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Endeavour (2012)

2012 · Crime,Drama,Mystery · crime-detective-puzzle, historical-period, period-near-history

Endeavour poster

Endeavour is a handsome, intellectually rich British period crime drama set in 1960s Oxford, following the early career of the young Endeavour Morse before he became the world-weary detective of Inspector Morse. The show earns its place in the Morse canon through precise period production design, Barrington Pheloung's iconic score, and a central performance by Shaun Evans that creates genuine psychological continuity with John Thaw's original. Its greatest pleasures are the mentor-pupil warmth of the Morse/Thursday partnership, the atmospheric evocation of swinging-sixties Oxford, and classically structured whodunit mysteries with literary-quality writing. The tone is restrained, melancholic, and nostalgic — a slow-burn prestige crime drama for viewers who value intelligence and atmosphere over action.

From the reviewers

Evans wisely avoids imitation, as the twenty-year age difference between the two interpretations allows the actor to create something fresh.
The addition of the character of Fred Thursday is inspired. The street wise, war veteran is the perfect mentor for the idealistic Morse and their relationship is one of the highlights of the series.
Shaun Evans is a terrific actor, who plays an entirely credible Morse, if not physically, in a seamless psychological continuity which makes you feel the smooth way in which this young Morse would become the older Morse 20 years later, the incipient causticity, the noticeable anger, the budding low-key self-confidence
the linking common trait between Morse, Endeavour and Lewis is, yes, their tremendous atmospheric virtue which sets you right on «in that particular place in that particular time»
Endeavour looks great, the series throughout is exquisitely photographed and there is something very nostalgic and charming about the atmospherically evoked 1960s period detail.

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