Endeavour’s back – in a new direction
WITH a newfound moustache, a countryside outpost and a shot at directing – it’s all change for Shaun Evans in the latest series of Endeavour.
But the Liverpool-born actor, who will reprise the title role of a young DS Endeavour Morse for a sixth time, wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Uniform, tache, I’m up for it!” quips Shaun, 38, who has led the ITV crime drama – written by creator Russell Lewis – since 2012. “Anything that’s new, where you don’t feel like you’re staying in stasis, is good.”
Following the dissolution of Oxford City Police and the merging with Thames Valley Constabulary in season five, the latest instalment, set in 1969, picks up with the team as they find their feet.
“Endeavour is back in uniform and on his own out in the sticks,” Shaun elaborates. “He’s been stationed in a one-horse town in the countryside and he’s fairly isolated as he’s the only policeman there. But he’s quite happy.
“In terms of the rest of the team, everyone has been cast to the four winds. Thursday (Roger Allam) is at the new Castle Gate station, Bright (Anton Lesser) in the traffic department and Strange (Sean Rigby) is in a new role as well.”
“There’s a lot of change and we see the reaction to this change,” explains Shaun.
“Their relationships with one another are completely fractured though, and the first film is about seeing where everyone has landed in the interim, and the team finding their way back together.”
And his new, well-groomed facial topiary?
“It wasn’t my idea!” he protests, laughing. “A couple of years prior I’d done a play in Chichester and both of the lads had come to see it [Russell Lewis and executive producer Damian Michael Barcroft],” he says.
“I had a tache in the play, so Russell said to me, ‘I was thinking because you’d fancied it there, maybe you want to shake it up and not be recognised [for Endeavour],” he recalls.
“I thought, ‘Yeah cool, that’s a good idea.’ But I tried not to think too deeply about it; I just didn’t shave my top lip.”
But decade-defining looks isn’t all the latest prequel provides. Stemming from the era are four brand new cases – each divided into a feature-length film – set to test Endeavour, Thursday, and Oxford’s finest.
Named Pylon, Apollo, Confection, and Deguello, each story reflects changes in Britain and the wider world.
But it’s certainly not one small step for this particular man when it comes to Apollo – as the second episode marks the star’s first time starring and directing in the series.
“It’s great acting and it’s great directing, so if you can mix the two [together] where you know the team, have shorthand with everyone, and you know the timbre of the stories as well...” he muses. “It was a joyous experience and to be forced to approach things in a specific way was good for me, personally.”
This isn’t Shaun’s first foray behind the camera, however. He’s been praised for his turn directing a handful of Casualty episodes, too.
“I’ve always been interested in it,” he confides. “I just think at the moment you can do anything; it’s a good time for TV and for storytelling, in general,” he elaborates. “And I just don’t think you should ever limit yourself.”
Hinting about further series, he concludes: “I think it’s important for us to get together and have a chat about it, just to see what the story is, see where the story goes.”
“But you want to make sure that you’re only going to do it if it’s going to be amazing. That’s my take on it, at least.”
Endeavour is on ITV on Sundaysat 8pm. The first episode is available on ITV Hub.