!!SPOILERS!! !!SPOILERS!! In this post I will be not only reviewing the episode but also looking at the locations, music, literary references and other interesting facts and trivia within the episode. So, if you haven’t seen the episode, look away now.
Endeavour: Series 4, Episode 3. Lazaretto
A lazaretto is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Historically, lazarettos were used to control outbreaks of cholera and plague found on board visiting ships.
First shown on the 22th January 2017 in the UK.
Chronologically this would be episode 16.
Directed by Börkur Sigþórsson.
WRITTEN AND DEVISED BY RUSSELL LEWIS.
Synopsis
It is ten weeks after Joan Thursday decided to leave Oxford. In her wake she has broke the hearts of not only her parents, Win and Fred, but also Endeavour.
Meanwhile, it is carry on doctors and nurses as they try to deal with irregular events at their hosptial. Firstly, there are numerous deaths in not only the same ward, Fosdick, but the same bed, number 10. What makes these deaths stand out is that the patients were seemingly recovering from their surgery. Is Doctor Merlin Chubb, the hospital’s main surgeon, to blame with signs of his left hand shaking during surgery?
A new patient arrives, Terry Bakewell, in handcuffs. He is in protective custody as he is a witness against the Matthews gang who carried out a robbery at a jewellers and who were involved in the bank robbery we witnessed in the last episode of the third series.
Collapsing at the police station Chief Superintendent Bright is rushed to hospital and while there he is moved to the dreaded bed 10 in Fosdick Ward. Will Bright succumb to the curse of bed 10?
With all this going on Endeavour is wrestling with his emotions as like the hospital he is trying to put out fires on many fronts involving his past loves.
Review
BORING! BORING! BORING! This episode was anything but boring. Russell Lewis the writer is back on form with a episode that not only put Endeavour through the emotional wringer but the viewers as well.
Poor Morse has to contend with the ghosts girlfriends of Christmas past, present and (possibly) future. The girlfriend of the past was of course Susan (Wendy in Dexter’s books) who though only seen briefly haunted the episode like the first Mrs de Winter in Daphne du Maurier’s novel, ‘Rebecca’. Though we didn’t get to meet Susan we certainly got to make the acquaintance of her mother, Caroline Bryce Morgan played exquisitely by Phoebe Nicholls.
The introduction of the unrelenting seemingly unemotional Mrs Bryce Morgan gave us another reason why Morse’s relationship with Susan failed; Mrs Bryce Morgan was never going to allow her daughter to marry a ‘failure’ like Endeavour. With the onslaught of Mrs Bryce Morgan’s withering poisonous remarks about Endeavour’s lack of success in his life we saw poor Morse visibly shrink as each verbal blow rained down on his already dented psyche.
The girlfriend of the (recent) past was the nurse, Monica Hicks played by Shvorne Marks. Endeavour and Monica’s scene was all too short. Endeavour seemed uncomfortable talking to Monica and so he should be after the slipshod way he treated her. (I also believe Russell Lewis never finished Endeavour and Monica’s relationship satisfactorily). Monica left Endeavour with the wise words, “Treat the next one better”.
The ‘girlfriend’ of the future was of course Joan Thursday, tracked down by Endeavour, (all rather too easily) to a flat in Leamington. The scene was a mesmerising catalogue of feelings; an embarrassed, taciturn, emotionally crippled Morse with a brassy, unapologetic, obstinate Joan. The scene was voyeuristically unnerving as we watched Endeavour trying to control his strong feelings while Joan Thursday one felt was strongly attempting to control and bury any feelings she had for Morse. It was a bravo performance from both Sara Vickers and Shaun Evans.
Russell Lewis, the writer of the Endeavour series, created an episode that pushed Shaun Evans every acting sinew to almost breaking point. Endeavour had to endure a myriad of emotions unlike anything he has had to deal with any previous episode. This was an episode where he not only had to deal with the three women who have been a part of his life but he had to also cope with watching Win (trying to cope with agoraphobia) and especially Fred Thursday to appear frail and finding it hard to keep a grip on their sanity. Both Win and Fred are doing their best to keep the Black Dog at bay.
Unlike last week’s episode the Director of this episode, Börkur Sigþórsson, kept the pace of the scenes moving at a beautifully metronomic pace which allowed the scenes to merge and flow with none of the grating, awkwardness of last week’s episode, ‘Canticle’.
The episode like the previous two ended with an unknown figure holding tarot cards. She places the tarot car ‘death’ on the table. Of course in the world of tarot cards the card death does not always literally mean death. However, I think there will be a death in next week’s episode and it may be Joan or Monica. One has to assume if a death is to occur it will be someone close to Morse and it may answer the question as to why the writer Russell Lewis felt the need to introduce the three loves of Endeavour’s life in this week’s episode.
We know of course that John Thaw’s wife Sheila Hancock will appear in the final episode but the hands that hold the tarot cards look to young to belong to the 83 year old Sheila Hancock.
A worry I have regarding this week’s episode is Endeavour’s meeting with Joan but not telling either of her parents. It is obvious that Joan will reappear in the next episode. If Fred found out Endeavour knew where she was but didn’t tell him it would be the end of their relationship. I don’t believe Fred or Win could ever forgive Morse for what amounts to a betrayal.
He could have told Fred he had received a call from Leamington and wondered if it was Joan. This would allow Fred to track her down himself without Endeavour getting involved. Of course we have to wonder why Joan denied that she had called; embarrassment. Did she make the call?
Anyway, this is all speculation. The episode was a delight from beginning to end but of course not all episodes are perfect. I believe the amount of murders carried out was too many and unnecessary. I understand the reasoning behind the angel of death’s need to bring attention to Doctor Dean Powell but I thought it was overkill, excuse the pun.
The ending wasn’t completely satisfying. A more fitting end would have been either the nurse killing herself by throwing herself down the stairs as an atonement for what she had done ( She did say to Sister MacMahon that she would kill herself if she had been involved in the death of someone) or having a Vertigo style ending (which I thought we were going to get at first) by having her climb to a point where Endeavour’s acrophobia would kick in.
But these are minor quibbles and the episode redeemed my faith in Russell Lewis. However, I do believe bringing in another few writers would help to keep the series fresh and alive.
My Jag rating out of ten is: 
WHERE’S COLIN
As most of you will know Colin Dexter will not be appearing in the series four episodes due to ill health. However the producers have made sure that he appears in the episode in one way or another. In this episode Colin’s picture appears as a caricature in a drawing on the hospital ward.
I will be honest and say I have watched the episode three times and though I can see the picture I can never get a good look at it. The picture above is from Twitter @endeavourtv
MUSIC
The first piece of music is played at the beginning of the episode. It is a piece by Mantovani. The piece is called Charmaine.
Next we have a piece played at around the 21 minute mark. This is a significant piece of music in the Morse universe. This piece, Schubert’s String Quintet in C major op.163 D.956(II.Adagio), was used as the main theme throughout the original Morse series in the episode Dead on Time.
The significance of the episode Dead on Time is that it featured the older Susan Fallon nee Bryce Morgan. I had never heard this piece until the Morse episode in the nineties and since then it has been a part of CD collection as well as never having been removed from my MP3 player. If this music doesn’t move you then check your pulse because you are dead. 😉
Up next we have a classic song from the sixties playing while the nurses are relaxing and getting ready to go out.
The song is Glad All Over by The Dave Clark Five.
While Morse talks to Fagin in his radio booth we can hear As Time Goes By from the film Casablanca. I can’t be sure of the version but it does feel like the bland sound of Mantovani.
Up next we have the song playing while Endeavour makes his way to Leamington to find Joan.
The song is by the wonderful Chet Baker and is appropriately called I get along without you very well. If you know nothing of Chet Baker check out some of his other songs on Youtube.
Literary References
I couldn’t find many literary references in this episode apart from the easy one i.e. the name of one of the nurses Flora Byron. I did notice Endeavour’s remark to Staff Nurse Jo-Beth Mills when discussing her belief that what is inside is what counts. Nurse Mills remarks that it isn’t Daisy’s fault (falling for Dr. Powell) and Endeavour replies, “There’s no fault in love.” It may be a coincidence but there is a line in the song form the musical A Man of No Importance;
“There’s no fault in loving, no cause for shame;
everyone’s heart does exactly the same.”
——————–
As so often is the case Max gets the best lines. While talking to Morse in Mrs Zachareides’s house, Max DeBryn leaves Morse with the words Vale Vigile which roughly translates as Farewell Officer/watchman.
Justine, one of my blog readers, spotted another literary reference. While Morse and Dr DeBryn are in Mrs Zachareides’s home investigating her death Morse asks about cause of death and DeBryn says “Could be any of the thousand shocks.” This is a reference to Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy. Hamlet says that death is “to end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.” Well spotted Justine.
Locations
Thanks to a friend who pointed out that the façade of Cowley General Hospital is actually Maidenhead Town Hall.
The same location was used in the Carry On film, Carry On Doctor.
Ian in the comments section wrote, ” I’m sure that the outside “corridors “ are those at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot ??” Thank you Ian.
00h15m40s
Donna Zacharides is seen cleaning.
This is Merton College seen from the front quad toward Fellows Quad in the background.
Connections to the original Morse or Lewis series.
Terry Bakewell, the convict in the hospital bed, has turned on his fellow criminals the Matthews gang. Of course we know the Matthews gang from The Endeavour episode Coda, (series 3 episode 4) carrying out the bank robbery. They originally appeared in the Morse episode Promised Land, (series 5, episode 5). (The episode set in Australia).
——————–
Phoebe Nicholls who played Caroline Bryce Morgan appeared in the Lewis episode Expiation (series one , episode 3). (2007) as Caroline Croft the headmaster’s wife.
—————-
Glen Davies who played the patient Burt Talbot had a bit part as a workman in the Lewis episode Intelligent Design Series 7, episode 3.
——————
Alex McSweeney who played Terry Bakewell the hospitalized convict also appeared in the Lewis episode Old School Ties (2007 Series 1, episode 2) as Paul.
Interesting Facts and Trivia
I am a sucker for the Carry On films (well some of them) and the name of the ward in this episode is Fosdick. Fosdick Ward appeared in the 1967 film Carry On Doctor. The name would turn up again in the Carry On Again Doctor with one of the nurses being called Ms Fosdick.
Continuing on the Carry On theme, the Chief Surgeon is called Sir Merlin Chubb. Apart from the Arthurian Christian name the last name also refers to James Robertson Justice‘s character Lancelott Spratt in some of the Doctor series of films. (Doctor in Distress, Doctor in Clover, Doctor in Trouble).
—————————————
And again continuing with the Carron Film theme, John Molloy noticed the following, the patient in bed 4, Burt Talbot. The scriptwriter for many Carry On films was Talbot Rothwell.
—————–
And more on those Carry On references. Mark wrote to me and mentioned the following; “Re the episode Lazaretto and the Carry On connections. As well as Fosdick Ward making an appearance, at around 120 mins Morse is updating Thursday about Dr Powell and advises that he’s contacted the medical authorities for the doctors records from his previous hospitals. They are Long Hampton (the name of the hospital in Carry On Again Doctor) and Finisham (Carry On Matron). Blink and you miss it!
——————————
The Hospital DJ is called Lester Gagen and at the beginning of the episode he refers to himself as The Nightfly. This may be a reference to the excellent album 1982 Nightfly by Donald Fagen one half of one of my favourite all time bands Steely Dan.
——————–
During Fred Thursday’s ‘interrogation’ of the snitch Gilbert Sisley he makes the remark that he isn’t happy especially since he hasn’t had his breakfast. This is a classic line paraphrased from the Sweeney series said by John Thaw’s character, Regan.
——————–
For the first time I noticed that on the window sill of Bright’s office is the statue of a unicorn. Is Chief Superintendent Bright a replicant? (One for the Sci-Fi fans 😉 )
——————–
When Terry Bakewell us trying to make conversation with CS Bright he reminds him that they are “two cheeks on the same arse“. This phrase was used by the politician George Galloway when he described Gordon Brown and Blair as ‘two cheeks of the same arse’.
—————–
The author Kent Finn was mentioned in this episode by the hospital librarian, Lester Fagen, when offering books to CS Bright. Kent Finn was of course in the first episode of the fourth series, Game.
——————-
When visiting Joan Endeavour refuses an alcoholic drink because he was driving but he is clearly drinking whiskey when he visits the home of Caroline Bryce Morgan.
——————-
When the body is exhumed to look for a puncture wound the scene is a little reminiscent of the film Silence of the Lambs. In particular when they apply the Vicks vapo rub under their noses.
——————–
William Bryce Morgan, Susan’s brother is mentioned but not seen. Caroline tells Morse he is visiting Susan. In the Morse episode Dead on Time, William Bryce Morgan is played by Richard Pasco.
Thanks to Paul one of my blog readers who commented that a character in the 1970’s UK show General Hospital (no connection with the American version) was called Arnold Capper. John Halstead played Arnold and his character was a porter. The porter in this episode is called Kyle Capper. Thanks Paul. I’m afraid I couldn’t find any pictures of John Halstead.
————————————————————
Thanks to Chris in the comments section for noticing this reference. “there may be a reference to the Powell and Pressburger film ‘Black Narcissus’ in two of the character names in this episode? We have Sister Clodagh, and a nurse Byron – in BN, Sister Clodagh is the nun in charge of the mission in the high Himslayas, and Kathleen Byron plays Sister Ruth, the nun who looses her mind.” Good catch Chris.
Cast of Lazaretto
Phoebe Nicholls as Caroline Bryce-Morgan
Claire Lichie as Donna Zacharides
John Hopkins as Dr. Dean Powell
Mark Phoenix as Gilbert Sisley
Robert Wilfort as Lester Fagen
Morgan Jones as Lyle Capper
Glen Davies as Burt Talbot
Ciara Charteris as Nurse Flora Byron
David Yelland as Sir Merlyn Chubb
Amy Marston as Sister Clodagh MacMahon
Celine Buckens as Staff Nurse Daisy Bennett
Sarah Winter as Staff Nurse Jo-Beth Mills
Alex McSweeney as Terence Bakewell
Shaun Evans as DC Endeavour Morse
James Bradshaw as Dr. Max DeBryn
Roger Allam as DI Fred Thursday
Anton Lesser as Chief Superindent Reginald Bright
Sean Rigby as DS Jim Strange
Dakota Blue Richards as WPC Shirley Trewlove
Caroline O’Neill as Win Thursday
Shvorne Marks as Monica Hicks
We have come to the end of this overview of the Lazaretto episode. I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Take care.
Chris
Thank you Chris. Informative and thorough as always! I thought this was a terrific episode – a great return back up to the high bar that Endeavour has set for itself. Canticle will be much easier to forget in light of Lazaretto… Can’t wait for this Sunday, though I’m reluctant to see which character embodies the tarot card. I’d hate to lose any of the main cast… Thanks again Chris.
Wonderful; remarkable & Fantastic as usual. Bravo as we said in spanish¡¡¡ Well done¡
Super review , thank you . I have to say it was a brilliant episode . A return to form . I have a daughter of 26 , I so wanted Morse to tell her parents that she is ok . Excellent production.
Sent from Samsung tablet
Hi Paul. I’m glad you liked my review. I hope you find other posts on my blog of interest to yourself. You are correct regarding Endeavour. As a parent of a 25 year old daughter I too would need to know.
Re the Dexter drawing, I’ve only watched the episode once, but I feel certain that I’d have noticed if there were such a clear shot as depicted in the EndeavourTV tweet. I’ll keep an eye open for it the next time through…
So another great blog post about what I thought was one of the best Endeavour episodes. It had good references to previous/future stories, but not too distracting for those who may never have seen Dead on Time or aware of the Wendy/Susan story. Also, worth adding to the Carry On reference was Long Hampton. This was the name of the Hosital in Carry On Again Doctor. I also understand from the FaceBook group chat after the episode that there was a reference to Finisham too, I missed it, but this was the name of the hospital in Carry On Matron.
I also wonder now that the guy who died means that the evidence against the Matthews gang will no longer stand, I understand from the episode that he was a significant witness, means that this gives them the green light to reform and cause more havoc. Therefore, after the last series there was some debate as to whether the bank robbery at Coda was just a new interpretation on the same one referenced in Promised Land, or whether it was an early by the gang. I still feel that the Coda bank robbery wasn’t the same as Promised Land.
Looking forward to the next one.
Oh, you cleared something up for me! I heard Morse and Susan’s mother talking about a son, and I thought the writers had made a mistake because S had a daughter not a son. So they were talking about her son, Susan’s brother.
Excellent write-up as always.
The Wench Must Die, at 12:12, Chief Super Strange orders David Keyes–the new inspector–to get him some grapes. Keyes asks “green or purple” . . . Strange, uncertain, “Oh, I don’t know.” etc.
Lazaretto: 49:30 ish, Thursday, bearing grapes, visits Bright in the hospital, “I wasn’t sure, green or black, so I brought one of each.”
Is the repetition simply connecting ornamentation? A jest?
Hi Pauli. Thanks for the interesting comment. It is a ll a bit of a game for Morse fans. I have added the connection in my post with a clip from each episode.
The porter in the long running 1970s ITV day time soap “General Hospital” was also called Capper.
Hi Paul. Thanks for the info. I don’t remember General Hospital and always believed it was just an American show. I have added the info to my blog post.
I’ve seen the episode now, loved it, and loved your review. You know, all these almost love affairs of his…they make me sad. Just like when you said that the attempt to murder Endeavour in Canticle was absurd because we know he wasn’t murdered. Well…we also know he is going to die absolutely alone, with only Chief Super Strange by his bed and only Lewis to thank to…so what’s the point? I love Endeavour as a TV series but it makes me melancholic…well, maybe that’s part of its appeal too!
OMG– thank you for having this Web site! Big Morse fan here! I am currently watching all the episodes on Acorn TV via Amazon and simultaneously re- reading all the novels. I will be checking out all of your blog posts.
Hi Jane and welcome to my blog. I hope you find many of my posts of some interest.
Pedantry is not my thing – but in the opening sequences there is a Morris Minor parked outside the grounds of the hospital – reg. no. VZ 9377. “Z” has never been a character included in UK
number plate licensing – I, Q, and Z were not used as serial letters, as the use of I and Z continued to be restricted to Ireland…
Thanks J.P. and welcome to my blog.
The reg no of my mother’s Morris 8 was CZ 9755. That was Belfast – part of the UK, surely?
Great review again. Heartbreaking episode, with blows coming in all directions.
I just wanted to share the excitement with you: I was re-watching “LEWIS” EXPIATION today, and recognized Ms. Phoebe Nicholls for the first time, thanks to “ENDEAVOUR” LAZARETTO! This cross-referencing thing is really fun, isn’t it. Thanks for the inspiration!
Check out @KCLKW’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/KCLKW/status/829117385655345152?s=09
Like you I always enjoy finding connections. 😉
Any ideas on the book WPC Trewlove was reading when sat, dressed in civvies, by the bed of sleeping Chief Superintendent Bright? It looked like “Lady Takes A Dive”, but I find nothing like that at http://bl.uk
Hi Ralph. unfortunately I have tried to read the title but with no joy.
I’m pretty sure it’s a reference to Richard Hoggart’s ‘The Uses of Literacy’ where he gives ‘The Lady Takes a Dive’ among a list of imagined pulp novels.
http://i.imgur.com/fyDELUo.png
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Cab_for_Cutie_(song)
Rewatching Lazaretto and I realized we don’t see Mr. Brite’s wife. He speaks of her and her bridge clubs and garden clubs, but she didn’t visit him in hospital? Trewlove is the one who sits with him? Curious don’t you think?
Hi Kathy. Me and a few others talked about this and we believe Mrs Bright is in the tradition of other charcaters mentioned in TV shows but never actually seen. For example Mrs Mainwaring in Dad’s Army. There is Mrs Wolowitz in the Big Bang Theory. Norm’s wife in Cheers
I am sure there are many others.
Mrs Columbo for example.
Reply to Jokerin
And what a disappointment the spin-off Mrs. Columbo was!
There are a few minor spelling mistakes in your text and one (though not on his photo) refers to Fagen as Gagen. The reference to the great 1982 Donald Fagen album ‘The Nightfly’ is clear, as in the title track the narrator is a night-time radio DJ and sings the words “I’m Lester the nightfly….”
Perhaps another angle on “There is no fault in love,” is that it’s an oblique reference to 1 Corinthians 13.
This site is a dream come true. I kept hoping something like it existed, and in looking for online discussions that might include such cross-references, I found your blog. Your writing is literate and entertaining, and you sure have enviable recall! Will greatly look forward to delving into your material. Many thanks!
Hi Chris and welcome to my blog. Thank you so much for your kind comments and I do hope you find much to entertain you on my blog.
Bravo again, Christopher! I do agree. However, I am check out on the solving of the murders and watching Endeavour for the characters. The murders and the solving of them in series 4 to me are so cliche and boring. 😛 Maybe, Lewis is doing this intentionally? Maybe, he is boring and frustrating us with detective story cliches to feel how Endeavour feels? Bored. Frustrated. What’s the use of this? LOL. 🙂 I jest, of course. But seriously, the moving, suspenseful scenes of this episode were not in the a-ha moments; they were in the emotional sliding doors and closing doors for Endeavour. And oh, my, they are beautiful!
And I think, think that Schubert’s String Quintet in C major op.163 D.956(II.Adagio) was modified for the 1995 Pride and Prejudice, the great novel when love conquers the social divide…. not so for Endeavour. 🙁
And although Endeavour’s “failures” saddens me, I have to admit, the deepest cut for me is watching Thursday’s “music” gone to the point of no return… (I am just abundant with the puns today…sorry). One of my favorite scenes in all of the Endeavour episodes takes place in Series 1, Episode 2 “Fugue” where Thursday tells Morse to “find something worth defending.” For Morse, it is music; it is the thing of beauty that he returns to recharge and decompress. (And isn’t it weird that we haven’t yet seen him do this in series 4. Or did I miss a scene? We see him drink his “brain food.” But we haven’t seen him put on an iconic Morse records.). Thursday’s “something worth defending,” his refuge ,was his family. His rule (and a rule that he enforced for all family members) was to keep work out of the house, for his house and the people in it were his safe place. But now, Thursday’s work has injured Joan in that she believes she caused the death of a co-worker. His fault? NO. But he lost his music…. Both of them have neglected their defense; they have no armor, they have no moments of worthwhile, and I wonder that’s why they keep “loosing it” when they confront the killers where most of the time they confront the guilty with a firm factual tone. (Something else that is bothering me…but this comment is already too long. Again…sorry. Happy reading, I hope?)
And speaking of loosing the music, (belligerent sigh) I regret to inform you that the American versions do not have some of the music mentioned above. We do not have “Glad All Over” during the nurse scene nor do we have “As Time Goes By” (we literally have a scratching record noise when Morse questions Fagan). I have defended PBS time and time again. And I will continue to do so. I am sure the US airing doesn’t have this music, not because of PBS, but because of some sort of international music licensing issues. But, OH, BOY, IT FRUSTRATES ME! Music sets the tone, and I believe it is a subtext of Endeavour’s thoughts and feelings, especially if you know the history of the music. So essentially the music edits take away just like a deleted scene takes away a piece of the story that we Americans do not get to see *even if* we do buy the extended UK edition, so we legally can never see the episode as it was originally intended. I don’t mind buying the episodes for the extended scenes. I do mind that they are not as originally aired in the UK. But even the extended UK edition doesn’t have the music. NOPE. “the day the music died…” (And we didn’t get Jefferson’s Airplane’s “White Rabbit” in the first episode. I am still in mourning. I am going to go play a requiem now.)
Hi — what a great blog!
A possible literary reference: Caroline Bryce-Morgan tells Morse her son[?] is on the law faculty at “New Carthage” — a reference to George’s name for the college town in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Hi Tom and welcome to my blog. Thank you for the excellent reference I would never have recognised that one.
Another literary reference when Morse and DeBryn are in Mrs. Zachareides’s home: Morse asks about cause of death and DeBryn says “Could be any of the thousand shocks.” This is a reference to Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy. Hamlet says that death is “to end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”
Well spotted Justine. I will add that to my post,
Number of murders.
Great blog – and great comments – I also noticed that when Endeavour asks Monica if she’s happy, she doesn’t answer but says “what about you?” which is the same conversation they have in Season 2 when they are together and spending a day off together she asks if he’s happy and he doesn’t answer but says “you?”
A lot of mirrored relationships for poor Endeavour in this episode. He tells Trewlove “we were engaged and then we weren’t” I’m sure Monica felt the same thing – one day they were a couple talking of leaving the country together and then in Season 3 “they weren’t”
Endeavour tells Joan to call her parents – it’s the right thing to do which is the same thing Thursday tells Endeavour in Ride – to call Monica . and both Endeavour and Joan have the same excuse for not calling – they messed up and don’t want to face up to it
also Endeavour is mistaken for Monica’s husband when she is mattress shopping and then in Harvest he is mistaken as the husband once again
I just watched this episode on ITV3. I’m surprised not to have seen this commented anywhere else, but I was struck by the number of nods (too many to be a coincidence, surely?) towards Dennis Potter’s peerless 1986 TV drama, “The Singing Detective”: both have an attractive young Nurse Mills who gets the pulses of the pyjama-clad male patients racing, offset against a strict and humourless Sister, a criminal patient on the ward, “I Get Along Without You Very Well” (by Lew Stone and His Band in the Potter drama) in the soundtrack, gunshots fired in a hospital ward, and a plummy-voiced emotionally not very intelligent middle-aged detective (Michael Gambon vs Roger Allam).
Wunderbar! I especially liked how you have included info about all the classical music.
Trying to tie up loose ends, but I must have missed something. Who was meant to have killed the Scottish hired killer and his driver, discovered in the boot of a car, two shots each? Surely not the little nurse who killed all the others with insulin?
Glad Endeavour doesn’t have to cope with Susan’s Mum. What a horrid, tiny person.
So glad Endeavour doesn’t have to cope with Susan’s Mum. What a horrid, tiny hearted person
Wow! You know your stuff! Hope you enjoy your English course at lovely Edinburgh.
In Lazaretto although Maidenhead Town Hall is used as the hospital I am sure that the outside “corridors “ are those at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot ??
Thanks Ian I have added that information to the post.
Actually I’m pretty sure the location of the outside corridors of the hospital is the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore. The blue painted columns are quite unusual so I’ve not forgotten them!
I think the parrot as a possible clue to the death is a nod to Hergé’s L’oreille cassée/’The Broken Ear’. A parrot is the last witness to an artist who died in suspicious circumstances…
What a godsend your blog is! I live in Spain, and the entire series is being shown; this episode was aired on Thursday last. I very much appreciate these blog entries indeed.
Hello and welcome to my website. Thank you so much for your kind and lovely comment. I hope you find more things of interest on my website.
How kind of you to reply! Once the Spanish airing of the series is completed, I’ll have time to explore all your website offers! Tonight we get Season 5, episode 2.
Was the echoing of Spratt and Chubb noted, both fish gaining a doubled last consonant? Enjoying the blog, which I’ve just discovered.
Welcome to my website Suzy. I never noticed the doubled last consonant. Well spotted.
Chris have you seen the amazing photo that the director of the episode recently posted. Obviously (and rather intriguingly) a photo of Morse and Joan when he goes to visit her at the flat and clearly is going in for a kiss – it is quite a atmospheric and intense photo – but clearly the scene was either cut or they filmed several versions. I would attach the photo but I don’t know how to for your site.
No I haven’t Maria. Where can I find it?
I found it on his instagram account (through a tag) – borkursigthors – but I am sure someone also posted on Twitter.
Thank you Maria, I have found it.
In the Morse episode dead on time I thought Susan, besides being unnecessarily callous towards Morse by touting her wonderful life with Henry, chose Henry because he could provide her with a better lifestyle and was following a more prestigious career path. Now having just rewatched Lazaretto with scenes of Susan’s mother (If there is “an evil old cow,” she’s it) I am thinking that along with her own ambitions she was pressured into opting for Henry over Morse by her mother. She obviously never liked Morse and regarded him as an inferior match for her daughter.
It is possible the mother had some influence over Susan and a dislike of Morse but I doubt she could have so much influence over someone as single minded as Susan. I also have to firmly disagree that Susan ‘unnecessarily callous.’ Susan was letting Morse know that she had no regrets in choosing Henry and that Morse should be under no allusion regarding that fact.
I just thought the remark at the hearing, “we were happier than any couple had a right to be” was a bit cutting as I think the expression on morsels face showed and then he left. I know she wanted Morse to know she didn’t regret her decision.
Saw this episode again recently. I noticed things I hadn’t seen before. Small example, Joan’s lover taking off his wedding ring and how Endeavour notices this as he’s leaving via the lift. Does Morse ever know exactly what happened when Fred visited Leamington? We don’t see Fred tell him that he gave Joan’s lover a beating and threatened him. Does Joan ever tell Morse that her father beat him up or does Endeavour just make an educated guess, based on Fred’s past behaviour ?
Each character may know a little of what happened in Leamington but not the full picture
Who killed the two supposed hired killers found in the coffer of their car ?
They were killed by the people who hired them.
Thank you for your blog, and condolences on your mother’s sickness and passing. I watched some of these episodes originally with my mother when I was helping her, and watching them now again is a bittersweet remembrance. Good luck with your planned future studies and your book.
Hello Greg. Thank you for your condolences and I send mine as well. Thank you also for your kind regards in relation to my studies and book.
Some nice scenes between Morse and Joan, but this is yet another Russell Lewis episode that promises a lot, then fizzles out with a feeble ending. I think he’s best when adapting someone else’s story (The Way Through The Woods, for example) because I don’t really think he can plot murder mysteries very well. I completely agree that a selection of writers would have helped the series
Just watching the Sky series ‘The Midwich Cuckoos’ and in Episode 2, I think they’ve used the same hospital in Ascot for some of their exterior hospital scenes.
Hi Chris – do you think there may be a reference to the Powell and Pressburger film ‘Black Narcissus’ in two of the character names in this episode? We have Sister Clodagh, and a nurse Byron – in BN, Sister Clodagh is the nun in charge of the mission in the high Himslayas, and Kathleen Byron plays Sister Ruth, the nun who loses her mind… Just a thought!
Hi Chris. Great connection and no doubt a reference to that great film, Black Narcissus. I will add in that info to my post. Thank you.
Just watched this episode. Late to the “Morse” game here. Lots of murders in S4 E3, “Lazaretto”, way too many. And, once again, the killer is someone insane which is revealed only in the last few minutes of the show. Seems to be a theme. Still, I love this show despite its flaws, most of which are just loose ends. In this episode, there are several loose ends, at least things I missed. For example, how did Morse find Joan’s apartment? OK, it’s by the phone box, but how did he know which building and apartment? Did he try every door? look at the mail boxes? talk to the super? Why can’t Joan just call her mom and let her know she is alright? Why did Joan call Morse in the first place (if indeed she did call him, I don’t actually know). Morse is the one guy who would track down that phone number. Where did the vase of putrid flowers come from next to Bed 10? Nurse Mills? Who killed the hired guns? I don’t buy it was those that hired them, why would they kill them? Why are the dead bodies being so quickly removed from the hospital and not undergoing thorough post mortems? Nurse Mills could not arrange that. Sister Clodagh?
Anyways, thanks for listening to my rant. Also, thanks to Mr. Sullivan for setting this blog up.
Welcome Lawrence and some very good, salient points.
Chris, a Star Wars question for you: Should someone who’s never seen Morse, Lewis or Endeavour start with Endeavour, then proceed to Morse, and finally Lewis, or should they watch the series in order of production?
I know this was directed at Chris, but I’ll throw in my two-penneth 🙂 This topic is probably worth a post in it’s own right.
I would watch it in production order or all Morse > Lewis > Endeavour (because there was some overlap between Lewis and Endeavour production).
Doing it in storyline order is ok, but particularly in the first few Endeavour series, you’ll miss the references, connections or nods to Morse and the odd one to Lewis episodes.
The one thing to bear in mind that Morse TV series was conceived in the mid 80’s, it was ground breaking at the time for a drama to have the 2 hour slot, and since then certain production values have changed (for the better or the worse is probabl for a different thread). Therefore, some perserverance may be required on the earlier Morse episodes, based on comments I’ve seen from others.
Caroline was absolutely horrible – how could she be the mother of the charming Richard Pascoe? 😊
I thought that the name Byron was a literary reference, and Dr Powell is something of a Don Juan, but I see now that it’s a Powell and Pressburger reference.
At one point I wondered if Dr Powell was administering something to Sir Merlyn to induce a tremor – but he wasn’t.
Great review, Chris.