Hello Endeavourists and welcome to my review of the first episode of the new sixth series.
As always let’s get the boring bits out of the way first,
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So, onwards to the review.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Endeavour Series six, Episode one; ‘PYLON’.
Chronologically this is episode 24.
First broadcast 10th February 2019.
Where’s Colin?
Colin’s picture is around the one hour and 52 minute mark, (that includes the adverts in the time as well).
I was actually more emotional about seeing this picture of dear old Colin than I was about the actual episode.
Directed by Johnny Kenton. (No connection to 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
It is the July 1969. As for the gang of four, Morse, Bright, Thursday and Strange, they have all been demoted apart from Strange who has been kept busying shuffling papers.
A girl has gone missing is found in a field by Morse. Morse wonders if it is linked to a missing girl some three years before in 1966. But his ideas and help are not wanted by the new sheriff in town, Ronnie Box.
Sergeant Morse (in uniform) has been stuck working in the sticks looking for missing horses and keeping the peace at village fetes.
The main suspect for the kidnapping and murder of the schoolgirl is found to have a past in relation to Fred Thursday.
A second kidnapping puts more pressure on everyone.
REVIEW.
(warning, this review will contain some spoilers)
Apart from what I mentioned in the video there are a few other things that niggle me. Firstly, Max is usually on the ball when it comes to diagnosing how someone is killed but he misses that Ann Kirby was killed by a car. Surely if she was hit by the car on her side then those bruises plus all the others she would have had from dropping to the ground would have had Max realising what had caused her death.
Secondly, will Endeavour ask why he was suddenly promoted? IF he finds out it was due to a lie and a lie that involved pretending he was part of a Mason Lodge, how will he react?
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The will they or won’t they of Joan and Morse is becoming even more tiresome than before. The viewer has been cheated in respect to how the last episode, ‘Icarus’ ended. Endeavour goes to see Joan and says he would like that cup of coffee after all and then in this episode we find she says, no! She is too busy.
Episode Jag Rating – out of 10.
MUSIC
First up is only a few seconds into the episode. It is Led Zeppelin and What is and What Should Never Be.
A little problem with this song being used in the episode that is apparently set in the summer of 1969. This track I believe was released in October 1969. I have been reliably informed that a live version was played in June 1969. In regard to this track Mike Dudley in the comments section related an interesting fact. Mike wrote; “One thought about the Led Zeppelin music over the opening section… A sub-plot, or suggestion about what is going on, is a reference both visually and in the script, that abduction by a paedophile might have been the reason for the death. There is also the predilection of the photographer and ‘those of a like mind’ for very young girls. If you listen to the lyrics of ‘What Is And What Should Never Be’, it is clear that the song is about a much older man talking to a younger girl – “pretty baby”. It is a matter of public record that at the height of their fame whilst in the USA, at least one member of the band – Jimmy Page – was in sexual relationships with girls young enough to have caused accusations of statutory rape…”
Thank you Mike.
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Next up is when Strange arrives at the police station where Morse is stationed.
It is from the opera Turandot: Signore, ascolta by Puccini.
This piece of music was used in the pilot episode of Endeavour; First Bus to Woodstock.
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At just after 10 minutes Morse is driving through country lanes and is day dreaming about Joan and George Fancy. The piece was specifically written by Matthew Slater the composer responsible for the music in the Endeavour series. The pianist was Ben Dawson. Ben Dawson @noswadneb
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Next up we have music played after the scene with Box turning up at the field where the dead girl has been found. Morse leaves and goes back to his station to write up his report.
The piece is Spem In Alium by Thomas Talilis.
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Next we have the music that is playing when Morse arrives at the squat (or to be more exact the house that Morse will eventually live in). The music is by the wonderful and seminal band Velvet Underground. The song is What Goes On.
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Up next is music played during the scene of the village fete. The piece is Symphony No. 9 in D Minor Op. 125 “Choral”: II Molto Vivace by Beethoven.
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Next up we have another choral piece, I’m not 100% sure about this one but I think it is “Miserere mei, Deus” composed by Allegri. It is played during the hanging scene and Morse is reading his notes and remembers what was said about two choirboys smoking cigarettes behind the altar.
This piece was also used in the original Morse episode ‘The Infernal Serpent‘.
The above is played again a little later when Endeavour is in his office comparing a picture with one of Ann Kirby on the wall.
The Matthew Slater piano piece is reprised when Endeavour is leaving the rural station for the last time. I asked Matthew if he had a name for the piece but the best he had was sadly 7:02. I put forward Morse’s Reverie as a possible name for the piece.
LITERARY REFERENCES.
A literary reference if only a visual one. Anne Kirby reading Anna Sewell’s wonderful children’s book Black Beauty.
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Endeavour is looking through the items that were in Stanley Clemence’s possession. In particular those belonging to Ann Kirby. We see a book.
The first clue that something isn’t correct. Ann was reading Black Beauty not this book Ride Like The Wind by A. Oldbury, which by the way is not an actual novel. Of course we find out that she had stopped at the mobile library to change her books.
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There as mention of Reverend Charles Dodgson otherwise known as Lewis Carroll. The man who wrote Alice In Wonderland and many other wonderful novels. Interestingly, a connection to Lewis Carroll in the episode was pointed out to me by one of my readers, Paula. The use of the name ‘Alice Band’ for a headband came into use soon after the publication of Lewis Carroll’s novel, “Alice in Wonderland”, referring to the band Alice wore on her head to hold her hair back.
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Thank you to Nicolas who pointed out this literary reference.
“Alfred Skynner – Horse Slaughterer & Glue Boiler – Dealer in Bonemeal and Hides – Kennels Supplied can be seen on the side of the van above. Nicolas pointed out this is a reference to George Orwell’s Animal Farm: “Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone−Meal. Kennels Supplied “ Well spotted Nicolas and thank you.
ART
The Degas figurine that Endeavour notices on the mantelpiece of Dr Lester Sheridan that helped solve the case of the missing girl,
is based on an actual Degas sculpture.
It’s a Bronze sculpture, named ‘The Little Fourteen Year Old Girl’
One of my readers, Suzy passed on the following information regarding the statue;
“The National Gallery of Art in Washington has the original of the statuette – and there it translates the original title, ‘La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, as ‘Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The notes point out, in reference to the original model ‘ ….her working–class background was typical of the Paris Opera school’s ballerinas. These dancers were known as “petits rats de l’opéra,” literally opera rats, presumably because of their scurrying around the opera stage in tiny, fast–moving steps. But the derogatory association of the name with dirt and poverty was also intentional. Young, pretty, and poor, the ballet students also were potential targets of male “protectors.” Degas understood the predicament of the Little Dancer—what the contemporary reviewer Joris–Karl Huysmans called her “terrible reality.” ‘
So, an interesting link with the story.”
LOCATIONS
Our first location is right at the start of the episode when we see two children walking along a street. Then we are introduced to Bright taking part in a road safety film.
The scene was shot in Blakesley Avenue in London.
The church behind Bright is St. Benedict’s Abbey Church on the corner of Blakesley Avenue and Marchwood Crescent.
Of course, the traffic lights were props.
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The next location is where Stanley Clemence is standing in a doorway. Thanks to one of my subscribers, John, this has been identified as in the High Street, Hemel Hempstead old town. From close to the Rose and Crown pub.
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The third location is the girl’s school, Banbury Junior School. A huge thank you to Rob one of my subscribers who recognised the school.
It is Dundale Junior School in Tring Hertfordshire
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This location is where Endeavour is stationed.
This is Pyrton Village Hall, Pyrton, Watlington, Oxon, OX49 5AP.
Thank you to Coco for help in finding this location.
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Up next we have the church called St Christophers.
The church used was St Mary’s Church in Pyrton, Oxfordshire.
Only the exterior of this church was used. The interior was St John the Baptist ,Aldenham,Hertfordshire.
Thank you to Coco for help in finding this location.
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The location of the Thames Valley Police Station is,
The St Cross Building, University of Oxford. It contains the English Faculty Library.
The three photos above are the copyright of Daria Dorothea. @DariaDorothea
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Next we have the Social Work Department building.
By the way is it just a coincidence that the chap in the blue suit in the background looks like Colin Dexter.
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This next location has been used in Morse, Lewis and Endeavour. Off the top of my head (because I don’t want to spend hours scouring all 66 episodes. Anyway, knowing me I would start watch an episode and enjoy it so much I will watch it all and then forget why I was watching it in the first place). From the original Morse it was quite prominent in Dead on Time.
In the Lewis series it is the scene of a brutal murder in the episode Allegory of Love.
The Lewis episode One For Sorrow also used the location.
It was also used in the Endeavour episode, Game where a body is found floating under Magdalen Bridge over the Cherwell.
The location in question is Addison’s Walk in Oxford and Magdalen Bridge runs off at a 90 degree angle.
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Dr. Lester Sheridan has been stopped by traffic and now brought into custody. Morse and Strange are seen in a university quad striding toward Sheridan’s rooms.
This is Magdalen College. The large tower structure in the background is Magdalen Chapel.
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A few minutes later Thursday and Endeavour are talking. Thursday tells Morse that the past is the past. They are standing again in Magdalen College.
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The mobile library’s location has been identified thanks to Coco. Coco you are a star.
The position of the mobile library and Endeavour’s car. The location is Church Lane, Aldenham, Hertfordshire.
It is opposite the location of the church that was use for the interior shots. St John the Baptist ,Aldenham,Hertfordshire.
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Mick Haynes being interviewed by Strange and Morse. This is also Church lane in Aldenham like the location of the mobile library and the church used for the interior shots, St John the Baptist ,Aldenham,Hertfordshire.
For information as to maps see above for the location of the mobile library.
Two pictures taken during filming.
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Where Dr. Lester Sheridan took his ‘models’. This is Langleybury House and Film Centre, Kings Langley.
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I apologise that I haven’t managed to do my usual due diligence in regard to finding locations but I have so much else on that 20 plus hours working on the post was sufficient. Of course if any of you can help please let me know either in the comments section or contact me using the ‘contact me’ option at the top of my website. That also goes for any other section of my review post.
PUB LOCATIONS
No pubs in this episode.
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Actors who appeared in the Endeavour Series 6, Episode 1 ‘PYLON’ and/or Morse or Lewis.
We have Simon Hepworth who played the horse owner Mr Tingwell.
Simon also appeared in the Morse episode The Remorseful Day as Simon Harrison, Coincidentally the name of the actor who plays Ronnie Box.
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Next we have Richard Price as a Parent at Fete and was uncredited. Unfortunately I don’t know who he was at the fete so can’t provide a picture. Anyway, Richard appeared in two episodes of Lewis; The Point of Vanishing (2009) as a Passerby on Bike (uncredited) and Life Born of Fire (2008) as Photographer (uncredited). Sorry Richard that I can’t pick you out. But hey you have the honour of appearing in one of my posts. 😉
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Now we have Jesse James Sims as a Horse Hand also uncredited.
He also appeared in the Endeavour episode, Quartet (Series 5, Episode 5)
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CONNECTIONS OTHER THAN ACTORS TO THE LEWIS AND ORIGINAL MORSE SERIES
There is a scene in Pylon, when Morse meets Thursday to hand over his report, that reminded somewhat of a scene in the Morse episode, ‘The Way Through the Woods‘, with DCI Johnson and Morse.
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Another tenuous connection to the original Morse series are the wheat fields. I am sure i’m not the only Morse fan who thought of that connection. The wheat-field possibly alludes to the lovely scene in the Morse episode Who Killed Harry Field? I doubt that was something Russell Lewis was thinking of when writing the scene. Then again…
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Not a connection to Morse or Lewis but a connection to a previous Endeavour episode, the Pilot episode to be exact. After Endeavour and Thursday visit the farm run by the Skynner’s and face then the truth of how Ann was killed, Ronnie turns up and says to Morse, “Who’s a clever bastard?” A similar thing was said by Arthur Lott, Thursday’s corrupt bag man before Morse.
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Simon Harrison is the name of the actor who plays Ronnie Box. The character Simon Hepworth played in Remorseful Day was also called Simon Harrison. Thanks to Danny for that observation.
Miscellaneous
First up we have the strange spelling of a Pelican Crossing in the episode. Well it was originally called a Pelicon Crossing but is now referred to as a Pelican Crossing.
I’m assuming it was to put a little joke into the scene. Putting the contraction ‘CON’ into the phrase. It’s a con what has happened to Bright and the rest. It was a con who killed George Fancy? As the Americans say ‘i’m spitballing’ here.
There are also Puffin crossings, Toucan crossings, Panda crossings and HAWK beacons.
Here is one of the originals and also with an ice cream van included.
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The lollipops given to the children,
are called Zooms.
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I wonder if the use of the surname Kirby (the surname of the little girl who is found in the field), is a nod to 1960s singer Kathy Kirby.
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There are a few mentions of Prince Charles’s investiture. Charles became the Prince of Wales.
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I may have been doing this too long as I begin to see references in everything.
The number plate reads AYW. In the wonderful film The Princess Bride they would say ‘As You Wish’ which meant the same as I love you.
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I’m trying to find a connection or reference in regard to Mr Tingwell’s name. It’s unusual. The only decent reference I could find was to the Australian actor Charles Bud Tingwell.
However, I can’t figure out the what or why Russell Lewis would use the name.
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Max is in the field examining the dead girl’s body. Fred says to him about Ronnie Box, “He’s come from robbery”. Max replies, “Not the Lucie Clayton?”
He is alluding to the Lucie Clayton Charm Academy.
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There was quite a few mentions of various parts of a church; the Transcept, Nave, etc. So, I thought I would add a church plan for all to see. I am rather peculiar when it comes to religion and churches; I am a anti theist but I live my life in a christian way (note the small ‘c’). However, I love church music and church architecture. I have spent many a happy hour or two walking around Cathedrals and Churches.
The Vicar also mentions that the Offertory box had been forced. The offertory box is where parishioners place money. These come in all shapes and sizes.
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We had a look at what would become John Thaw’s Morse’s house.
It looks like the house that the John Thaw, Morse lived in but it is not. We did see this house already in the Endeavour episode, Girl.
The above scene is from Masonic Mysteries.
This is what Morse’s (John Thaw) house looks like now, 28 Castlebar, West Ealing. London.
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The number to phone to let the property is Oxford 66517 as can be seen in the first house photograph. 66517 is the name of train.
A reference to the Endeavour episode Passenger? Very tenuous. 😉
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There is a scene at the fete where a young boy is standing at the edge of a mirror.
This is a reference to the British comic actor, Harry Worth. At the beginning of his show we would see harry doing what the boy is doing creating the illusion that both his legs are in the air.
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Regarding the village fete, what was Joan doing there? If anyone who Morse knows is going to be there it should be Dorothea Frazil. As a reporter she could have been there as the village fete is close to where Ann Kirby was found. Her appearance was crowbarred in to the scene so we could have another will they or won’t they scene. This is obvious by her about to tell or ask something of Morse before he hears the mother shout out.
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The police officer who was sitting outside the door of Stanley Clemence, supposedly watching him, can be seen reading the Beano, A British comic paper, while pretending to be reading a newspaper.
When the police officer realises Stanley has gone he runs into the room.
Is the policeman deaf? We all know what a noise Venetian blinds can make when moved normally. Did Stanley have access to a knife or scissors? Again we all know how bloody difficult it is to break Venetian blinds and probably close to impossible by hand alone. And why would he need to cut them? Push them up and then go out of the window.
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After the abduction of the second child, Rosie Johnson, Ronnie Box, Morse, Thursday are in the police station. Ronnie says to Morse, “Listen, this kiddie was taken out from under the nose of you and Johnny Morris here, so I’ll have no lectures.” He refers to Bright as Johnny Morris. Johnny Morris was a beloved British television presenter of the 1960s and 70s. of shows like Animal Magic. Situations would be Johnny with an animal and he would do the voice of the animal in comedic way.
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In the same conversation Ronnie Box describes the car as a Vanden Plas, two tone. Vanden Plas is the name of coachbuilders who produced bodies for specialist and up-market automobile manufacturers.
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Morse tells Thursday that the blue Alice band was not in Stanley’s stuff when he was there. Thursday tells Morse to stay out of it and puts it no uncertain terms, “You get caught with your tit in the wringer on this one, – I won’t be able to help you.” This line comes from one of my all time favourite films, All The President’s Men. John Mitchell, Attorney General of the United States (1969–1972) under President Richard Nixon, tells Bernstein I think it was, “You tell your publisher–tell Katie Graham she’s gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer if that’s published.”
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Thursday is talking to Ronnie Box about the blue Alice band and how fortuitous it was that it turned up. Thursday then tells Ronnie that Stanley’s father always said that it wasn’t him that killed his wife. Thursday says, “In the end, it was a young DC, my old bagman, Arthur Lott, found the hammer he’d used, concealed in the cistern of the outside lav at his address.” The inference being that Lott planted the hammer.
Thursday is talking about the policeman we met in the pilot episode of the Endeavour series.
Thursday in the pilot found out that Lott had been taking money from Richard Lovell the man who was having sex parties with young girls. So, Lott was corrupt for a long time.
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Lovely to see Max out of his usual habitat.
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Fred, Ronnie and DS Alan Jago are interrogating Gilbert Sipkin. Thursday punches him with his left hand which would mean he is a southpaw. However, when he returns home his right hand is bruised.
Of course, he could have used his right hand later but…
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After talking to Max where the dead girl is found, Ronnie Box says to Thursday, “See you back at the factory.” That same term was used by John Thaw as Jack Regan in the wonderful 1970s TV show, The Sweeney.
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Simon Harrison is the son of Noel Harrison who sung a version of the song Windmills of Your Mind which was used in the film The Thomas Crown Affair.
The first trailer for the new Endeavour series used that song but was sung by Dusty Springfield.
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Thanks to Charlie for this piece of info; The rural police car had the registration “264 Hz”. That’s a musical reference, as its a frequency – and happens to be the frequency that tuning forks are tuned to!
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Endeavour says to Strange as he is leaving the police station, “If I knew you were coming I’d have baked a cake.” Is this a reference to the 1950s and 1960s song of the same words Morse spoke?
Thank you to John and Cheryl for the following references;
“we suggest the name of the mobile librarian Rhapsody Dickenson is a nod towards his Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons which first ran on TV from 1967 to 1968 in which one of the Angel female pilots was called Rhapsody.”
“At 26 minutes Box tells Endeavour: ” We just get ’em up the steps ” which echoes Jakes’ similar phrase in Girl when he tells Morse that it might not be Gideon’s Way but it gets them up the steps.”
John and Cheryl also noticed a few continuity errors one of them being, “At 1 hour 19 minutes Fred takes the blue Alice band out of his right hand trouser pocket when confronting Box with this item of evidence yet when he discovered the ribbon in the Skynner’s car he placed it in his left hand trouser pocket.”
Thank you John and Cheryl.
FRED THURSDAY’S WORDS OF WISDOM.
1. “Is that what you want? You get caught with your tit in the wringer on this one.”
2. “And if we’ve got to nudge the jukebox to get the penny to fall?”
THE MURDERED, THEIR MURDERER/S AND THEIR METHODS.
The murdered girl Ann Kirby.
Of course not murdered in the true sense. Probably not even manslaughter. The car driver who hit her is Maggie Skynner.
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Stanley is found in the church by Morse.
Stanley Clemence overdosed on spiked heroin.
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CAST
Anton Lesser as Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright
Simon Harrison as DCI Ronnie Box
Aston McAuley as Stanley Clemence
Mike Grady as Ernest Croglin
Ava Masters as Ann Kirby
Ed Coleman as Wizard
Fiona Skinner as Karen Kirby
Khali Best as Mick Haynes
Sean Rigby as DS Jim Strange
Shaun Evans as Sergeant Endeavour Morse
Colin Tierney as Assistant Chief Constable Bottoms
Abigail Thaw as Dorothea Frazil
Hugh Sachs as Reverend Postill
Katharine Bubbear as Maggie Skynner
Simon Hepworth as Mr. Tingwell
Tom Canton as Alfie Skynner
Sara Vickers as Joan Thursday
Roger May as Dr. Lester Sheridan
Elizabeth Wells as Emily Bayard
Richard Riddell as DS Alan Jago
James Bradshaw as Dr. Max DeBryn
Roger Allam as DI Fred Thursday
Daniel Boys as Joseph Kirby
Alison Newman as Viv Wall
Holly Giles as Laurel Skynner
Adam De Ville as Gilbert Sipkin
Caroline O’Neill as Win Thursday
Lindsey Campbell as Rhapsody Dickenson
I will be streaming live on Twitch Saturday 16th February at 9pm GMT. If you are unsure how to find me on Twitch then see my post about it all by clicking HERE.
To read and listen to my review of the ICARUS episode, series 5, episode 6 then click HERE.
To read all my other reviews of the Endeavour series then click HERE.
I hope you enjoyed my review + post. Take care.
That guy they tortured for info. (Wrongly) Were they hanging him?
I believe hanging, or in other words capital punishment for murder, was abolished by the then UK Labour government, in 1965, and this Endeavour episode was set in 1969. However, we are shown Stanley Clemence’s father being hanged, for the murder of his wife, and of course, Stanley’s mother, but that was supposed to have occurred, during the 1950s. Thursday was previously involved in that investigation, in fact, we see him rescuing a very young boy, which is Stanley, from the scene of that crime.
Interesting observations and information. I thought it possible that Joan turned up at the fête deliberately – that she’d hoped to speak with Morse about their last conversation, but hadn’t known where to find him until then. Maybe I’m too forgiving of the writers …
A note, though, on Stanley Clemence’s hospital escape: he was withdrawing from opioids, a three-day-long, incredibly uncomfortable process during which every cell in his brain and body would have been screaming for a fix. He hadn’t the capacity to think rationally about how to raise the blinds and open the window. It looked to me like he just went straight through them, which makes sense. I also thought that it happened as the nurse was coming in, and that that was why she dropped the tray (because otherwise – as you point out – the constable’s failure to notice the noise doesn’t make much sense).
Thanks for all of the information! I really enjoy it.
Thank you and welcome to my website.
Thank you for your interesting comment. I’m glad you enjoyed my review.
Sorry – I forgot something:
264 hz is one of the frequencies of middle C. It is the standard for modern piano tuning.
thought C was 256… that’s what it says on my tuning fork in a drawer somewhere. Nobody uses em these days it’s all on an app… but tuning forks were almost all 440 which is the A everyone tunes to. 264 is somewhere between c and c sharp (277…) Dx
440 Hz is commonly used as a reference frequency for the A above middle C to calibrate acoustic equipment and to tune pianos, violins, and other musical instruments. Based on this frequency, middle C comes out as 278.4375 Hz.
It looked to me like the writer was suggesting that Morse and Joan did start dating and she backed away and my guess is because he’s not a good boyfriend, going by his previous relationships. Morse is attracted to bright women outside the norm, as Strange says,(something about “it was never going to be Holly Housewife for you”) but he manages his relationships like the rest of his mates. You can see it’s a conscious effort for him to say “what would you like to do?”
Joan painted a picture of waiting for him, presumably while he was preoccupied with his work situation, and realizing it could turn into her mother’s life, which at this point in her life she is questioning. So she enrolled in night school and that basically left no time for a relationship with Morse, which he might have pointed out, and her response is in that scene. It’s sad that Morse has this blind spot. He thinks that when you fall in love things fall into place, so he can’t see he has to give more. I read an interview with John Thaw where he says this, for whatever reason Morse can’t really give of himself. This show points to some reasons.
I’m watching the DVDs now and find this site so helpful. Thank you for all the effort you put into it.
Yes I thought he looked a bit of an idiot talking to Joan in this episode and it occurred to me she should run not walk… Dx
I watched this last night including Morse recollecting his last encounter with Joan while he was driving, and then went back and watched the end of the previous episode to see what happened with Morse and Joan and her walking away from him. I think she was fed up of him being as she saw it sending mixed messages, this explains the snippy exchange at the village fete.
When she had the housewarming party and she took him up on the roof, he said something like “this is as close as I am going to get” so she then thought, right, you’re never going to commit properly, I’ll fix you up with someone else and move on from you and he walks off. He’d no problem getting jiggy with Carol, Claudine, Alice, that stupid Italian woman storyline though so there is some reason why he doesn’t with Joan, and I do think these other women were just band aids.
Joan had enough with him flipping and flopping about and breadcrumbing, and I remember doing the same with a guy myself years ago so I walked away. The whole storyline is frustrating because it’s constrained by the fact Morse in the original series isn’t married, but everyone can see they do want to be together but keep arsing about for want of a better word. So I guess she settles for Jim who does do what he says he will, but then she is getting what she told Morse she didn’t want, sitting at home in front of the telly like her mum and dad.
Also talking about Joan, it was brilliant to see her in the police station with her boss when she put Ronnie firmly back in his Box! Loved it!
Loved Tallis, Allegri, Beethoven and the Velvet Underground in this episode. All personal favourites.
The plot, stoy and acting were very much OK imho, I personally liked this episode quite a lot and I could not stop watching with great intensity.
The main ‘failure’ to me is the organ loft story. I gather it’s a pipe organ, and these types of organs need regular maintenance, because of changes in temperature and humidity in the church. These are sensitive instruments, they need at least a yearly tuning, and this is something that the writers should have known. Stanley Clemence’s father’s case with evidence should have been found at least a dozen (or more) years earlier, by tuners and/or organ builders (who take care of the maintenance). And Morse is placing back the case with his and Thursday’s fingerprints on it? I can’t buy that.
Joan Thursday is looking lovely again… but I was devestated that she doesn’t even want to drink a cup of coffee with Endeavour anymore. Why did they never ever at least made an appointment to give a serious talk about their feelings a real chance? I realize that they are both of the ‘stubborn’ kind, but still… their story is making me very sad… and I just don’t know why it still lingers on. I consider myself a huge fan of the Morse series, I feel much empathy and sympathy for his character (and also for Joan), but their scenes are barely watchable. Such a pity after that heart- and breathtaking “she’s leaving home” scene in season 3.
(Add-on: Mr. Sullivan, I just watched your review on youtube… I entirely agree with your opinion about the ‘couple’. I can answer your question: “do you feel cheated?” with “yes, I do.”)
Still enjoying the series a lot though… when Fred Thursday appeared in the pilot, smoking a pipe, I initially thought “omg, here’s Maigret et il fume une pipe” 😉 but yes, Roger Allam is awesome.
The Beano feature is Biffo the Bear I believe – prefiguring the interrogation of Gilbert?
Sorry VS but I need some context.
I’m about 2 years late to this party, oh well.
I found this an extremely poignant episode. Yes, in the end, there’s a sense of “Oh, back to normal” again. But I thought the demotions and estrangement of this episode had a lot to say about the characters.
I think it’s really Fred’s episode. He’s having to grapple with who he is. He was all set to retire, with the satisfaction ofa career well spent doing his best for Oxford. Now he’s been disciplined, demoted, and set to work under a young jerk, while his wife is still seriously mad at him. To top it all, he realizes he may have been a party to framing an innocent man. Is he the good, upstanding husband, father, and policeman he thought? Or is he a man who lies to his wife, beats up witnesses, and is all mixed up in the corruption in the police? All of which comes to a head in that great scene with Morse and the sample case.
(I think the answer is that he’s our dear, good Fred Thursday, but he’s not perfect, and he does perhaps need some shaking up in his old school ways.)
So I think Joan is in this episode because of her relationship with her father. At the end of Series 5, he recognized that he had to let Joan live her own life and they were somewhat reconciled. But now we see there’s more work to be done there. Maybe it’s a tension between Joan the new woman and Fred the old copper? I think there’s a suggested question about whether they may find themselves on opposite sides of a battle about police brutality.
(I also think that part of why Fred and Morse have apparently not seen each other is that Fred’s been a wreck. Morse tells Strange he’s called the Thursday’s, but not gotten a reply.)
This is becoming an essay, sorry!
You also asked in your review what the point was of having Morse in uniform for this one episode. I think the uniform was a visual symbol of his internal state: trapped. He’s trapped by his inability to communicate with the people who matter to him. (And maybe by his inability to let go of past, hurtful things?) He’s also trapped in the police beaurocracy, which never seems to appreciate him or give him his due. The one thing he’s good at is being a detective, and he’s not even being allowed to use those abilities.
To me, the important part of his conversation with Joan at the fete was, “Well, maybe I’m not me, not anymore.” What a hopeless thing to say. (And apparently not-Morse doesn’t care to find out who killed Fancy…)
As for humor, I cracked up at Endeavor heading into a field with a rope to try to catch a horse. So out of his element!!
Apologies- I appear to have a lot to say about this episode. I appreciate having this forum in which to express it!
The more I think about it, the more I think this episode is about a fundamental question for Endeavor: is the world really hopeless and unjust? He seems to have almost reached that point in the beginning of the episode. Maybe the good guys get demoted, the corrupt get promoted, doing your best gets you nowhere, and little girls get kidnapped and murdered by evil men.
There’s a pervasive sense of helplessness in the early part of this episode. Morse isn’t even allowed to try to find out what happened to the girl. Fred can’t defend him against Bott’s rude dismissal(s) from the case. Fred also can’t stand up for Bright, when the station is laughing at his traffic video. Bright can’t do anything for those who used to be his men. None of them can pursue Fancy ‘s killer; they can’t seem to even muster up the will to try.
But the trajectory of the episode is: No, it’s not hopeless. Morse shakes off his torpor enough to yell at Fred that he’s better than a hundred Botts, and he’d better not forget it. Max cheers Morse up with a little seedcake and beauty. Morse eventually helps Fred realize that he didn’t frame an innocent man, by finding the sample case. And finally, Morse does some good work, and we find out that it wasn’t murder, it was an accident, very foolishly handled by a couple worried about their own daughter. All is not lost!
(Also, Strange is able to get Morse out of the sticks, as a kind of return for Morse getting him his first go as a Detective Sergent in Series 1.)
I wonder if that last scene of Morse gazing at the stained glass window is a meditation on justice. Is there fundamentally justice in the world? Is it a product of society, individuals, or higher authority? He’s just taken justice into his own hands, by replacing the sample case. Maybe that’s the moral, which I think tallies well with the older Morse: the world can be very dark, but there are still things worth doing. He had the ability to get in there and do some good.
I have vague associations of justice related to the ball and cross held by Christ in that image. Apparently it’s the “globus cruciger” – a symbol of Christ’s authority on earth, or something like that.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globus_cruciger
That seems relevant…
Hi Katy. You have made some interesting and pertinent points regarding Endeavour in uniform.
Chris, Thanks!
(Also, I’ve realized Bott should be Box, throughout. Oops.)
-Kate
Not sure why I can’t reply the comment below; this is meant for that:
I thought the stained glass gazing at the end was more about mercy, as the musical cue was misericordia something? Just my two cents.
I enjoyed the episode and then came straight here, as ever.Thanks for your informed thoughts which are always of interest.
I thought the muted towns of Castlegate station were a reference to the troubled times for our band of 4. The difference between the sunlit easy life in the countryside as a uniformed sergeant and the grimy horror of life in city CID was reinforced by Max’s find the beauty somewhere comment. Of course we know Morse does not follow the easy path
Daft as it seems, the main annoyance I had with the episode was the registration of the Austin 1300. That plate would only be available in Northern Ireland and the font is incorrect too. Then, on a more trivial note, there was the Hants and Dorset coach which would not be used on regular local services in Oxford. The operator name had been covered, but the antimacassars had the HandD logo.
The Joan saga was dealt with in the flashback, so why the need for the meaningful”Morse…” at the fete?
Jim Strange is developing as a character and as others have said, is becoming more managerial. Bright was underused in the plot and Win was back with the silent treatment.
I remember the billboard adverts for the series featuring Endeavour in uniform and moustache and the tagline suggesting that change was afoot, but by the end of this episode it was almost back to before.
Apologies for commenting above on the Sergeant/DS demotion, but this was due to this being a thriving community of intelligent commenters.
I completely agree with you on the Joan Thursday emotional tug of war. I remember getting really angry and irritated about this when I watched these the first time through. It goes on for far too long and as we all know, it’s never going to come to anything in the long run, so why drag it out?
Just read over all of the previous comments. Nicely done, Katy!
Also wanted to say I love seeing all of your Morse-related items, memorabilia, and collectibles in the background of your video, Chris! I did not even know there was a board game. LOL I do own the same Corgi Classics miniature of the famous Jaguar 2.4 and mine is still in the same box as yours.
I wouldn’t rush out to buy the board game it’s not very good. Here is a link to my post about the board game: https://morseandlewisandendeavour.com/2017/11/14/inspector-morse-murder-mystery-board-game/
Was it this episode, or Confection episode when Thursday asks the mechanic if there is a car available and a black jag is uncovered. Most likely someone mentioned this before, or asked this before, but I can’t remember if it was determined that this is the black jag that Thursday was always driving until they were all demoted? It was a wreck but salvageable and could have been put in “the boneyard” when Thursday could no longer use it.
First I want to thank you once more for your excellent blog and the hard work you clearly put into it.
I agree that we shouldn’t judge Carroll by today’s standards. However, we should perhaps follow Morse’s shining example and neither fudge nor shy away from the implications of evidence because they make us feel uncomfortable.
Dodgson’s interest in the young Alice Liddell was problematic, even for an age when child nudes were mainstream and fashionable.
In fact the Liddells themselves became increasingly troubled by Dodgson’s intense interest in their daughter until, at some point between 27–29 June 1863, they suddenly terminated the friendship.
Of course Victorian restraint meant that the Liddells never openly spoke of the incident.
These are verifiable facts and have nothing to do with today’s tawdry standards. It would be disingenuous to maintain anything other than what it so plainly was.
Furthermore, due to the same Victorian restraint various members of Dodson’s family later undertook a whitewashing and tidying up of his life. Dodgson’s diaries from 18 April 1858 to 8 May 1862 conveniently disappeared and, more crucially, the single page in Dodgson’s diary recording the 27–29 June 1863 incident was cut out. Various, more sanitized alternatives were bruited about and they were, and still are, eagerly accepted by those who prefer an innocent, untainted literary hero.
Of course the only reason Lewis Carroll was mentioned in this episode was because his hobby of photographing nearly nude prepubescent girls in provocative poses was used to foreshadow later events.
Unfortunately, this use of foreshadowing is so heavy-handed and poorly written that it serves more as an example of how not to do it.
Still, it is curious that you made no mention of this in your episode review.
Apologies if I’ve missed this somewhere but in the scene where the child is hit by the car the woman is supposed to be distracted by retuning the radio but the knob she is fiddling with is the choke, the car is not fitted with a radio it would be where the chrome plate is below and to the left of her hand in the shot.
Would have added photos but I can’t see how to.
Wonderful review, thank you.
Some more thoughts are rumbling through my head:
“Tell the truth and shame the devil” – I absolutely love that line. (Merry Wives of Windsor). We need to say that in the US. I’ll start.
The irony of Bright’s safe crossing advertisement being heavily ridiculed in the police station where they are desperately trying to solve a murder of a girl who, as it ends up, was killed crossing a street.
Who is now manning Endeavor’s station that he left behind and seemed to be the only officer working in?
I’m thrown off every time I hear Magdalene Church / Bridge pronounced as “Maudlen.” I expect it to be “MAG-dah-lynn” as in Mary. I’m guessing she isn’t called that in Britain. Also, why are so many places named after her in Britain?
I’m always so appreciative that you add all the music played in the episodes; we don’t get to hear a lot of them in the US. Thank you for taking the time and effort.
Thank you Carolyne.
As I have written in the past, I am watching Endeavour in order from the beginning. Just watched “Pylon” episode. Usually, I always find the episodes to very enjoyable from a character, dialogue, costume, and set perspective, but having a weak story, unexplained plot turns, and having numerous loose ends. All the good stuff is here in this episode, but not all the bad stuff. I can’t say there’s a lot for me to complain about, this is a pretty good episode. I liked seeing Morse in uniform, still soldiering on to fight the good fight despite his exile to the country/county and his torpor. I hate Thursday working for DCI Box, and I hate DCI Box, but I am supposed to hate Box as he’s being played as a most unlikeable character/caricature. Yeah, there’s the old Morse/Joan thing, but that ain’t going away. Some continuity errors, anachronisms, etc. pointed out above. Generic music in USA edition. and so on. I could see past all that this time.
However, that Dr. DeBryn cannot call out cause of death as a car accident is unbelievable. He spots miniscule puncture wounds in victims buttocks and such in previous episodes, but he misses this. He isn’t even shown to have done a proper “routing around”. I understand that it’s necessary for the story for the cause of death to be indeterminate, but it is a glaring failure of the episode not to address this somehow. Maybe because the victim is found in a field nobody considers it a possibility.
Anyways, good episode.
I think this is a good solid entry and thankfully the gang related storylines from the previous series had gone away. The weakest part of the episode was that Max had missed that the girl died following being hit by a car.
I also thought it was well done the troubling storyline of the professor and abducting young girls to recreate photographs. When I watch Lewis and in one of the episodes the character played by James Fox mentions Lewis Caroll and Alice Liddell relationship, I think of this Endeavour episode.
Endeavour looks for the case in ‘the organ loft’. The loft is usually off the ground and a gallery. I think the case is hidden in the organ case rather that ‘a loft’ as the organ doesn’t appear to be in a gallery but at ground level.
I haven’t seen past season 6 episode 1, so this question may be answered later in the series, but what did Morse see in the stained glass windows of the church in the final seconds of the episode? We’re they images of forgiveness because the rector has been buying the photographs?
I always wondered about the significance of Endeavour looking at the stained glass window at the end and the forgiveness aspect of the episode. But I never thought about the connection of the reverend possibly buying and “enjoying” those photographs and that makes some sense of his cryptic comment about everyone needing forgiveness. Or did the reverend know about that case and who put it there but chose not to come forward with it?
I also assumed that the vicar was involved somehow in some part of the plot.
Dr DeBryn has an idyllic and enviable house and garden! A great character, so well acted.
The vicar was not involved in any of the episode plots other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
No, I had a feeling he was going to be, but I’m glad he wasn’t.
Fred’s flash back music is a variation on Siegfried’s Funeral March
Hello Chris, thank you for the immense work & knowledge you are putting into the Morse/Endeavour/Lewis complex!!
Just saw this episode on German TV (ZDFneo), where the Endeavour series is aired now and then.
Tonight, being a retired MD, who attended school of medicine (in Vienna) in the 1970s, it jumped to my attention that the junkie tools Fred Th. finds in the dingy dwelling of the initial suspect also consisted of single-use plastic syringes, which did not come into widespread use before 1980 – at least in Austria, but I think the UK was not so much different from the continent in this respect…
Greetings!
Helmut
Another sign of the young Morse gradually evolving to become the grumpy middle-aged Morse: after taking an instant dislike to George Fancy as soon as he arrived, Morse is now ground down and become cynical because of the failure to solve the case and find George’s killer. At the end of series 5, the four main characters were determined to solve the case, but seven months later Morse has just been ground down by the busy other things of life.
By the way, a number of people have made comments about red letters appearing in the end credits, giving clues about each episode. I haven’t ever noticed any. Are they missing from the DVD box set version?
Hi John. The ‘red letters’ only appear in the USA broadcast versions.
I noticed that Morse (at about 19 minutes in) was typing up his report and typed “Friday 9th July 1969”. 9th was a Wednesday; Friday was the 11th. It’s odd because they got the other dates (1st, 17th etc) all correct.