Endeavour (TV 2012)

Set in 1965, young Detective Constable Endeavour Morse investigates a case in Oxford.

Director:

Colm McCarthy

Writers:

Colin Dexter (characters), Russell Lewis (written and devised by)

Stars:

Michael Matus, John Light, Flora Montgomery

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Matus	...	Cyril Wright
John Light	...	Dempsey
Flora Montgomery	...	Rosalind Stromming
Patrick Malahide	...	Richard Lovell
Shaun Evans	...	DC Endeavour Morse
Jack Ashton	...	DC Ian McLeash
Daisy Head	...	Jenny Crisp
Holly Ridley	...	Valerie Quillen
Lisa Backwell	...	Anne Porter
Jenna Harrison	...	Miss Sylvia Tench
Roger Allam	...	DI Fred Thursday
Danny Webb	...	DS Arthur Lott
Richard Lintern	...	Dr. Rowan Stromming
Sam Reid	...	Brian Lomax
Harry Kershaw	...	Miles Percival

Storyline

In Oxford, 1965, Endeavour Morse is a teetotaler and a classical music loving young constable who considers leaving the force after an unhappy affair but stays to join Inspector Thursday's investigation into the disappearance of schoolgirl Mary Tremlett. By deciphering a code based on crosswords in the local paper and Mary's poetry books, Morse deduces that Mary was meeting a lover and leads Thursday to the site of her murder. Following the suicide of Mary's boyfriend, student Miles Percival, Morse meets Miles' tutor, Dr. Stromming, the crossword setter who was seeing Mary but had an alibi for the murder. DS Lott, jealous of Thursday's regard for Morse's sharpness, attempts to incriminate Miles but then the police learn that Mary and other girls were paid to attend orgies by creepy car dealer Teddy Samuels, who has Lott in his pocket, as well as other worthies. As a result, both Thursday (a great mentor who also introduces the young constable to real ale) and Morse are carpeted. Morse...

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Plot Keywords:

oxford

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 July 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Unge kommissarie Morse

Filming Locations:

Canterbury Quad, St. John's College, St Giles', Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mammoth Screen, Masterpiece, ITV Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Carshall New Town", the town where Morse works until he is seconded to the murder enquiry in Oxford, is another literary reference: it is the name of the fictitious town in Angus Wilson's novel "Late Call".

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Goofs

At the end of the film, as Morse stops the car at the traffic lights, we see his left hand move from the steering wheel to the gear lever area to the left of the driver's seat, and we hear the distinctive sound of a handbrake ratchet. However in a Mk I Jaguar, the handbrake is located on the floor between the driver's door and the driver's seat - on the driver's right in a right-hand-drive car.

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Quotes

[Dorothea Frazil looks puzzled]
Dorothea Frazil: What did you say your name was?
DC Endeavour Morse: Morse. Why?
Dorothea Frazil: Have we met?
DC Endeavour Morse: I don't think so.
Dorothea Frazil: Another life, then.

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Crazy Credits

In the end credits of the PBS Masterpiece Mystery! broadcast (though not the original ITV broadcast), some letters are shown in red... these spell out L-O-N-S-D-A-L-E, the name of a fictional Oxford college associated with Morse.

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Connections

Featured in Crime Connections: Episode #1.5 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Un bel di"
from Madam Butterfly
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
Sung by Janis Kelly

User Reviews

Good stuff

This was a very enjoyable film - and surely the curtain-raiser for a series. The mystery was exactly the type of slightly preposterous story that the John Thaw's Morse routinely solved, and the older cast members were a solidly reliable group of familiar faces in familiar roles, such as Patrick Malahide as a slimy upper-class person. Roger Allam was very good as the experienced detective who backs Morse.

Does Shaun Evans make the grade? He has a tough act to follow. I think he just about does. If we had never seen John Thaw as Morse, there could be nothing but applause for his performance as the clever, but still somewhat unsure, young detective. I am well aware that, in interviews, actors speak with horror of imitating anybody. They always say they want to make the role "their own". Hm. Personally, I wish Evans had done a bit more imitating. For one thing, I think we needed a bit more of the casual exasperated arrogance of Morse and less of the eager puppy.

There were two moving moments for me: when he tells the opera singer how listening to her taught him that there is beauty in the world and when he looks into the rear view mirror just before the credits roll (I won't say more).

It is great that Max the grumpy pathologist is already in action, and the actor is very good in the part.

One niggle: Morse insists that he doesn't drink - until he is ordered to have a beer after fainting - whereupon he instantly starts guzzling the stuff like a binge drinker. A small niggle, but a bit crass.

Overall it was very good and I thoroughly recommend it.