , Oxford City Police CID, Cowley Police Station. Thames Valley Police CID, Castle Gate Police Station. |
| Anton Lesser | Reginald Bright | Series 1–present | Police Chief Superintendent, Oxford City Police, Cowley Police Station. Thames Valley Police CID, Castle Gate Police Station. |
| Jack Laskey | Peter Jakes | Series 1–3 | Detective Sergeant, Oxford City Police CID, Cowley Police Station. |
| Sean Rigby | Jim Strange | Series 1–present | Detective Sergeant, Oxford City Police CID, Cowley Police Station. Thames Valley Police CID, Castle Gate Police Station. |
| James Bradshaw | Dr. Max DeBryn | Pilot, series 1–present | Home Office Pathologist. |
| Abigail Thaw | Dorothea Frazil | Pilot, series 1–present | Editor, Oxford Mail newspaper. |
| Caroline O'Neill | Winifred Thursday | Series 1–present | Inspector Thursday's wife. |
| Sara Vickers | Joan Thursday | Series 1–6 | Inspector Thursday's daughter. |
| Jack Bannon | Sam Thursday | Series 1–3 & 5 | Inspector Thursday's son. |
| Shvorne Marks | Monica Hicks | Series 2–4 | Morse's neighbour, a nurse with whom he slowly enters into a relationship. |
| Simon Kunz | Bart Church | Series 2 | Detective Inspector, Oxfordshire Police CID, Witney Police Station. |
| Dakota Blue Richards | Shirley Trewlove | Series 3–5 | Woman Police Constable, Oxford City Police, Cowley Police Station. |
| Lewis Peek | George Fancy | Series 5 | Detective Constable, Oxford City Police CID, Cowley Police Station. |
| Phil Daniels | Charlie Thursday | Series 5 | Inspector Thursday's brother. |
| Claire Ganaye | Claudine | Series 5 | Morse's girlfriend, a French photographer and photojournalist. |
| Simon Harrison | Ronnie Box | Series 5 & 6 | Detective Chief Inspector , Thames Valley Police CID, Castle Gate Police Station. |
| Richard Riddell | Alan Jago | Series 6 | Detective Sergeant, Thames Valley Police CID, Castle Gate Police Station. |
| Alison Newman | Viv Wall | Series 6 | Joan Thursday's boss, social services manager. |
Production
ITV broadcast a television film in the UK on 2 January 2012; in the United States, PBS aired it on 1 July 2012. It starred Shaun Evans as the eponymous police detective in his early career. Abigail Thaw, daughter of the original Morse actor John Thaw, played the part of Dorothea Frazil in a scene at the Oxford Mail newspaper.ITV commissioned a first series of four new episodes, filmed during summer 2012, and broadcast them from 14 April to 5 May 2013.
It was announced on 5 June 2013 that, due to the success of series 1, including consistently high ratings, ITV had commissioned a second series of four episodes. Filming commenced in Oxford in September 2013. On 24 September 2014, ITV confirmed that a third series of Endeavour had been ordered.
Before that third series of Endeavour was screened on ITV, Evans told the Oxford Mail, "It's not like we have a six-year contract, there's none of that. It's day by day, year by year. I think this one is really good. We'll know when it airs if there's an audience for it and if we feel there's another place to take these characters."
In February 2016, ITV announced that a fourth series of Endeavour had been commissioned, which Roger Allam confirmed to the Oxford Mail, with filming to begin in late spring 2016. To mark the 30th anniversary of Morse on television, the series features several early Morse characters and cameos by actors from the original series. The fourth series debuted on 8 January 2017, and the fifth series began on 4 February 2018. The sixth series was shot during 2018 and premiered on 10 February 2019 in the UK. There were four episodes.
The seventh series of the show continues on Sunday 9 February at 8pm on ITV. There are 3 episodes. The eighth series of the critically acclaimed detective drama has been commissioned by ITV for 2021.
Home media
A region 2 DVD of the pilot at 89 minutes long was released on 9 January 2012, but, as reviewers on Amazon.co.uk have noted, does not contain the full show and many scenes aired on ITV have been cut out. A complete edition running at 98 minutes was released on 26 January 2012.Series 1 was released on DVD on 6 May 2013, Series 2 on 5 May 2014, Series 3 on 1 February 2016, and Series 4 on 30 January 2017.
Reception
Noting that the series received upwards of 6.5 million viewers, Mark Sweeny writing in The Guardian stated that any decision to commission a subsequent series should be easy. Upon its US premiere, Los Angeles Times critic Robert Lloyd called it a "suitably complicated and pictorially engaging work of period suburban mystery."Critics have been generally favourable, though even positive reviews have commented that the show's murder-mystery plots are occasionally unsatisfying convoluted puzzles or come to a "rushed, melodramatic and fairly preposterous conclusion."