Well here we are The End. It's Over. Exeunt. Not just Endeavour but the whole canon. It has been a superb ride. I watched all of Morse "Live" back in the day from January 1987. It was brilliant, unbeatable and ground breaking. I bought all the double pack VHS tapes and then the DVDs with the magazines. It was that epic. I was thrilled when Lewis returned, almost in tears during the pilot, or "Reputation" as it became known, it was, in it's own right a really good series, not quite Morse, but close enough. The addition of Laura was the deftest of touches. (I'm looking for Inspector... Mouse?" - If you know, you know).
Then came Endeavour, what to make of this? There was a two series cross-over where both Lewis and Endeavour were on screen. How would the Liverpudlian Shaun Evans fill those massive Morse-sized boots?
Well he did and he was helped enormously by the cleverest of writing. Russell Lewis, I doff my cap. You achieved the seemingly impossible.
Endeavour works, like the very best of shows, on many levels. It works for the World wide audience, for people who have no connection, other than via media, to the UK. But it really works for those of a certain age. There are a *LOT* of the cleverest of Easter Eggs in many of the 36 episodes. Easter eggs than mainly work if you get the references.
From mirrored choirs, to mirrored songs bookending the series'. From Fred's "turn" in the very spot Morse met his end (what would have been) 28 years later.
Character names used in Endeavour that would turn out to be wrong 'uns in Morse like Matthew Copley-Barnes, unforgettably played by Geoffrey Palmer in 1990.
The mention of a young Police cadet up in Newcastle being the only relative of a dead man. One Robert Lewis.
So Endeavour really works if you know your Morse.
But in also works if you know your pop-culture Britain. Subtle and clever references to Thunderbirds, Crossroads Motel, Mr. Benn, On the Buses, James Bond's Thunderball, Dixon of Dock Green. There are too many to mention.
It also works if you know your Dexter with an unsolved crossword puzzle in the last episode being set by "Codex" the real life nom-de-plume of one young crossword setter called Colin Dexter.
All this is without the wonderful Dorothea Frazil, played superbly by Abigail Thaw, daughter of the original Morse, John Thaw. Her first meeting with Endeavour is a true gem. "Oh, another life then?"
Imdb is littered with failed endings of otherwise superb TV shows. This will not be in that group. It succeeded and like the whole show it succeeded on many levels.
The ending will have anybody who loves Morse gulping for air and wiping back a tear. The overhead shot of black and red Jaguars crossing should be a Bafta winning moment.
The main question has been answered as well. Why did Morse never mention Thursday or Joan at all in any book or film? Now we know. Sorted.
So thank you to all involved, I can't imagine there is anywhere else to go. Halfway through Lewis I could have seen a series called "Hathaway" but that is never going to happen now. 'Cos, y'know. There is a small 14 year window, from summer 1972 to summer 1986, when filming started for the first Morse, but I really can't see them going there.
My vote for the three series would be Inspector Morse 8.5, Lewis 8.0 and Endeavour 9.5.
Morse is only so low today as it is ageing, as any show with clunky car telephones will. In it's day it was solid 9.0.
So Endeavour bows out at the very top, it achieved something that very few long (cop) series do, it got better and the end was the best, rather than doing a "Line of Duty" hitting us with a bang and , ok not getting much "worse" but certainly not getting any better and leading to a very strange conclusion. Happy Valley is close but that was less than a 10th of the screen time that Endeavour had to consistently rise to those heights. Endeavour could easily have had 4 or 5 more series, but they are doing the right thing. Morse has done his time and is laid to rest before the gap gets too small.
"Gratias tibi ago pro omnem" as Morse might have said.
Then came Endeavour, what to make of this? There was a two series cross-over where both Lewis and Endeavour were on screen. How would the Liverpudlian Shaun Evans fill those massive Morse-sized boots?
Well he did and he was helped enormously by the cleverest of writing. Russell Lewis, I doff my cap. You achieved the seemingly impossible.
Endeavour works, like the very best of shows, on many levels. It works for the World wide audience, for people who have no connection, other than via media, to the UK. But it really works for those of a certain age. There are a *LOT* of the cleverest of Easter Eggs in many of the 36 episodes. Easter eggs than mainly work if you get the references.
From mirrored choirs, to mirrored songs bookending the series'. From Fred's "turn" in the very spot Morse met his end (what would have been) 28 years later.
Character names used in Endeavour that would turn out to be wrong 'uns in Morse like Matthew Copley-Barnes, unforgettably played by Geoffrey Palmer in 1990.
The mention of a young Police cadet up in Newcastle being the only relative of a dead man. One Robert Lewis.
So Endeavour really works if you know your Morse.
But in also works if you know your pop-culture Britain. Subtle and clever references to Thunderbirds, Crossroads Motel, Mr. Benn, On the Buses, James Bond's Thunderball, Dixon of Dock Green. There are too many to mention.
It also works if you know your Dexter with an unsolved crossword puzzle in the last episode being set by "Codex" the real life nom-de-plume of one young crossword setter called Colin Dexter.
All this is without the wonderful Dorothea Frazil, played superbly by Abigail Thaw, daughter of the original Morse, John Thaw. Her first meeting with Endeavour is a true gem. "Oh, another life then?"
Imdb is littered with failed endings of otherwise superb TV shows. This will not be in that group. It succeeded and like the whole show it succeeded on many levels.
The ending will have anybody who loves Morse gulping for air and wiping back a tear. The overhead shot of black and red Jaguars crossing should be a Bafta winning moment.
The main question has been answered as well. Why did Morse never mention Thursday or Joan at all in any book or film? Now we know. Sorted.
So thank you to all involved, I can't imagine there is anywhere else to go. Halfway through Lewis I could have seen a series called "Hathaway" but that is never going to happen now. 'Cos, y'know. There is a small 14 year window, from summer 1972 to summer 1986, when filming started for the first Morse, but I really can't see them going there.
My vote for the three series would be Inspector Morse 8.5, Lewis 8.0 and Endeavour 9.5.
Morse is only so low today as it is ageing, as any show with clunky car telephones will. In it's day it was solid 9.0.
So Endeavour bows out at the very top, it achieved something that very few long (cop) series do, it got better and the end was the best, rather than doing a "Line of Duty" hitting us with a bang and , ok not getting much "worse" but certainly not getting any better and leading to a very strange conclusion. Happy Valley is close but that was less than a 10th of the screen time that Endeavour had to consistently rise to those heights. Endeavour could easily have had 4 or 5 more series, but they are doing the right thing. Morse has done his time and is laid to rest before the gap gets too small.
"Gratias tibi ago pro omnem" as Morse might have said.