| Endeavour | |
|---|---|
Endeavour Morse |
|
| Also known as | Detective Constable Morse |
| Format | Crime drama |
| Created by | Russell Lewis |
| Written by | Russell Lewis based on characters created by Colin Dexter |
| Directed by | Colm McCarthy |
| Starring | Shaun Evans Roger Allam Patrick Malahide |
| Composer(s) | Barrington Pheloung |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Michelle Buck Damien Timmer (Mammoth) Rebecca Eaton (Masterpiece) |
| Producer(s) | Dan McCulloch |
| Location(s) | Oxford, England |
| Cinematography | Gavin Struthers |
| Running time | 85-90 mins |
| Production company(s) | Mammoth Screen Masterpiece co-production for ITV Studios |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV (ITV1/STV/UTV) (also ITV1 HD/STV HD/UTV HD) |
| Original run | 2 January 2012 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Inspector Morse |
| External links | |
| Production website | |
Endeavour is a one-off British television detective drama set as a prequel to the long-running television adaption of the Inspector Morse novels by Colin Dexter, and made with the author's collaboration. It was first broadcast on 2 January 2012, starring Shaun Evans as the eponymous Police detective in his early career [1].
Contents |
Set in 1965, the plot centres around the murder of a 15 year old schoolgirl and the apparent suicide of her boyfriend.
After being sent down from an Oxford college and a short time in the Royal Signals Corps, Morse has joined the police. At the opening of the episode, he is disillusioned with the police and is writing a resignation letter. He is seconded from Carshaw New Town police with a number of other detectives to the Oxford City police as a junior member of a team of detectives.
The investigation leads to sex parties where under-age girls are procured for politicians, businessmen, Oxford dons, and policemen which in particular make the sifting of evidence very difficult. Morse was a student at Oxford University, which gives him an advantage and disadvantage from an insular Oxon system, but initially arrives at a wrong conclusion.
At one point, he tenders the pre-written resignation letter. However, the Inspector in charge, Fred Thursday, recognising he is a detective he can trust, takes him under his wing. Thursday is determined to break the case and bring it to a successful conclusion together with Morse.
A number of acknowledgements were made towards Morse's later life.
Max de Bryn, who featured as the Home Office pathologist until his retirement and death in the later Inspector Morse series is introduced at a death scene. At this point, Morse's horror at the sight of blood is indicated, which is emphasized when he faints during a post mortem procedure.
Initially, Morse states that he abstains from alcohol. Following his fainting, however, Fred Thursday inveigles him to drink a glass of real ale (Morse's creator Colin Dexter appears in the background), after which Morse is shown drinking at several points before the close.
In the closing moments when asked about his future in twenty years Endeavour looks in the rear view mirror and sees the face of John Thaw.
A red Jaguar Mark 2 car with the registration 248 RPA is shown prominently at a car showroom, attracting interest from Morse - this was to become Morse's actual car in the original series.
The original television series had been noted for including actors who previously had appeared in other roles.
In the television adaptation of Death Is Now My Neighbour, Roger Allam played a murder suspect, Denis Cornford. In Endeavour, he played Fred Thursday.
In the television episode, Driven to Distraction, Patrick Malahide played a sexually oleaginous car salesman, Jeremy Boynton. In Endeavour, he played a sexually oleaginous Government minister and Oxford MP, Roger Lovell.
In discussing the plot piece of sex parties attended by members of municipal and political bodies in Morse's universe, reference was made to a recent politically catastrophic scandal at Cliveden. This corresponds with the Profumo Scandal which broke in 1963.
Lovell also refers to a "Harold" who is indicated to be the Prime Minister: in 1965 the Prime Minister was Harold Wilson.
Abigail Thaw, daughter of John Thaw, plays the part of Dorothea Frazil in the scene at the Oxford Mail.
Noting that upwards of 6.5m viewers were received,[2] Mark Sweeny writing in The Guardian stated that any decision to commission a subsequent series should be easy.
The region 2 DVD of this film will be released on 9 January 2012.[3]