ROGER IS COMFORTABLE AS DAD
But it’s not easy playing the father figure of a TV legend.
IT all started 30 years ago with John Thaw’s much-loved Inspector Morse.
Then his trusty sidekick Lewis, in the dependable form of Kevin Whately, kept the sleuthing going for another few years.
Now, following its axing, Endeavour, the story of Morse’s younger self, is the last show standing.
But Roger Allam, who plays DI Fred Thursday, the father figure who keeps the ’60s Morse on track, says it doesn’t weigh heavy on the cast.
“We’re not really aware of that when we’re making it,” Roger, 63, told iN10.
“It’s only when you pause and think how long it’s been going that you realise the significance.
“There will be audience members who’ll have watched that very first Morse and seen all of them, Lewis and us.
“It’s a great they’ve been attached to those stories all that time. “But it’s also nice that newer people starting with us and then going back to discover Lewis and Morse.” The fourth series, which started last week, takes up events shortly after the end of the previous run.
Thursday’s daughter Joan has left home without a word as to her whereabouts. “It leaves Fred depressed and his wife trying to keep herself busy and therefore not looking after him.
“Then Endeavour learns where she is but doesn’t tell Thursday.
“When he finds that out there’s quite a bit of scratchiness between the pair.”
While there may be tensions on-screen, that’s far from the case in real life with Shaun Evans who plays the youthful, but still dour, Morse.
And that makes returning each time like slipping on one of Thursday’s cosy overcoats.
“I feel very comfortable with the role. Shaun and myself work really well together and we can make suggestions about the script and sort out problems as they arise.
“Everyone works together in a team and that’s a huge pleasure.
“I’ve always loved playing the character and the period is something I know well. I was a boy during that time.
“I find it familiar and also surprising to be reminded of the objects that apparently make our lives easier that we just didn’t have then. In some ways it was a simpler time because of that.”
Roger couldn’t have strayed further from inherently decent Fred Thursday with his role in The Missing, which gripped the nation towards the end of last year.
He played military officer Adrian Stone whose present-day dementia wasn’t what it seemed and whose past was shocking and disturbing.
Roger was thrilled by the reaction he
got, saying: “People were really nice and said how much they enjoyed it.
“It was quite complicated to watch but people seemed to like unravelling the puzzle.
“I read a lot about dementia before I took on the part and the contrasting characters of Stone made it hugely appealing.
“It’s lovely to feel that you’ve been in something people are gripped by.”
Roger, who has two young sons with actress wife Rebecca Saire, is savouring the joys of late fatherhood.
“I was away a lot with Endeavour and The Missing, so it’s a pleasure when I do get to spend time at home.”
Roger was in the early days of Game Of Thrones and jokes that with his character not killed off he’s “slightly bitter” that he hasn’t been asked back.
He still gets asked for autographs from the show, but says life is just too busy to keep up with that and much else of the good drama on these days.
“I miss a lot of stuff because there are only so many hours in the day,” he adds.
“With my kids still being young and family life being busy, if we can’t all sit down together then we just don’t catch up on lots of things.”
Endeavour, ITV, today, 8pm.