Driving the roads of Oxford, swapping theories and saving the day. (These days, Morse’s spirits are more likely to be found in a hip flask, as the formerly teetotal new recruit has decidedly slid into the habits of the old gumshoe he’s to become.)Īt one time, Morse and Thursday were a two-man team against the world. The days of cosy lunchtime pints, when a word of paternal encouragement from Thursday was enough to lift Morse’s spirits, are gone. Though the series eight opener ‘Striker’ ends on a note of warmth, with Morse remembering never getting chosen for sports teams at school and Thursday remarking “I chose you,” the distance has already set in between them. Their animosity led to an embarrassing stand-up fight over the corpse of a victim, and a falling out only becalmed after a letter of apology and a Venetian canal-side shoot-out. Morse criticised and undermined Thursday’s police work, and Thursday angrily reminded the erudite youngster that not every case is a crossword puzzle that can be solved using anagrams, opera, or the periodic table. The seeds of a conflict between the erstwhile mentor and his brilliant young student had already sprouted in series seven, which saw Morse and Thursday at loggerheads investigating the case of the Towpath Killer. Whether in this series or the next, something is going to happen to make Morse never again mention the name Fred Thursday. Endeavour creator Russell Lewis built Thursday and Morse’s relationship in the knowledge that eventually, he would have to tear it apart. Roger Allam’s DCI was invented solely for the Inspector Morse prequel and is therefore absent from Morse’s later years. It’s a hard-to-ignore fact though, that a separation between the two is inevitable and fast-approaching. Has another, that should say, as Thursday is still very much part of Morse’s life. Morse had one father, yes – a strained relationship with an estranged man whose dying words to his constable son were that he’d never liked the police – but in Fred Thursday, he also had another. Of Thursday’s many sayings, this one proves the least true in Endeavour’s case. “A man only gets one father,” Fred Thursday told Morse in Endeavourseries one, when the young officer was demurring about returning home to attend his dad’s deathbed. Another great series, well worth anyone's time.Warning: contains plot details for Series 8 Episode 1 ‘Striker’ Sometimes I could just get lost looking at the background. And then, of course, there is the picturesque scenery and wonderful architecture of Oxford. The teasing out of characters has been done very well so that even now (after 4 series) we don't know everything. In true English style the clues are there but you will still change your mind on who the culprit is many many times during an episode. The story lines have maintained the complexity and interest of Morse. Obviously there is no John Thaw (what a great actor) but Lewis has now taken on the "old man" role and been joined by a wonderful "young assistant" character acted in superb fashion. How wrong I was! Whilst I'm not saying that it has met the incredibly high standard of Morse it is a truly great series in its own right. Morse had been such an incredible series that I felt sure Lewis would simply cash in on it and be a poor follow on. I was sceptical when I first heard of "LEWIS".
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