Canticle
- Episode aired Aug 27, 2017
- TV-14
- 1h 29m
Endeavour is charged with protecting Joy Pettybon, self-appointed guardian of the nation's morals, who is visiting Oxford to promote her 'Keep Britain Decent' campaign.Endeavour is charged with protecting Joy Pettybon, self-appointed guardian of the nation's morals, who is visiting Oxford to promote her 'Keep Britain Decent' campaign.Endeavour is charged with protecting Joy Pettybon, self-appointed guardian of the nation's morals, who is visiting Oxford to promote her 'Keep Britain Decent' campaign.
- Dr. Bakshi
- (as Sagar I M Arya)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAt 35:00 Nick asks Morse if he reads Huxley, then says 'I want to see what's beyond the door," in a reference to Aldous Huxley's book 'The Doors of Perception', in which the author chronicled his experimentation with mescaline. That book's title is taken from William Blake's poem 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell': "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." The band The Doors, took their name from Huxley's work.
- GoofsWhen Morse and Bettina Pettybon are in his apartment, Pettybon sits down and sets her glass on the table, but is immediately holding it again when the camera comes back to her.
- Quotes
Dr. Max DeBryn: The primary cause of Reverend Golightly's death was haemorrhage leading to heart failure.
DS Jim Strange: Natural causes.
Dr. Max DeBryn: I don't think I said that, did I?
DI Fred Thursday: So what caused it?
Dr. Max DeBryn: Laxative. The Reverend Golightly's kidneys were all but shot. Magnesium in the laxative caused hypomagnesaemia, respiratory distress, low blood pressure, arrhythmia.
DS Jim Strange: That would explain the blood, would it?
Dr. Max DeBryn: It would explain the vomiting. However, he was also suffering from an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm. The rest of it put such a strain on his system that it ruptured. Hence the blood.
DS Jim Strange: Puked his guts up, then. Literally.
Dr. Max DeBryn: What a lyrical child you must have been, sergeant.
- Crazy creditsIn the closing credits (after the actors' names cycle through), certain letters of certain crew members' names are colored in red. When read in order, they spell "GOLDHAWK ROAD," a reference to the argument the bandmates had over the direction their music was taking. Nick wants to debut a song he's written inspired by a Beaudelaire poem and his bandmates accuse him of forgetting his rock and roll roots. Stix says, "You know, you might have forgotten where you come from, mate, but the rest of us haven't." Nick replies, "Take the boy out of the Goldhawk Road?"
- ConnectionsReferences Sebastian (1968)
- SoundtracksMain Theme
Main Theme by Barrington Pheloung
As said in my review for the entire show two years ago, 'Endeavour' is not just a more than worthy prequel series to one of my favourite detective dramas of all time and goes very well with it, but it is a great series on its own as well. It maintains everything that makes 'Inspector Morse' so good, while also containing enough to make it its own, and in my mind 'Inspector Morse', 'Lewis' and 'Endeavour' go perfectly well together.
Was very impressed by the pilot episode, even with a very understandable slight finding-its-feet feel (that is true of a lot of shows, exceptions like 'Morse' itself, 'A Touch of Frost' and 'Midsomer Murders', which started off great and were remarkably well established, are fairly few. The first season was even better, with all the episodes being outstanding. Season 2 took a darker turn, but once again all the episodes were great (even with "Trove" having one of 'Endeavour's' most far-fetched and over-complicated endings, great episode otherwise), with the weakest one "Sway" still being very good, "Neverland" especially was exceptional and a show high-point.
Season 3 is considered by fans as nowhere near as good as previously. Will admit that it is not as good as Seasons 1 and 2, which had more believable stories and didn't try to do too much but count me in as someone who has still enjoyed the episodes and has found a lot to like, while finding "Coda" outstanding.
"Game" was such a terrific start for Season 4. "Canticle" is very good, if not quite as good. It is a different kind of 'Endeavour' episode with vivid brighter colours, more emphasis on the atmosphere/value/culture of the 60s and where the mystery isn't focused on quite as much. Some 'Endeavour' fans may find this different kind of 'Endeavour' too far removed from what they associate the show with, and others will appreciate a change of pace once in a while. Count me as one of the latter.
My only real complaint with "Canticle" actually is the ending, which to my liking was on the rushed and melodramatic side.
Conversely, there is nothing that can be faulted with the production values. It is exquisitely filmed, and it was hard not to love the vivid bright colours, a nice change from the more haunting ones and fitted the tone of the episode and the period itself perfectly. There is something very nostalgic and charming about the atmospherically evoked 1960s period detail. The music is also different in style and tone, less classical-oriented and more 60s-pop-esque, which worked within the episode and didn't fare too badly on its own either.
Writing, as has been said many times in my reviews for the previous 'Endeavour' episodes, is every bit as intelligent, entertaining and tense as the previous episodes and as the best of 'Morse', with some funny lines from Max and the quiet affectingly profound moment between Thursday and Bright.
"Canticle's" story was intriguing, especially in the big themes/topics it tackled and how tactfully it was done. The mystery isn't quite as memorable, and parts are a little more predictable than usual (like Sylvestra Le Trouzel's character, that just about avoided being a caricature), but it was also mostly fun and maintained attention throughout.
Morse and Thursday's father/son relationship, has grown more entertaining and heartfelt with each episode, it has a lot of warmth, is so well written within the story and is a large part of the series' appeal. The pacing is restrained, but that allows the atmosphere to come through, and pretty much all the same it excels in that aspect. The characters are interesting, lead and supporting.
Shaun Evans as ever does some powerful, charismatic work as younger Morse, showing enough loyalty to John Thaw's iconic Morse while making the character his own too. Roger Allam is also superb, his rapport with Evans always compels and entertains but Thursday is quite a sympathetic character, as well as loyal and firm, and Allam does a lot special with a role that could have been less interesting possibly in lesser hands. Sylvestra Le Trouzel is excellent as a character one loves to hate.
In conclusion, a very good different episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jul 7, 2017
Details
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Color