Here is my daughter’s wonderful photoshop based on the Anthony Van Dyke painting Daedalus and Icarus..
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Endeavour Series five, Episode six; ‘Icarus’.
Chronologically this is episode 23.
First broadcast 11th March 2018.
Where’s Colin?
I’m not 100% sure but… This is during the scene when Thursday and Strange are interviewing Blackwell.
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Directed by Gordon Anderson . This is Gordon’s first venture into the Morse universe.
Written by Colin Dexter (characters), Russell Lewis (written and devised by). Russell has written all the Endeavour episodes. He also wrote;
Lewis (TV Series) (screenplay – 4 episodes, 2010 – 2012) (story – 1 episode, 2006)
– Fearful Symmetry (2012) … (screenplay)
– Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things (2011) … (screenplay)
– Falling Darkness (2010) … (screenplay)
– The Dead of Winter (2010) … (screenplay)
– Reputation (2006) … (story)
He also wrote the Morse episode, ‘The Way Through the Woods’.
SYNOPSIS
After the disappearance of a teacher at Coldwater school Morse is sent in as a substitute. Division is concerned Ivory’s disappearance is linked to the deaths of two police officers.
Meanwhile the rest of the team continue to investigate Cromwell Ames and Eddie Nero. George Fancy is given the task of tailing Ames.
Trewlove is given the role of being Morse’s wife while he plays the part of teacher. Will Morse be tempted by Trewlove’s womanly wiles?
REVIEW.
(warning, this review will contain some spoilers)
My review this week consists of two videos.
Something I forgot to mention in my video review is the anticlimax regarding the Ames and Nero story line. It was ridiculous the way this story line was ended. It didn’t go out with a bang but instead it went out with a whimper. It gave me the impression that the gangster story line was written to allow the death of Fancy to happen. Nothing more, nothing less.
I am assuming that Russell knew well in advance that the series was being renewed. Why? Because surely he would not have ended the series in the way he did. Surely, he would not have been so cruel as to have Fancy killed by an unknown assailant and we never got to find out who killed him due to the series not being renewed. Of course Russell may have found out weeks ago or months ago and he and the production team wrote a second ending for Fancy and also filmed a second ending in case the series was not renewed.
Personally I believe the new series was given the nod months ago. There was a probably a rider in the contract that said something along the lines of, if the fifth series has fewer than blah blah amount of viewers then it will be cancelled. But if it achieves figures similar to the fourth series, which it did, then a new series is guaranteed.
I should also point out that I haven’t been working on the blog post exclusively for three days. I was working on my Lewis book, a novel and writing a speech for an up and coming event in April.
Episode Jag Rating – out of 10.
MUSIC
The music from the beginning of the episode is Johann Michael Haydn’s (1737 – 1806) Requiem in c minor (for Fürsterzbischof Sigismund von Schrattenbach) The section you hear in the episode is from the beginning of the Requiem at 3 minutes and 42 seconds.
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The music playing as the police enter Eddie Nero’s snooker hall and discover the shoot out is He’ll Have to Go by Jim Reeves.
LITERARY REFERENCES.
When Alun Bodnar first meets Morse he says to Morse. “Welcome to Saint Bastards. Ye who enter here, all hope abandon” He is paraphrasing ‘Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.’ This is a translation of the Italian phrase, “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate”. These words are an inscription that Dante reads as he passes through the gate of Hell. This is part of Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God.
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Morse tells the class to read Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Lines 225 to 230. Daedalus and Icarus. Daedalus is Icarus’s father. We all know the story of Icarus who attempted to fly with wings made of wax and feathers by his father. But on flying too close to the Sun the wax melted and Icarus fell to the sea and drowned. The lines Morse tells the pupils to read are ‘he took his path [went] higher. The vicinity of the sun softens the fragrant wax, the chains of the feathers; the wax melted: he shook his bare arms and lacking oarage he takes up no air, and his mouth shouting his father’s name is swept up in the blue sea, which takes its name from him.’ (oarage mean the action of oaring). The Icarian Sea near Icaria, an island southwest of Samos is named after the place where Icarus drowned.
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The above is a book of poetry by Rudyard Kipling. Rather ironically the collection has a poem titled, ‘ A Ballade of Bad Entertainment’.
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Morse comes across young Nero reading The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives from Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero.
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Stanlow is in bed reading.
A Nation of Immigrants by the then U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy. The book highlighting the contribution of immigrants at a time when the country was locked in a debate about the direction its policy should take. Sounds similar to a situation we have in the USA and UK today.
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Three of the schoolboys meet Trewlove in the woods. Bodnar appears and tells the boys to leave. Rackway says to Bodnar “Qui non nobiscum adversus nos est“. This means He that is not with us is against us.
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Morse is in Rose Cottage near the end of the episode and picks up the Kipling collection of poetry.
As you can see he is looking at the poem ‘The Overland Mail‘.
IN THE name of the Empress of India, make way,
O Lords of the Jungle, wherever you roam.
The woods are astir at the close of the day—
We exiles are waiting for letters from Home.
Let the robber retreat—let the tiger turn tail—
In the Name of the Empress, the Overland Mail!
With a jingle of bells as the dusk gathers in,
He turns to the foot-path that heads up the hill—
The bags on his back and a cloth round his chin,
And, tucked in his waist-belt, the Post Office bill:—
“Despatched on this date, as received by the rail,
“Per runner, two bags of the Overland Mail.”
Is the torrent in spate? He must ford it or swim.
Has the rain wrecked the road? He must climb by the cliff.
Does the tempest cry halt? What are tempests to him?
The Service admits not a “but” or and “if.”
While the breath’s in his mouth, he must bear without fail,
In the Name of the Empress, the Overland Mail.
From aloe to rose-oak, from rose-oak to fir,
From level to upland, from upland to crest,
From rice-field to rock-ridge, from rock-ridge to spur,
Fly the soft sandalled feet, strains the brawny brown chest.
From rail to ravine—to the peak from the vale—
Up, up through the night goes the Overland Mail.
There’s a speck on the hillside, a dot on the road—
A jingle of bells on the foot-path below—
There’s a scuffle above in the monkey’s abode—
The world is awake, and the clouds are aglow.
For the great Sun himself must attend to the hail:—
“In the name of the Empress, the Overland Mail!”
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Morse reads the following at Fancy’s funeral.
Say not the Struggle nought Availeth
BY ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH
Say not the struggle nought availeth,
The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
And as things have been they remain.
If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;
It may be, in yon smoke concealed,
Your comrades chase e’en now the fliers,
And, but for you, possess the field.
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light,
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
But westward, look, the land is bright.
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Thank you to Ivan Limon who pointed out this interesting reference, “A nice literary reference came when Mr. Blackwell asked Morse if he remembered “Old Wilkie” from a previous school and later confronted Morse with the fact Old Wilkie had never heard of him. “Old Wilkie” was the nickname off Mr. Wilkins from the Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge set in Linbury Court School.”
Thanks Ivan.
ART
None.
LOCATIONS
The location for Coldwater school is Reading School, Erleigh Rd, Reading RG1 5LW.
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The pet store where Eddie Nero and his wife are looking to buy a puppy is the Oxfam bookshop on Turl Street, Oxford.
It’s not the first time the Oxfam bookshop has been used as a location in the Endeavour series.
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Thursday looks into the shop window to see Fancy buying jewellery. This is an antiques shop on Turl Street. The same street that the Oxfam bookshop is on. In fact the antiques shop is next door to the bookshop.
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Morse and Thursday sit in front of Merton Field looking toward Merton College.
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Thank you to a friend on Twitter, La Gazza Ladra who pointed me toward this location.
The location used for the pub after the funeral of George Fancy is the The Elephant Inn, 283 Ballards Ln, London N12 8NR.
Here are some photos taken during filming. I think the photos are the copyright of North Finchley Council.
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Thank you to T. Lucas who pointed me toward the location of Eddie Nero’s snooker Hall.
The location is Blue Boar Street, Oxford.
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Thank you to Mark for telling me about our next location, the cemetery and crypt where Endeavour finds Roundtree.
This crypt is known as The Colquhuon Mortuary Chapel, Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey.
To read more about this chapel click here.
Mark wrote that “it was hidden in a very large Rhododendron thicket, Now cleared about 18 months ago. But still not a easy place to find. The plaque was added by the film crew. The Crypt needed some repair before the filming as part of the floor had collapsed.”
PUB LOCATIONS
It looks like they have used the same pub as used in previous episodes of the fifth series, The Royal Standard of England, Forty Green, Beaconsfield.
Actors who appeared in the Endeavour Series 5, Episode 6 ‘Icarus’ and/or Morse or Lewis.
Felix Scott as Mr. Blackwell. He also appeared in the Lewis episode ‘And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea’ (Series 2, Episode 1) as Franklin.
I think this is him as the police officer.
Thank you to Geoff Edwards who noted that Michael Simkins who played the headmaster Baldwin Mackenzie was also in Lewis.
Michael was in the Lewis episode, The Point of Vanishing (Series 3, Episode 3)
In the Lewis episode he played Manfred Canter.
CONNECTIONS OTHER THAN ACTORS TO THE LEWIS AND ORIGINAL MORSE SERIES
John and Cheryl noted the following; “At 32 minutes the discovery of Roundtree’s body by Endeavour in the crypt has echoes of Morse finding Hanbury in Ghost In The Machine.”
Miscellaneous
The school where Morse is assigned is Coldwater. There is a 2013 film named Coldwater that details the abuse of juvenile inmates in a privatized American wilderness reform facility. A tenuous reference but the boys at Coldwater were being physically abused.
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While Morse and Thursday stare toward Oxford, Fred says “It doesn’t seem much like proper coppering to me. Tomorrow’s World.” The last two words may be an oblique reference to the BBC TV show ‘Tomorrow’s World’ which ran from 1965 to 2003.
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When Morse first comes across some of the boys bullying another boy he asks what is going on. The first says “natural selection” a reference to Charles Darwin who popularised the term “natural selection”, contrasting it with artificial selection, which is intentional, whereas natural selection is not. The next boy says “survival of the fittest”. Not a Darwinian phrase as many think but a phrase that originated in Herbert Spencer’s Principles of Biology. The third says what ‘Mensch und Ubermensch‘. Übermensch is German for “Beyond-Man”, “Superman” etc. The phrase comes from Friedrich Nietzsche’s 1883 book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Menxch means ‘man. Mensch und Ubermensch is a reference to George Bernard Shaw’s play Man and Superman.
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This equation also appears later.
Morse mentions the equation being called The Rifleman’s Rule. Click here to read more about it.
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When Morse is reading out the boy’s names from the class register they answer ‘adsum’. Adsum means ‘I am here.’ During the same scene Nero says of Roundtree who has been expelled as ‘abest.’ This is the third-person singular present active indicative of absum. Abest is latin for ‘missing’.
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When Morse is looking to find out if Brett Nero is related to the gangster Eddie Nero he finds the above document. His address is given as 15 Iskander Lane, Oxford. There is no such address. Iskander is a name that was given to Alexnder the Great but is also the name given to short-range ballistic missile system produced and deployed by the Russian.
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The names of the pupils, Aggravine, Babcock, Clunchfist are all rather Dickensian or a nod to the Alan Bennett play The History Boys. Probably more a nod to Dickens but history boys could be an allusion to the future of Cowley police station and all those who sail in it. However I thought the whole episode reeked of a rip off of the Lindsay Anderson film ‘If’. That film saw pupils shoot staff and parents. Also of course Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem ‘If’ and Kipling is writ large in the episode. On checking IMDB I saw that there is a pupil called Rowntree in the film ‘If’. (If you can’t guess I am sighing as I write this).
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Left to right; Bobby Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jnr. All assassinated. Mmmmm could this be a case of foreshadowing.
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The matron asks for Morse’s help dealing with Stanlow. Stanlow tells Morse that Mr Ivory “… used to call me “Dak”, sir. I think it’s short for “Daktari“. It’s a programme on the television about a vet in Africa. Hands up all those who remember Daktari. My hand is up.
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One of my blog readers, Carol, wrote this comment to me; ” I’ve been wondering if Trewlove is a reference to Frank Thornton’s character in Last of the Summer Wine: Herbert Truelove. He called himself “Truly of the Yard”. Such a coincidence that Trewlove has put in for the Yard!”
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Of course the play the boys are rehearsing is Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Ivory’s shirt had 23 puncture wounds. The number of knife wounds suffered by Caesar.
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Oh Russell you scamp. You always have to shoehorn in your modern political references mustn’t you.
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The plaque reads ‘Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world’.
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Morse looking Ivory’s wallet. He comes across a card for Magdalen Cabs. We first came across the cab firm in the episode Muse (Series 5, Episode 1). The taxi firm is a front for Eddie Nero’s illegal prostitute ring.
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In this episode we find out why Bright was so fond of Trewlove. Bright and his wife had a daughter, Dulcie, and by all accounts she died young. Possibly died due to malaria. This revelation let’s us know why Mrs Bright keeps herself so busy with voluntary work etc.
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Thank you to Michael Stephenson for the following information; “One major reference I think you missed however is ‘Unman, Wittering and Zigo’, a 1958 radio play by Giles Cooper, later adapted as a film with David Hemmings. The play follows a new teacher at a minor public school (Mr Ebony – compare with Mr Ivory in Endeavour) taking over a form from the previous master who has died in mysterious circumstances, and slowly coming to suspect that his pupils murdered him. There are some Endeavour scenes almost directly lifted from the play, such as Morse finding the bloodstained wallet in the desk during roll call, and many of the pupils’ names are also very reminiscent of the very odd names from the play (where aside from the title characters, there are boys called Cloistermouth, Bungibine and Cuthbun). It’s an excellent play, very atmospheric, and is available on youtube.
Also, the Radio 4 comedy, Bleak Expectations, which parodied Dickens plots, featured a boarding school called St. Bastards!”
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Davey Shephard noted two excellent points of interest. Firstly in regard to Fred talking about his move to Oxford from London and how it was like going from black and white to colour. Davey noted that BBC2 broadcast its first colour pictures from Wimbledon in 1967. By mid 1968, nearly every BBC2 programme was in colour. Six months later, colour came to BBC1.
Davey’s second point of interest is that Lily Lesser who played Ravenna Mackenzie.
is Anton Lesser’s daughter.
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John Crawford sent me the following note, “Felix Scott as Mr. Blackwell says to Morse “your wife tells me you were at Bamfield”… or possibly Bamfylde, which is the fictional public school in R. F. Delderfield’s 1972 novel “To Serve Them All My Days”.
Photos from the wonderful Blog http://www.simplyoxford.com
All rights are of course the photographers.
John and Cheryl noted the following,
- At 50 minutes Fred offers to run Wyn to her sister, Rene’s. In what car? Although their house has a garage we have never seen the Thursday’s with a car of their own.
- Cheryl has noticed that at 53 minutes either Bodnar and Trewlove or the 3 pupils are taking the wrong route back to Coldwater. Bodnar instructs the boys to go back to school before he fetches the headmaster and they depart in one direction yet also offers to escort Trewlove and they walk in the opposite direction.
- At 1 hour 6 minutes Endeavour says every summer Ivory travelled to Marrakesh, North Africa and Istanbul, presumably to source drugs. yet Bodnar only mentioned Marrakesh to Endeavour. Also, there is a great distance between Marrakesh and Istanbul; these two places are on different Continents and are separated by the length of the Mediterranean Sea. Would Ivory journey so much for his product? We think not.
THE MURDERED, THEIR MURDERER/S AND THEIR METHODS.
Roundtree. Killed by John Ivory or Heroin overdose?
George Fancy shot by ?????????
Don’t even ask me how many others were killed in snooker hall. I was forever losing count. Let’s just write that the body count in this episode was high. 😉
John Ivory stabbed by Mrs. Seymour
CAST
Lewis Peek as DC George Fancy.
Shaun Evans as DS Endeavour Morse
Anton Lesser as Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright
Andrew Buckley as Alun Bodnar
Roger Allam as DCI Fred Thursday
Mark Arden as Eddie Nero
David Jonsson Fray as Cromwell Ames
Dakota Blue Richards as WPC Shirley Trewlove
Aldo Maland as Stanlow
Anson Boon as Brett Nero
Lily Lesser as Ravenna Mackenzie
Caroline Martin as Kate Ivory
Caroline O’Neill as Win Thursday
Sean Rigby as DS Jim Strange
Michael Simkins as Baldwin Mackenzie
Felix Scott as Mr. Blackwell
Madeleine Worrall as Mrs. Seymour
Phil Daniels as Charlie Thursday
James Bradshaw as Dr. Max DeBryn
Abigail Thaw as Dorothea Frazil
Luke Steele as John Ivory
Nice work as ever Christopher. One major reference I think you missed however is ‘Unman, Wittering and Zigo’, a 1958 radio play by Giles Cooper, later adapted as a film with David Hemmings. The play follows a new teacher at a minor public school (Mr Ebony – compare with Mr Ivory in Endeavour) taking over a form from the previous master who has died in mysterious circumstances, and slowly coming to suspect that his pupils murdered him. There are some Endeavour scenes almost directly lifted from the play, such as Morse finding the bloodstained wallet in the desk during roll call, and many of the pupils’ names are also very reminiscent of the very odd names from the play (where aside from the title characters, there are boys called Cloistermouth, Bungibine and Cuthbun). It’s an excellent play, very atmospheric, and is available on youtube.
Also, the Radio 4 comedy, Bleak Expectations, which parodied Dickens plots, featured a boarding school called St. Bastards!
Hi Michael. Thank you for these interesting references. I have to admit to knowing nothing about the radio play. I will add all this info into my post.
I also thought some school scenes of the episode were reminiscent of Unman, Wittering and Zigo especially when Trewlove is confronted by the pupils. As a slight connection, the late Barbara Lott, who appeared in this film, also played Mrs Bayley in “Remorseful Day”.
Sorry if I missed it in your blog but wasn’t Michael Simkins Manfed Canter in the Lewis episode “The Point of Vanishing”?
He did Geoff thanks. I forgot to add him. Pain and tiredness are my excuses.
For some reason, on his IMDB cv, Felix Scott was credited as Felixstowe Scott on the Lewis episode ‘And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea’ (Series 2, Episode 1) . Perhaps that’s his Christian name.
Thank you- I enjoyed reading that. However, I don’t think “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate” is Latin. Dante’s Inferno is written in the dialect of Medieval Tuscany, which was the language Dante spoke and wrote in.
You are right Ghislaine. This is why I failed my Latin exam at school. 🙂
I think I missed something; was the death of the two policemen resolved? Thanks!
Morse and Thursday decided it was probably Eddie Nero’s people as they maybe were getting to close to Eddie’s drug dealing.
Thanks! I’ll have to watch it again. Love this blog,! I’m American and don’t get most of the references in the episodes.
Hi Chris. Love the new look blog and your new approach to this weeks review.
Once again I am glad to have picked up on some of the references but naturally not all (but that’s part of the beauty of it all, for me anyway).
– I had a thought when Thursday say’s to Morse that coming to Oxford was like going from black and white into colour, do you think this is a nod toward the use of colour on British TV? It’s 1968 and wasn’t that the year some colour TV began or BBC2 began? Am I on to anything here? Admittedly, it’s before my time but someone will know this right away I’m sure.
– Totally agree with the gangster shoot out scene. Disappointing and we can’t even conceive why Fancy was in the club to have been shot in the first place, against such odds and against orders what would he be doing in there? He was just on surveillance, unless he was seen and taken into the place against his will by Aimes or henchmen I suppose. As you say, hugely predictable and hugely indicative of another series being commissioned.
May I also ask. One of the actors – Lily Lesser, is this Anton’s daughter by chance?
Thanks so much for all the effort this series, it’s like getting twice as much for your money – the episode and then the blog!
Davey.
Hi Davey. You are spot on regarding colour and the BBC. ITV had colour in 1969. BBC2 had colour in 1967 but the BBC1 started using colour in 1968. Also Lily is Anton’s daughter. Don’t know how I missed that. I will put it down to pain and tiredness. Thanks Davey, I will add this info into the post.
As usual so many things to learn from your blog- in the US we would never know the locations and all the other information that you enlighten us with- Thank You so much for taking time out to do this review ;o)
Thank you Bertie that is so kind. I am glad you are enjoying my posts.
Thanks again for your reviews of this series: really enjoy them.
I may be stretching it here, but I thought the filing cabinet being left slightly open by Morse was a reference to the Silent World of Nicholas Quinn….
Wow Rhys that Morse reference makes you a bigger Morse geek than me. 😉 I will certainly add that to my post.
Eddie Nero’s snooker hall entrance is in Blue Boar St, Oxford
Thank you. I forgot about the location in the episode. I will add that to my post.
Love your blog Christopher, I really appreciate it. I don’t think there’s anything else like it with regards to the Morse world. And btw your voice is just fine! I agreed that this episode was good, I liked it a lot and disliked the anticlimactic end to the story arc; it was lazy writing and way too many predictable things happening. My thoughts are that I hope they get a great cast for next season with key people leaving. I’d also like more character development for Endeavour where we see the future Morse a bit more as well as finding out more about him as a young man. Shaun is a fabulous actor and he needs the best writing for this to happen. I love Thursday and can’t imagine the show without him unless we have these things.
Thank you Laura for you kind comment. I am trying to be optimistic about the next series.
In 1968 I worked for a company in Birmingham (jewellry quarter) and had made some badges saying ” I’m backing britain” a slogan of the Harold Wilson Government at the time. We sold thousands of these and it was the attempt to rally support for our industry ( no europhiles then!). could this be what the ‘make britain greater’ was refering to?
Hi Terry. That is interesting about the badges. You could be right regarding the writer Russell Lewis’ intention but it may be a mix of the phrase you mention and UKIP Make Britain Great.
Julian and Sandy in ‘Round the Horne’ talk about ‘I’m backing Britain’. They are selling things very cheaply as they are all made in Japan!
Nice review Chris!
I also, couldn’t help noticing, that ITV have recommissioned Series 6 of Endeavour due to critical acclaim ( who are they kidding!) and successful ratings ( for successful, read risible, lamentable and possibly the lowest of any series so far produced!)
Coincidentally l read an article published in the Independent on Wednesday revealing a new study by University College, London and University of Cambridge suggesting people in the UK have difficulty performing simple arithmetical calculations. I wonder how many of these people work for ITV!
In light of this, lt would be interesting to know how the press centre at ITV would now interpret the result of the 2016 EU Referendum! Presumably brexit never happened!
All very true Will. Btw I’m sorry your comments do not publish immediately. Normally after the first approved comment the others publish automatically. I will need to look into what the problem may be.
You have a valid point. But as always one should never look a gift horse in the mouth!
I don’t have any numbers in front of me, but Endeavour is very popular in the U.S. Perhaps the critical acclaim and successful ratings here (not to mention whatever PBS pays ITV) are the real reason for Series 6 being commissioned?
Pas problème, Chris BTW did you notice for the second week in a row we gave a character from Foyles War namely Caroline Martin or Milner’s first version second wife! This time without a gun.
Hi Will – I think you will find that those exact words have been in the last 3 Press Releases (at least) announcing each new series – they obviously use a template – as a person who spent 18 years in PR it is lazy but not uncommon release writing.
Agreed! It is lazy. In my own way l was trying to draw attention to, what, having looked at the viewing figures, are the worst released of any season. I think cumulatively over the six week run, the numbers hardly exceed series consisting of four episodes.
Your blog is excellent in details and depth of knowledge.
I enjoyed the final episode of the series apart from the pub shoot out we never got to see, my idea’s on this are that A, possibly to keep secret the identity of the murderer of Fancy or B, minimise cost of production. …or C, both ?
I remember being ten years old and watching BBC2 in 1967 on our Redifusion rental TV It was Wimbledon the picture did a close up on comentator Peter West and as it did so his umbrella changed from dark grey to green there were at least 20 people in our lounge all gasped with pleasure and not a little awe ( although not me , as I was delighted by it too me it was just like the films at the local cinema but perhaps not with such depth of colour ).
I’m backing Britain was the big slogan of the time even pushed by the Carry On films but I’m not certain which particular ones.
Ive noticed yellow lines on the roads outside shops in several episodes and I’m not certain they would have been there at the time the shows set in but perhaps with it being an historical city they had been introduced early.
A big problem I’ve noticed when these lines arecmeant to be concealed it’s quite obvious that a plain plastic looking sheet is used and often you see the edge of the overlap I’ve often thought that making a cobbled effect cover would look much better and fit almost any time set before the dreaded yellow lines.just a thought.
Thank you for your blog and to the many commentators.
At the end of ‘Carry On Up The Khyber’ the final battle for the Governor’s residence finishes with a shot of the Union flag with ‘I’m backing Britain’ across it.
If you don’t like the show, why do you keep watching? You truly do ruin for the fans that have enjoyed it. Why do pick and pick at everything? And why keep comparing it to the “old Morse” and Lewis”? these 2 shows I never thought were anything special. There, that’s my opinion. I don’t know why your thoughts are the BE ALL AND END ALL of opinions. Change the channel, and let us, who love this show and hate to hear you, enjoy it.
Dear Laura – To quote you, “If you don’t like the BLOG, why do you keep VISITING & READING? You truly do ruin for the fans that have enjoyed it.” I’m genuinely curious.
Hi Laura – how does Chris’s opinion ruin it for you? Also, in case it has escaped your notice this is a Morse, Lewis and Endeavour site – Chris has painstakingly created an amazing resource on the 3 shows so clearly he has respect and is a genuine fan. This is a private blog and you don’t have to come here and read his reviews. I don’t agree with all of his opinions but they interest me nonetheless. Keep enjoying the show!
Dear Laura
l can imagine how depressing this is for you. Living in a civilised society which tries to adhere to an idea of plurality of opinions as opposed to echo chamber-ing and default posturing! (trolling). What next? Book burning?
“Consigned to outer darkness”– one of the boys uses this phrase to describe Roundtree, after he is declared to be expelled, banished, abest, etc. This is Biblical reference; maybe that doesn’t need to be noted?
I knew this quotation from the film Becket (1964), starring O’Toole and Burton (but google tells me that it is phrase from Matthew). In retrospect it is a bit of a cryptic clue (pardon the phrase) as the eponymous archbishop is murdered in consecrated ground.
My thoughts on this Ep. I enjoyed it – far more than Quartet ! Yes there were plot holes but I don’t expect any show not to have.
Your review was great Chris – sorry about your condition – hope it improves soon.
I think we all guessed poor Fancy’s fate ! That was an interesting interview with Damien Timmer and he confirms that poor Fancy was a goner before he was even written – once Dakota decided to leave the series.
The Morse/Trewlove playing house – I thought that was kind of unnecessary- I though that she was so featured in this Ep because she was leaving (kind of like Jakes was in Arcadia a lot and a bit of a hero for his last Ep) but it seemed this scenario would have made more sense if she was staying or she and Endeavour had been romantic somehow in the series (it has been used many times in other shows) would have preferred her showcased in another way but it was good to see her used more before she left.
Lots of leads for series 6 – hope the main ones will be followed up. Certainly the “who killed Fancy” will be.
Didn’t like the last scene – I do want Joan and Endeavour together but enough! The actress (like Dakota) was massively under-used. I have a theory that they have already filmed her final scene and we will see the end of that at the start of series 6 in flashback – if they do that I will really be annoyed – they should have either have a romance or the refusal should have been in this Ep – if they kick off Series 6 that way I will feel mis-lead (again).
In one of the scenes where Endeavour and Trewlove are in the missing teacher’s cottage they’re listening to some of the teacher’s records. I think the music playing is from the Miles Davis album “Miles Smiles”. But I don’t think the sleeve of the record is visible in the scene. Endeavour looks suitably impressed by the music, perhaps realising that there is life beyond classical music.
A nice literary reference came when Mr. Blackwell asked Morse if he remembered “Old Wilkie” from a previous school and later confronted Morse with the fact Old Wilkie had never heard of him. “Old Wilkie” was the nickname off Mr. Wilkins from the Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge set in Linbury Court School.
Thanks Ivan. I will add that info to my post.
Also, Bamfylde School is the setting of R.F. Delderfield’s “To Serve Them All My Days,” (1972) which was subsequently a BBS mini-series in 1980-81.
When Ames confronts Nero in the snooker hall, Nero remarks on him coming alone. Ames replies he is never alone, (paraphrasing) he has the devil with him. Is there a unseen heavy that Ames has do his dirty work, who was the mysterious gunman in the final shoot out. The final scene has the coppers committing to find the murderer. It leaves it open for Truelove to act as intelligence from Scotland Yard.
According to Dakota Blue Richards who plays Trewlove, she won’t be back.
Hey Chris, this is great as always. I was counting on you to translate, “Qui non nobiscum adversus nos est” and you came through.
I like how you have included that screen shot of Morse and Thursday sitting together in front of Merton Field. I’ll add that to my list of places in Oxford to visit, but I fear the bench they are sharing was probably a prop and won’t be there when I arrive.
“Mark S” has mentioned that Morse and Trewlove might have been listening to Miles Davis 1967 album “Miles Smiles”. It would be great if you could confirm or deny the accuracy of this idea. (It should be listed in the end credits but I don’t have access to those.) If correct that was a great way to organically slip in some jazz music. (Which I love.)
As a final note on Endeavour Season 5, I’ll note that I have been reading your blog from a hotel room in Shenzhen these past couple of weeks. It has most definitely increased my enjoyment of the show. Thank you for taking the time to share your enthusiasm for Endeavour by delving into all the myriad details that make it such fun to watch.
Thank you Cappy for your lovely comment. My work on this site is made so much more enjoyable when I know people are enjoying what they read and watch. As for the bench, it is a prop but that whole area around Merton Field is breathtaking so make sure you visit. Shenzhen! Wow it is amazing how far and wide my blog and the love for the Morse universe stretches.
The Miles Smiles album by the Miles Davis Quintet on YouTube
According to the fine folk at Tunefind, that Miles Davis track is in fact Nefertiti from the album of the same name, recorded in 1967 and released the next year. Apologies for my earlier mistake.
No worries. Thank you for tracking this information down. The good news is that it is indeed a track by Miles Davis.
The Nefertiti track on the album Nefertiti by Miles Davis
Another cracking episode breakdown. Thank you. I’m glad another series has been commissioned, even if just to read your comments once more. Also hoping they’ll be a marked improvement in episode quality. It’s been way to middle of the road in my opinion – have enjoyed it nevertheless.
Thanks for your wonderful blog Chris: interesting facts and spot-on analysis.
Just to mention two things:
First, the scene where Thursday is typing his resignation closely mirrors Morse’s very first scene in the pilot. That resignation never happened either.
Second, the school where Morse was meant to have been previously, Bamfylde, is the central location in R F Delderfield’s To Serve Them All My Days, and is a progressive private (public) boys’ school in Devon where the main character, Davey Powlett-Jones, gradually loses his working-class prejudices against such institutions as it helps him recover from soldiering in the First World War. So the complete antithesis of Coldwater. He eventually becomes headmaster.
Hello
Stumbled across this blog and have found it most interesting, sometimes I disagree with comments but that’s the nature of such things. I certainly go along with those saying that this series has stretched willing disbelief to breaking point.
Two possible references have occurred to me, I’ve scanned through and can’t find a mention of either of them, although I freely admit to not having been exhaustive in my research.
George Fancy, might this be a reference to Fancy Smith of “Z Cars” fame? Played by Brian Blessed before he learned to shout. And, if my ageing memory serves me correctly, wasn’t he killed in the line of duty as well?
The other I’m sure will have been spotted, I just haven’t found it, but might Fred Thursday be a reference to the G. K. Chesterton story “The Man who was Thursday”?
Hi, thanks for running this site, I find the references in Endeavour fascinating. I think the next series is going to follow a conspiracy plot, similar to the one in LA Confidential, I think somebody linked to County is moving in to run organised crime, and that Fancy went in to Nero’s club when one or more of the detectives previously seen from county arrived to clean up the scene (make sure everyone was dead). I think they prevailed on him to join them, by pushing the idea of proving himself a hero to Trewlove perhaps., then made sure he was one of the loose ends that got tied up (the bullet is from a police issue gun). Anton Lesser’s character is implicated in some way, as he was reluctant to find Fancy’s killers. Just a bunch of theory. Magdalene Cabs is obviously a reference to both the college and the biblical figure (misrepresented as a prostitute).
I agree and that sets up a line of conflict for the merged police unit. Fancy had already radioed in and knew not to go in alone. He would only have done so with other officers (the county unit). That also ties in to Nero going out of his way to tell Thursday it was not him who shot Fancy. He died before he could tell the whole story. There were three county men in the car with Fancy early on and he was shot three times (if each of the three shot him it is insurance none will eventually tell what happened). The odd part of all this to me was that Morse went to Chief Superintendent Bright with his concerns about Fancy’s death and not to Thursday. I love the series but I think it tends to telegraph things too much. If there is a problem with the series it may be that having one writer is not a good idea. The Morse series in particular benefited from having different perspectives.
Just to say how much my wife and I enjoy reading this blog, some seriously attentive people watching the show! Despite its many flaws I agree that Endeavour is one of the best programmes around, I think any critical comments on this blog need to be viewed in this light and show the passion people feel for all things Morse!
A couple of questions from us (1) How and why did Ivory’s shirt get off his body and into Morse’s desk (2) Was Ivory’s body in the sewage tank the reason why the sink was backing up in the cottage where Morse and Trewlove were staying??
I’m new to this blog, have been able to see the whole of this series on ITV 3 as when it was first shown
I was not able to see it. It has been a pleasure to be able to see this series in the past weeks. I was a great fan of Morse, the original, and I think seeing him written as a young man has been a real pleasure.
Thank s for your blog really enjoy it…….
Question: When Endeavour takes roll at the school, most boys answer “absum,” but a few answer “choir.” What is the meaning of the word in this context? Thanks.
Hi Cheryl. I assumed that those pupils names who were read out were at choir practice.
The scene between Morse and Bright at Bright’s house is edited out in the US version. And of course you said it was one of the episode. Need to find a way to watch it. Do you have any insight why they do that? Time is the easy answer, but any other reasons?
I wish I could access the US version and so I could find out what was omitted and put those scenes in a video for Americans to see.
They just edit to reach ninety minutes apparently. Doesn’t make much sense and when you watch it over here the leaps in plot it causes are chasms your mind has to cross. Why PBS doesn’t just run it up to two hours is a mystery in itself.
Wish you could, so many small but important things are being edited out.
The U.S. version can be streamed for free for a short while at pbs.org.
In that first scene at the school, when Morse is calling roll, I thought he seemed awfully comfortable. Or, rather, not comfortable, because he was simmering and bored at the same time, but at least familiar, like he knew exactly what these boys were going to throw at him, and and how he should, or at least would, behave, and was resigned to it. I remember Bright referring to Morse as a “grammar school scholarship boy,” or something like that, but does anybody know if he actually went to a boarding, as opposed to day, school? Chris, you, of all people, would know that!
I think in that episode we get a glimpse of what Morse would have been doing as a career if he had finished his degree. Regarding your query about Morse’s schooldays, well off the top of my head I do remember from one of the novels that it was mentioned that he won a scholarship to attend university. At the moment I can’t remember which novel. At the moment I cannot recall any mention of Morse’s schooldays either in the novels or the original series. I will continue to think about it and hopefully have a better answer for you.
In Morse’s youth, it would have been impossible to enter a university without attending a grammar school after passing the Eleven Plus Exam. So he obviously attended a university-prep school or “grammar school,” but whether it was a state school or an independent school, I have no idea.
Chris, thanks for this blog. So many of the references would slip past me if not for your explanations. I am so annoyed that the scenes at Bright’s home were edited out. It would have been lovely to see him more relaxed. The tremor in his voice at the last, when he was discussing his “failure”, was endearing.
The continuity in this episode was horrendous. It is like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle, when several seemingly random pieces are missing. Frustrating, so it is especially nice to read and listen to your reviews. Thank you. (and your voice is just fine).
Nancy
My thought is that Fancy’s death occurred outside Nero’s place by county and then dragged in to give the impression gangsters killed him.
Kathleen, that is a terrific plot line…all next season the “Fab Four” could investigate separately who killed Fancy..Thursday might even have to take off his hat!
It struck me that in the scene where Thursday sees Fancy in the antiques shop, we was looking at rings. An engagement ring to give to Trewlove?
Thank you for your amazing explanations and references. Do you know what the other terms were that the boys used in roll call? Choir (sp?)
Hello Chris, I love all the info in your blog, but I have 1 problem. The song during the Nero bar scene is not by Jim Reeves. It is not He’ll Have To Go. I don’t know what is it and I’m trying to find out. The singer and the words belong to a different song. Help!
If you watched the episode in the USA it is possible that due to copyright reasons a different piece of music was played than what was in the UK version. This happens quite often.
Well, I just saw the episode on Netflix, and it’s driving me crazy! Can’t find the song from the lyrics on the captioning. It sounds kind of like Nat King Cole to me. Do you have any way of finding out?
I just discovered your site (trying to find that song!) and am enjoying it ver much!
Hi Carolyn. Which song and and at what time in the episode? If you’re watching it on Netflix I’m assuming you are in the US as the UK Netflix doesn’t have the Endeavour show.
I’ve been going crazy trying to find the song myself. It’s haunting and even more fitting to the scene than Jim Reeves “He’ll have to go”. I too saw this in the US and the song is not that. The singer sounds like it might be Jim Reeves or someone with a very similar voice. I’ve searched and searched and come up empty. The lyrics I heard was:
one more night for us to bear
holding others in our hearts
being lonely no more to care
shadows fall and dusk is passing
grasping memories we’ve held dear
If anyone finds this song, please post. I’d love to find it. I’ve wondered if it was a British hit that either wasn’t popular in the US or is by an obscure artist. I’m pretty good and finding stuff like this, but I’ve drawn a blank.
I also am intrigued. The lyrics I wrote down are
The journey is nearly over. One more life (night?) for us to bear. Holding others in our hearts, being lonely, no more to care. Shadows follow when dusk is passing …
It sure sounded like Jim Reeves, but possibly Ray Price or Eddy Arnold. At any rate it must be obscure because a lyrics search should have found it out.
It’s very possible that the song and lyrics were written either by Matthew Slater or Matthew and Russell Lewis.
So appreciate all your work, Chris, and love being able to listen to music selections. When Fancy radios the station the street scene is reminiscent of when Trewlove dressed down the brutes from county about not blowing their cover by 1) parking on double yellow lines, and 2) using the radio. Fancy is guilty on both counts. A man’s shadow is seen passing in back of Fancy’s car.
Sir, I watch the Endeavor series in the US. Has anyone there in the UK asked you about the messages placed in the closing credits? Toward the end of the credits, there are several letters that are shown in the color red and the majority of the letters being left white. If one writes down the red letters they give a clue that refers back to something from within the preceding episode.
This being my first comment, I am not sure what is meant by Website in the information lines.
I was finally able to rewatch this episode, over a week after it aired in the U.S. At least I understood the whodunit aspect of it better this time! A few things struck me: 1. “He’ll Have to Go” is something of an iconic song in the U.S., at least, one that even people who think they don’t know anything about country music will recognize when they hear it, if they’re of the right age. But whatever they replace it with…isn’t. Hearing it didn’t have nearly the impact hearing “He’ll Have to Go” did. 2. I’m a little surprised by this, but I’m actually enjoying the whole organized crime plot that’s been stretching out. I think that’s because, after a full run of “Morse” and then of “Lewis” and now partly of “Endeavour,” it’s kind of refreshing to have hardened criminals do the killing instead of posh businessmen and snobby dons and their frustrated wives and daughters. It’s also much more realistic. I know we don’t turn to these shows for realism, but still, a scintilla of it is nice. I’m betting the running thread through the next series is the hunt for Fancy’s killer, and once he’s found, Thursday will hang up his star and put the Winchester over the fireplace. And, 3. Morse taking Joan up on her offer of coffee. I think he could be telling us–and her–that he’s given up on the idea of romance with her but fully accepting the idea of friendship, and wants to start that new phase off with that coffee. I may be wrong, though. Thoughts?
Oh, and I’ve read the speculation about Bright somehow being involved or to blame for Fancy’s death, somehow through working with Division, but I can’t buy it. One of the things I love about Anton Lesser’s portrayal, and the way Bright has been written, is that while I think I’d go scurrying the other way if faced with the position of spending much time with Bright, I still respect him. I think he’s pompous and boring but I do think he’s shown himself to be a man of deep integrity and more than a little moral courage. I really can’t imagine him knowingly doing anything that would endanger one of his men or the investigation of some truly bad characters. Now, might he have said something to Division about what Fancy was up to, simply because that’s what he’s supposed to do when a major criminal investigation is going on under his watch? And then bad guys within Division took that information and used it to kill Fancy? Possibly, but that’s a long way from saying Bright was in cahoots with Fancy’s murderers.
I just discovered this blog after watching this episode of Endeavor that has been on my dvr for almost half a year. All the comments and insights are excellent. I am glad to know that in the US we aren’t getting the entire program — I just thought I wasn’t very good at following the action! As for Miss Trewlove — not the spelling of her name: trews are men’s trousers + love — could it be that her name signifies her devotion to work almost entirely done by men in that year? Just a thought. Chris, summer is past now, so I guess you have completed your prep work and are ready university. I wish you well in your new endeavor! (pun intended).
Hi Debra. My college course has just began. University will be next year. Welcome to my blog.
Excellent details of all the Latin references, the locations in Oxford and elsewhere and the music and poetry.
Thanks from an historian of U.S. history and American Studies. Kudos to you Chris!
Thank you Patricia for your kind comment.
Nice work, Chris. Good luck with the studies.
Hello Chris!
First of all: I’ve only discovered your website a few days ago when I started my full Endeavour rewatch and this is the most detailed page about a TV series ever. I love it and it will be my companion for Morse and Lewis rewatches as well. Thanks for putting together all this information!
I totally agree with you on series 5 of Endeavour.- compared to the previous four series it didn’t feel right anymore. There were too many things missing, too many weird coincidences as well. The only episodes I really liked were the first and the last. I really hope that the new series will be as good as series 1-3 (4).
Hello Chris! I also just found your blog and love all the fascinating extra information and references. I’m always curious about the music and poetry/literature references, so finding a blog which records all these things is a godsend.
My comment is just that if the plotline in Series 6 will be about corruption within the force, it would be copying a couple of other shows I’ve seen lately, which were filmed before Endeavor was filmed. One is the excellent Welsh police show Hinterland, which also had to do with a boy’s private school where terrible abuse had taken place. So, definitely not an original idea. I am curious to see if that’s where they’ll go with it. I can’t see Bright being corrupt himself, he’s too upright and honor-bound for that kind of thing, but he may have inadvertently given out information about Fancy which led to his death.
I too found Icarus failed in many areas, but I do love Shaun Evan’s portrayal of early Morse. As for the Joan/Morse plotline, I think the high class call girl in “Muse” hit the nail on the head when she appraised Morse’s attitude towards women, both his neediness and his inability to really connect. She had him pegged perfectly and he didn’t like it one bit when she confronted him with it. Morse has romantic notions but has a deep, even paralyzing, fear of commitment. One of his earliest relationships, with the young nurse who tended him, revealed so much. The way he made major decisions without letting her express her opinion, the way he just assumed they’d get married, and then the way he utterly abandoned her was rather horrifying to watch. I also think he always knew that if he actually went with Joan and then it didn’t work out, his relationship with Thursday, a man who is a mentor and father figure, would be negatively affected. Morse made love to many women, and often fancied himself “in love”, but never really loved any one of them in a truly and deeply mature sense. More information about his upbringing and childhood relationships may have shed further insight. Or perhaps that’s just my love of psychology talking.
Thank you again for such an informative and interesting in-depth blog, Chris!
Chris you stated in your video review: “There’s too much rubbish on TV with Z-list celebrities baking or dancing or whatever else they do, which is just unwatchable. I would rather see, you know, a bad episode of Endeavour than any other of that nonsense that is on television.” (14:12-14:32)
May I take my hat off to you for your well said words! I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments entirely! Even the absolute worst of Endeavour is far and away better than any regurgitated reality TV rubbish or other stupid TV show that passes for “entertainment” these days! That’s why I’ve been revisiting past seasons of Endeavour over the summer.
And I completely understand if you weren’t impressed by the final scene of Icarus, but for me, it was so cathartic and I sang internally, “Finally!” for Morse and Joan’s relationship as I love Joan and believe she deserves so much better. In fact she’s too good even for Morse!
Incidentally I’ve finally figured out why I’ve found Roger Allam’s voice so easy on the ear—He sounds like the great Sir Michael Caine!
The last writers’ strike we had in the U.S. forced the networks to produce those awful “reality” shows, and alas, they proved to be very popular AND much less expensive than actual quality programming, so I guess the practice spread to the U.K. A glaring case of unintended consequences. I hope the current writers’ strike doesn’t lead to even worse.
Thanks for all the work, just one thing: lasciate ogni speranza o voi che entrate isn’t latin it’s Italian. Dante did write some essays in Latin but his poetry is in Italian.
Thanks Heath. I’ve corrected the error.
Just found this site and am thrilled. I also just finished watching the series again, love it even more the third time. Question: there is a shot in it, twice, that shows a back street(?) with two lamps, in warm lamp light, and behind is the outline of perhaps the school(?), in cool moonlight, with the moon hidden. I find the photography in this show amongst the best I’ve ever seen and this shot is definitely up there. Does anyone know where it is? Usually the best shots are with Thursday.
I could see planning a trip to England following all the locations in this show. Just beautiful.
Thanks!
Chris, you blog is magnificent. I do want to point out,however, that the song playing on the jukebox when the police enter is not “He’ll Have to Go.” By the voice it seems to be Jim Reeves, but the lyrics are from another song. The lyrics we can hear are
now the journey is nearly over
one more night for us to bear
holding others in our hearts
being lonely no more to care
shadows follow when dusk is passing
grasping memories we’ve held dear
I’ve searched but cannot find what song this is.
Hi John and welcome to my website. If you are outside the UK the music is often different due to copyright reasons.