heat travels to Oxford to visit the set of the new series of Endeavour
heat’s Lisa Howells went to the set to meet the cast of ITV’S top detective drama
On a sunny autumn day, heat is groping around a pitch-black room illuminated only by the faint light of an iphone – and we couldn’t be any more excited. That’s because the room we’re blundering around is the darkened set of Cowley Police Station and we’ve just been allowed to stroke Young Morse’s actual rotary phone. Just a spin in his chair to go and all our dreams will have come true. Like a Tardis in reverse, the Endeavour set is much smaller than it appears on screen, but the attention to detail is incredible, from painstakingly constructed ‘crime’ reports to a sign-up sheet for the force’s fictional five-a-side footie team. We’ve also had a wander around Chief Superintendent Bright’s office (more spacious and with real cigarette butts in the ashtray) and the bachelor flat Morse shares with fellow copper Jim Strange for the fifth season of ITV’S crime drama. After we’ve had a good nose, we adjourn to a room and huddle around a heater to wait for the talent.
UNDERCOVER ESCAPADES
This new series sees Morse going undercover, which explains why star Shaun Evans arrives from the set dressed as… a schoolteacher. “I’m surprised you guys even recognised us, I’m so deep undercover,” he laughs. So, how does the moody copper feel about this new turn of events? “Characteristically belligerent,” says Evans. “He thinks it’s a load of old pony, but it’s a great ploy to see Morse in a different setting.”
But what we all want to know is, what’s happening with Morse and Joan Thursday? Will our man finally get his woman? Er, apparently not. “There’s a few relationships for Morse this series,” says Evans. “There’s a little bit of action – and not before time!”
Another thing we won’t see is a bromance with flatmate Strange. “Bromance? Not on my behalf,” grins Evans. “But it’s fun. We get to see what Morse makes of Strange, in his pyjamas playing his trombone.” We’re going to leave that one there…
THE END OF AN ERA?
A huge part of what makes the show so enduring is newly Sergeant-ed Morse’s relationship with boss DCI Fred Thursday, so we’re keen to quiz actor Roger Allam on what’s in store for his curmudgeonly character. But before we can kick off, there’s a problem. “Are there any dark Kit Kats left?” booms that brilliantly theatrical voice as he enters the room. There aren’t, and heat spends the next 20 minutes guiltily keeping our Converse on the wrapper of what turned out to be the last one. Unfazed, Allam reveals how one of the main stories this series is set around the closure of Cowley Police Station as it’s absorbed into Thames Valley Police, and Fred Thursday’s plan to retire. Surely not?
“Thursday thinks he’s a bit long in the tooth to move,” says Allam. “Win [his wife] has been putting pressure on him to retire, and he feels like the world is moving on.” But Endeavour without Thursday? That’s like Ant without Dec.
“Yes, they’d have to reinvent the show… but you’ll have to wait and see if it comes to that in the end,” he teases. Perish the very thought.