You Should Be Watching ‘Endeavour’

Written by Rosie O’Neill

The 1960’s Oxford-set detective drama stars Shaun Evans as the young Endeavour Morse, a prequel to the original Morse series and its later follow-up series, Lewis. Endeavour follows the young police constable as he finds his first posting in Oxford, rubbing most of his colleagues up the wrong way (initially at least, most of them learn to love him) as he solves cases with his own unmistakable brand of stubbornness and unconventionally academic background.

It’s a fairly quiet show, lacking the hype and big cult-following that dramas like Line of Duty or The Missing have enjoyed, but it really is a bit of a gem. A rarity in a spin-off, it’s possibly better than the original Morse series and almost definitely better than Lewis.

With the seventh series recently airing on ITV, now is a great time to get caught up on the show if you’ve never seen it before. Depending on where you are, you can catch the full collection of episodes on the ITV Hub or find the box sets on Amazon.

The Storytelling

With each season consisting of between three to six 2-hour episodes, there’s plenty to get stuck into. A single murder case typically spans a whole episode, but is usually two or three seemingly unrelated cases tied together. It’s a great format, giving viewers a really satisfying mystery that’s both enjoyable to follow and not too easy to guess at.

As with most detective dramas, there are plenty of red herrings along the way to solving each murder, but it’s worth bearing in mind that Endeavour is efficient with its clues. Pay attention to the details because this show doesn’t do throw-away dialogue or scenes.

What Endeavour really excels at is the series arc. Multiple subplots are skilfully woven together for the major characters, building up to an exciting series climax and putting in the work when it comes to character development.

The Characters and The Acting

Every great detective show features a memorable partnership, and Endeavour is no stranger to this. Morse partners with the practical, no-nonsense DI Fred Thursday (played by Roger Allam), and the relationship that grows between them is lovely to watch. Morse can be difficult to get on with at first, but with Thursday’s experience and guidance he becomes a more mature and respected member of the team.

There are some wonderfully tender, understated moments between the two of them and it’s a credit to the characters (and the actors) that the scenes in which they argue are genuinely upsetting to watch.

The acting in this show is truly a joy to watch. The main characters are so natural and watchable, the scenes with Caroline O’Neill and Roger Allam (Win and Fred Thursday), in particular, practically sparkle, lending their marriage and family life some beautiful authenticity.

The other series regulars are also brilliant, Anton Lesser as the stuffy but lovable Chief Superintendent Bright and Sean Rigby as the steady DS Jim Strange. Pathologist Dr Max DeBryn (James Bradshaw) gets a mention too as he’s usually given the best lines in each episode, shaping a character that the audience learns to love in spite of comparatively short screen time. Another lovely touch is casting Abigail Thaw (daughter to the late John Thaw, who played the original Morse) as journalist Dorothea Frazil.

Oxford

Endeavour‘s setting of Oxford very much becomes a character in its own right, with every episode treating us to glorious shots of the historic rooftops. Most of the cases offer up an academic or student linked to one of the colleges as either suspect, victim or red herring, and there are always plenty of bicycles to eye up/for Morse to crash into.

In one particularly memorable episode, ‘Fugue’, we also get a very dramatic college rooftop standoff, making for a beautiful and Endeavour-appropriate climax.

Giving this show (just as its predecessors Morse, and later Lewis do) a real-world, on-location home in Oxford lends so much depth and really grounds the storytelling in a way that a lot of TV detective dramas lack. Far from being yet one more bland depiction of London or another big city, Oxford’s beauty and history provides a lovely counterpoint to some of the darkness in the show’s cases and a sense of home for the main characters.

If you’re looking for a substantial investigative drama to get stuck into, with beautiful acting and richly complex characters to enjoy, Endeavour is well worth a watch.

Have you watched Endeavour? Will you be checking it out? Tell us in the comments below!