OXFORD blues
Endeavour’s life spirals out of control as the CRIME DRAMA RETURNS
LIFE HAS DEALT Endeavour Morse some cruel blows, but the eighth series of ITV crime drama
Endeavour finds the morose sleuth at his lowest ebb to date. The three-part return of the
Inspector Morse prequel, now set in 1971, sees the young detective sergeant struggling to deal with his grief following the death of his married lover Violetta in the last series, and the exposure of her husband’s crimes.
STRUGGLES
Foreshadowing his older incarnation's complex relationship with alcohol, Endeavour is turning to drink to ease his pain.
‘It becomes apparent he’s not coping, but he’s trying not to reveal that,’ says Shaun Evans, who plays the Oxford-based police officer. ‘Drinking too much and numbing yourself is part of a bigger problem and I was keen to unpick that more in this series.’
Meanwhile, DCI Fred Thursday (Roger Allam), his caring but no-nonsense boss at Oxford’s Castle Gate police station, is watching his behaviour carefully.
‘Thursday knows what happened, so he’s keeping an eye out,’ says Evans. ‘There’s tough love there but Thursday has personal things to deal with, too.’
Endeavour’s troubled past also comes back to haunt him when his formidable stepmother Gwen (Lynda Rooke) pays a visit in the second episode. Meanwhile, the return of Thursday’s social-worker daughter Joan (Sara Vickers), who has palpable chemistry with Endeavour, also brings fresh turmoil – especially when his colleague DS Strange (Sean Rigby) starts to get closer to her.
‘He’s already on this downward spiral but Gwen pushes him further over the edge and reveals another part of his personality,’ reveals Evans, who is currently starring in BBC1’S submarine thriller Vigil.
INVESTIGATIONS
As Endeavour desperately tries to keep his growing problems at bay, work proves a welcome distraction. Later episodes involve the murder of a cabbie and killing spree at a snowbound hotel, while the opener finds the cerebral detective playing a reluctant bodyguard to a star Oxford Wanderers footballer, who receives a death threat.
‘It’s set in the early days of sports celebrity and fashion, and against a wider picture of the beginning of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and how that began to encroach upon our shores,’ explains Evans. ‘It’s giving a nod to what was going on in the UK at that time, and it packs an emotional punch.’
‘It becomes apparent he’s not coping, but he’s trying not to reveal that’
SHAUN EVANS