Hello Endeavourists and welcome to my review of the THIRD episode of the new sixth series, CONFECTION.
I hope this post finds you all well my fellow Endeavourists.
So boring bits out of the way first.
Please subscribe to to my website. Subscribing to this website can be done in two ways.
If you have a WordPress account then click the ‘following’ button. If you don’t have a WordPress account then enter your email and click the subscribe button. Entering the email only means subscribing to my website you will NOT be creating a WordPress account. (WordPress are the company that I pay to use their platform).
To help run my website I have set up a Paypal account for donations. Thank you to all those who have made donations.
My Twitter, https://twitter.com/?lang=en-gb
My Twitch Channel; https://www.twitch.tv/morselewisendeavour
My Youtube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjIIGCcVpSIFwtRlS8hKWDA?view_as=subscriber
I have started my own Facebook page. It is primarily an extension of this website. I decided to start the Facebook page as there has been times when I have an update to a review post or some interesting news or information but it was all to small to make into a full blown post here on my website. So, come and join and keep up-to-date with all that happens in the Morse universe.
My Facebook Page; https://www.facebook.com/groups/1084993125023468/
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Endeavour Series six, Episode Three; ‘CONFECTION’.
Chronologically this is episode 26.
First broadcast 24th February 2019.
Where’s Colin?
He’s Mr Quill, the writer. This is around the 23 minutes and 45 second mark.
Directed by Leanne Welham. (No connections 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
“The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable!” Oscar Wilde.
Midsomer murders meets Agatha Christie meets Blood Bath at the OK Corrall meets Blue Velvet.
Here is the opening of the film, Blue Velvet, by the wonderful David Lynch
Here is the opening of Confection.
REVIEW.
(warning, this review will contain some spoilers)
Episode Jag Rating – out of 10.
MUSIC
The music mentioned below is from the original British Broadcast. Due to copyright reasons the music may differ in other countries.
Darlene wrote this in the comments regarding the song used in the USA episode to replace the Roy Orbison song, ” I continued researching and located the music studio (DNA Music Ltd) who worked with Barrington Pheloung and often provided the talent and music supervision for him and Endeavour. The talent agent/music supervisor, Amanda Street, responded to my message in Facebook.She said the producers wanted a Roy Orbison vibe and so DNA hired the songwriter Tom Kelly (I’ll Stand by You, Like a Virgin) to write the song and singer, songwriter, composer, Tim Dickinson, in the UK to sing the song.”
————————————————-
It is the Vienna Blood Waltz Overture by Johann Strauss.
——————————————–
Morse is sitting in his office at about one hour and 17 minutes and is listening to music as Jim Strange appears.
——————————————
When Ronnie hands over a brown envelope, in the pub, to Fred we can hear the song Sleepwalking by the Shadows. Thank you to Alan for spotting that song.
———————————————-
He is listening to Bellini’s opera Norma in particular the aria Casta Diva.
———————————————————–
When Fred goes up to order a another two pints for him and Ronnie we hear P.P Arnold’s ‘The First Cut is the Deepest’.
——————————————–
During Mr and Mrs Bright dinner they are listening to Chopin’s Nocturne Op.9, No.2.
—————————————————-
Kudos go to Alison one of my subscribers who mentioned in the comments section that there was a piece of classic music at the scene when the riders and the hounds return from the hunt and then have a spot of lunch. The piece is Mozart’s Divertimento in D K136. Thank you Alison and well spotted.
LITERARY REFERENCES.
Strange joins Morse and Max at the dead body of a drug user. Strange says to Max, “Choked on his own puke, has he?” Max replies, “Been at the Keats again, Sergeant?” Max is of course referring to the romantic poet of the late 18thC and early 19thC John Keats.
ART
Stonor Park Dining Room. The large panoramic painting on the wall is by Dufours of 1815.
Here is a better look at the painting.
The other paintings I don’t recognise but they are probably all portraits of family members.
LOCATIONS
Here we have what is the chocolate factory. It is in fact Kempton Steam Museum. This location was also used in the Endeavour episode ‘Game’. It was the place of work of the young black lad, Smalls.
——————————————————
Thank you to Paul who reliably informs me that the internal scenes of the factory were filmed at Fullers Brewery, Chiswick.
—————————————————
Shown near the beginning of the episode as the milk van drives past. This house is right beside the Cottage Bookshop.
————————————————–
The Cresswell’s beautiful Manor House. It is in fact Stonor, Henley-on-Thames RG9 6HF.
—————————————-
Scene of the dead drug taker. Unidentified.
——————————————–
This is where Thursday sees Jago taking a package and putting it in his trouser pocket. Thursday thinks it is drugs.
Holywell Street has also been used in the Endeavour episodes ‘Girl’ (S1E1) and ‘Home’ (S1E4)
——————————————————-
Bell’s farm.
Thanks to Kyle who identified the above as Rockwell End nr Frieth, Buckinghamshire.
———————————————————
The village high street.
The actual location is the Cottage Bookshop, Elm Rd, Penn, High Wycombe HP10 8LB.
Sadly the bookshop closed last year after 60 years of trading.
Mrs Clamp’s shop is also Elm Rd, Penn, High Wycombe HP10 8LB.
This is also in Elm Road, High Wycombe next to the bookshop.
———————————————–
Endeavour going to meet Max about the boy who committed suicide. This is Oriel College.
‘Regnante Carolo’ is carved into the parapet to commemorate the reign of Charles I in which the Quad was finished. The phrase means ‘Charles, being King’.
00h33m45s
Max and Endeavour walk through Oriel College.
——————————————
The pond where Endeavour meets Isla Fairford is in the middle of the village where much of the scenes were filmed,
—————————————————–
The library where Max and Reginald have that talk.
This is the Goodman Library and Morris Room in the Oxford union library.
——————————————-
Isla and her father’s house. Unidentified.
——————————————-
Morse attends a car crash as requested by Bright.
————————————
Where Morse finds Thursday at the end of the episode.
64 High Street Old Town in Hemel Hempstead. This restaurant was used as the setting for the crime drama Pie in the Sky which starred the late actor Richard Griffiths. For Morse connection see below.
PUB LOCATIONS
Morse and Isla have a drink.
———————————————
Thursday and Box have a cosy chat and a drink.
I believe that the two ‘pubs’ are film sets built specifically for the episode. Sadly another tradition gone from the Morse universe; using real pubs in Oxfordshire.
Actors who appeared in the Endeavour Series 6, Episode 3 ‘CONFECTION’ and/or Morse or Lewis.
Christopher Bowen who played the vet Charles Shepherd was in the Lewis episode ‘Dark Matter’ (S4E2) as Professor Andrew Crompton.
We also have the actor Sophie Stanton who was Letty Clump .
Sophie appeared in the Lewis episode, The Mind has Mountains (series 5, episode 3) as Shauna Malin.
CONNECTIONS OTHER THAN ACTORS TO THE LEWIS AND ORIGINAL MORSE SERIES
The above and the plot owes a great deal to the Morse episode Happy Families, series 6, episode 2. That episode was also about a hate campaign though that hate campaign was against a rich family and Morse and was initiated by the press.
—————————————————-
And a certain Kent Finn appears again if only in book form.
As most of you will know I believe that Kent Finn is the notorious Hugo DeVries from the Morse episode Masonic Mysteries. Kent Finn appeared in the Endeavour episode ‘Game’ (S4E1). We see one of his books, ‘Just for Jolly’ in the episode, ‘Muse’ (S5E1). Kent Finn was mentioned in this episode, ‘Lazaretto (S4E3)’ by the hospital librarian, Lester Fagen, when offering books to CS Bright.
Kent Finn as played by Adam James in ‘Game’
————————————————
Clemmie was referred to as a ‘brood mare’ when she was caught listening at the door as Rupert and Murray argued. That phrase stuck in my mind as I believed it was a phrase used in a Morse episode. A few hours later I remembered. It was said by Dr. Esther Martin as to what John Peter Barrie called her in the excellent Morse episode, ‘Day of the Devil’.
Harriet Walter as Dr. Esther Martin
Keith Allen as John Peter Barrie
Is there any significance to this phrase? I don’t think so. It’s just my Morse addled mind working overtime. But…
Strangely there is another connection to the Morse episode, Day of the Devil, Richard Griffiths. Let’s have a shufty.
Richard Griffiths starred in the crime drama, Pie in the Sky. The restaurant used for the series is the same restaurant we see Morse peering through at the end of the episode.
————————————————–
The Kempton Steam Engine Museum was also used in the Lewis episode Beyond Good and Evil.
The episode also had a connection to the Morse episode Sins of the Father. That episode is the one where Morse investigate a murder at a brewery. There is a look about the Kempton Steam Museum that is like the location used in the Morse episode.
There is also a similarity as to were Stephen Radford in Sins of the Father
And Murray Cresswell were found.
Miscellaneous
A foreshadowing of what is to come in the episode, blood and guts.
————————————————————–
Hold on to your hats because there is quite a few references to the following children’s British TV shows. First up;
Russell Lewis from the very beginning is shooting references from the hip and these references stir up some happy childhood memories. Chigton Green appears to be a combination of three children’s programmes from the 1960s; Trumpton (the ‘ton’ of Chigton), Chigley, (the ‘chig’ part of Chigton) and Camberwick Green. All three shows were part of the same universe. they all inhabited Trumptonshire.
All three shows used stop motion not unlike the method used to create the wonderful Wallace and Gromit.
———————————————
Here we go with Russell naming many characters in the episode after characters from the three children’s shows previously mentioned.
The name of Clamp used in the episode for Sarah and Letty Clamp is a reference to a character in the 1960s Children’s progamme, Trumpton. Mr Clamp was the the greengrocer; his shop is ‘J Clamp & Son’, and his theme song is ‘Come buy my vegetables’.
—————————————————–
Another Trumpton reference is PC Rich Potter. Police Constable Potter is Trumpton’s policeman.
———————————————————–
Michael Murphy played in the episode by Joe Bone is a reference to Mr Mickey Murphy – the village baker.
———————————————————-
Cresswell Confections is a reference to Mr Cresswell – the owner and general manager of the factory in the children’s show Chigley.
—————————————————–
There is a Mr Carroway the fishmonger in the village.
Guess what. There is a Mr Carraway the fishmonger in Camberwick Green.
———————————————–
The steam whistle that blows near the beginning of the episode is probably a nod to the buildings real identity, a steam engine museum.
———————————————————
I noted that Barrington Pheloung was back on music duties in this episode rather than Matthew Slater.
———————————————————
And a certain Kent Finn appears again if only in book form.
As most of you will know I believe that Kent Finn is the notorious Hugo DeVries from the Morse episode Masonic Mysteries.
——————————————————-
In the scene at about 10 minutes we see the fox hunters stuffing their face and quaffing champagne. I wonder if this is a nod to the Oscar Wilde quote, ““The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable!”
————————————————————-
Gidburys is said to be on the verge of taking over Cresswells, or at least a merger. Gidburys was mentioned in the Endeavour episode, ‘Passenger’ (S5E3)
———————————————–
When Morse and Max are in the college attending the suicide of Rufus Bura, Morse notices that he had been listening to Mahler. Mahler is famously (or should that be infamously) noted as music to slit your wrists to as it can be deemed as rather depressing.
————————————————————
When Max and Endeavour are talking in the college quad they are discussing the ‘derelict’ who died from the drugs overdose. Endeavour says, “A soldier, possibly.” Max replies, “Known Unto God.” Known unto God is a phrase used on the gravestones of unknown soldiers in Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemeteries. It was devised by Rudyard Kipling.
————————————————–
As the above scene is closing we hear church bells. A reference to the poem by John Donne?
For Whom the Bell Tolls by John Donne
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
Or maybe i’m reading to much into such a simple thing as bells ringing.
—————————————————
Endeavour is talking to Ronnie Box about the death of Rufus Bura and how it may be linked to the other deaths. Endeavour says, “I spoke to a Rhodes scholar that Bura played rugby with, name of Clinton.” The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford. Clinto refers of course to Bill Clinton. Clinton won a Rhodes Scholarship to University College, Oxford, where he initially read for a B.Phil
———————————————-
Bucephalus the name of the horse that was lame and had to be shot is named after the horse of Alexander the Great.
Alexander taming Bucephalus, Edinburgh City Chambers, Scotland.
———————————————
When Endeavour arrives to take Isla out on a date her father reads out a crossword clue, “Slaughter horse and worry about it. ” Endeavour answers “Carnage.” For those unsure of cryptic clues in a crossword here is how the answer is formed. Cryptic clues usually have two parts: there will be a word or words that are for example a synonym of the answer, in this ‘slaughter’. Then there will be the ‘cryptic part’ The Horse is a ‘nag’. To worry is to ‘care’. The ‘about it’ part means it wants you to put ‘care’ around the word ‘nag’. Of course a slaughter is a ‘carnage’.
I’m wondering if this is some sort of portentous warning of things to come. Yikes!
Update 28th February: A friend on Twitter told me that “The cryptic crossword clue that you spotted… ‘carnage’: at least one French to Spanish translation gives us ‘degüello’ for this…
Degüello is the title of the next #Endeavour episode. Fascinating.
——————————————–
Judith Neal, who moonlights as Miss Ling the agony aunt, tells Endeavour that she uses the Adler favourite Two typewriter as does the the person sending the poison pen letters. Famous names who used an Adler typewriter are; Kingsley Amis, Maya Angelou, Margaret Drabble, Stanley Kubrick and Joe Orton.
Thank you to Jeremy who in the comments section wrote the following, “DCI Box refers to the backhander he hands to Thursday as a’bit of bunce’. I’ve always understood this to come from rhyming slang – Bunsen burner meaning ‘earner’.
When the name of Cresswell’s is first mentioned, Box says something like ‘What, Milky Boy and all that?’. Clearly a play on white chocolate ‘Milky Bar’ product, but it may also be an obscure reference to the ‘Harry and Paul’ sketch ‘The Landlady and the Confectioner’.
————————————————–
Thanks to John and Cheryl who noticed the following; “At 16 minutes the Vet refers to the mother of Rufus having a very overfed Pekingese. This is an oblique reference to Tricky Woo in the James Herriot All Creatures Great And Small books, films and TV series.”
“At 49 minutes we see the hall of the Thursday’s home. The walls are painted blue. Yet a few episodes ago we saw Fred painting them green.”
“We suspect the forename Murray for one of the 2 Cresswell sons is a reference to the confection known as Murray Mints; and
A stretch here but we have a James Bond reference in the choice of location for the home of the Cresswells. Stonor was the Blayden safe house in The Living Daylights.”
FRED THURSDAY’S WORDS OF WISDOM.
None that I noticed in this episode.
MAX DEBRYN’S WITTICISMS
Strange joins Morse and Max at the dead body of a drug user. Strange says to Max, “Choked on his own puke, has he?” Max replies, “Been at the Keats again, Sergeant?” Max is of course referring to the poet John Keats.
——————————————————
When inspecting the dead boy in the bath, Rufus Bura, at a Oxford college, Max says, “It’s all a bit coppery, I’m afraid. Appropriately enough. Just a hint of sucrose.” Morse’s reply is, “Oh, must you? It’s a bloodbath, not a Cotes du Rhone.”
———————————————
Talking to Morse over the dead body of Rufus Bura in a bath, he says, “alles in Ordnung” which translated from the German means, “Everything (is) in order.” Not really witty but very Max.
————————————————-
Standing over Murray’s dead, chocolate covered body, Max says, “I won’t be able to confirm cause until I’ve got his lid off.”
—————————————-
As above standing over Murray’s body he let’s it be known that he was not killed by a gun. “Could have been done with any number of pointed instruments.” Jago asks, “Such as?” Max replies Oh, a spiked bayonet, medieval misericord, rondel dagger, the Japanese sai.”
THE MURDERED, THEIR MURDERER/S AND THEIR METHODS.
Drug taker died by overdose. herion laced with quinine. He choked on his own ‘vomitus’.
Greville Cresswell, shot. Killed by Rennet Bell.
Mandy-Jane Bell shot by her husband Rennet Bell.
Rennet Bell, suicide by shotgun.
Rufus Bura, suicide. Slashed his wrists. Rufus killed himself because he felt guilty over the death of the Bells. Rufus was the one who posted Isla’s letters from Oxford.
Murray, death by choloate. 😉 Actually, killed by the vet’s gun that he uses to put down horses. Killed by Isla Fairford.
BRITISH COLLOQUIALISMS TRANSLATED.
Max says to Strange over the dead body of drug taker, “Furthers and betters once I’ve had a fillet.” This refers to additional information required to provide sufficient accuracy.
———————————————-
Ronnie asks Fred if he wants to go for a ‘livener’. This is something with an invigorating effect, especially an alcoholic drink.
————————————————-
Ronnie Box says to Fred in the pub when he thought Thursday wouldn’t take the envelope full of money, “Blimey For a minute there, you had me giving you two-bob, thrupenny bit.”
Thrupney Bit is the shits and two-bob is the squits, (diarrhoea). Sorry for the colourful images.
CAST
Joe Bone as Michael Murphy
Oliver Farnworth as PC Rich Potter
Christopher Harper as John Hazel
Katie Goldfinch as Sarah Clamp
Sean Rigby as DS Jim Strange
Roger Allam as DI Fred Thursday
Shaun Evans as DS Endeavour Morse
Jack Hawkins as Murray Creswell
Claudia Jolly as Clemmie Creswell
Ben Lamb as Rupert Creswell
Abigail Thaw as Dorothea Frazil
Christopher Bowen as Charles Shepherd
Carol Royle as Mrs Bright
Anton Lesser as Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright
Richard Riddell as DS Alan Jago
Simon Harrison as DCI Ronnie Box
Tilly Blackwood as Judith Neal
Caroline O’Neill as Win Thursday
Sophie Stanton as Letty Clamp
Olivia Chenery as Isla Fairford
James Bradshaw as Dr. Max DeBryn
Thanks for translating the British colloquialisms. I often miss the joke!
You’re welcome Layne. Someone gave me the idea on my Twitch live stream.
I thought I heard Box say (on passing the envelope to Fred) something like “It’s just a bit of bunce” – one for the colloquialisms section?
And thank you for this wonderful site; I particularly come for the locations, but enjoy it all!
Hi Ruth, I can’t find that particular quote. In which scene was it used?
I’ve just rewatched the scene in the pub. I actually heard “munce” the first time which I’d never heard of! At 1:00:08 on itvplayer, the subtitles confirm “Just a bit of bunce” as the line.
I can’t say it if was ‘bunce’ or not. Quite hard to hear. The scene is when Thursday first receives ‘payment’ from Box, about an hour in.
‘Bunce’ is something like a bonus, or something like an American might call ‘gravy,’I’m sure Chris can give a better explanation in context.
Thanks a lot! This is absolute a great review as usual. But may I ask why the doctor mentioned Keats? Are there any implications?
I think his mention of Keats is down to him being in many people’s eyes, and mine, one greatest poets who ever lived. I think he could have mentioned any number of poets to make his point. Keats died from tuberculosis which can involve vomiting but I think his name was just to illustrate Strange’s lack of finesse.
It could be that the writer knows of Jeffrey Baker’s comment regarding one of Keats’s poems suggesting Keats had “returned to his vomit,” meaning that he had returned to his old ways. This crass statement was made after 1969, but it stands out, at least to me. Regardless, Chris is right—Max is poking gentle fun even while it flies over Strange’s head. (It was Strange who asked, right?)
Yes, Max was being sarcastic. Or facetious.
Hi Chris
Is 4 jags your lowest ever rating?
I have been reading some comments on twitter and wonder if they are watching the same show ! although one of the closed FB groups had much more critical comments and clearly all love the show/franchise but many had similar views to me.
I was watching and kept thinking “this seems soo familiar” with a mother that was Agatha Christie obsessed I should have realised much earlier!
The romaance ? Come on asking an obvious suspect flat out like that is even something old Morse would not have done and after one date a kiss/walking into her house and briefly interacting with her kid and Dad he is considering marriage? And becoming a police yes man?
I thought that they had completely lost their way in series 5 (except for Passenger/Muse and maybe Icarus) and again started so well with Pylon but no.
I mentioned it last series and I think it is even more obvious this series that Shaun Evans has too much influence over where the stories and his character and others go etc – that is not to say he is not an amazing actor and seems like a great guy but many a series has suffered because of this (MASH springing to mind and I adored Alan Alda)
Four Jags I do believe is my lowest ever score though it may have been matched on some other revue. MASH is still one of my favourite shows. To be honest I strangely never considered that maybe Shaun has nudged his character in a particular way.
Hi Chris – I could be wrong about that however in every recent interview they (Shaun and Russell) are completely open about the collaborative way the series is done and Shaun (and now Roger) are Associate producers and therefore in that role must have more influence.
I agreee re: MASH but (and I think he is an amazing actor/director etc) – I felt the earlier series were priceless and the later series less consistent once Alda became executive producer and clearly as star had massive influence. Just my opinion though!
I’m told the name ‘Rufus Bura’ is a reference to one of the animators of Camberwick Green.
The Scotsman: (Obituary) Bob Bura was one of the most innovative and forward-thinking animators of his generation … Born in Fitzrovia, central London, Barnett Bura, known as Bob, was one of eleven children born to a Romanian émigré, … and collaborated with producer Gordon Murray on ‘A Rubovian Legend’ (1955-61), a marionette show set in a fictitious European kingdom ruled by the benevolent King Rufus XIV.
This must be how Rufus Bura came to be invented.
“Be seeing you” says Strange to Morse as he leaves Morse’s “office”.
I always associate this with Patrick MacGoohan’s 1960’s TV series The Prisoner. This aired in the UK in 1967, so predates this series of Endeavour set in 1969. It was a catchphrase of The Prisoner and one associated with Patrick MacGoohan.
However, I can’t think of any significance of its use here.
Well, I’m enjoying my 2 hours of Endeavour on Sunday nights and sad to think that this Sunday is the last episode of this series.
With Bright summoning Morse to the car crash incident, we have now have new line of inquiry to the Fancy death, one which Morse will have to pursue.
I wonder if Thursday is doing an undercover sting on Box?
Charles,
Do you actually get “2 hours of Endeavor on Sunday nights”?
Last night in the US version the show was only on for 90 minutes despite being advertised d as being 120 minutes in duration.
Did we actually miss 30 minutes of this episode? That would certainly offer some explanation for what was totally confusing to me.
DickSchlaff
Hi Dick. The complete time in the UK is 120 minutes but includes almost 24 minutes od adverts.
Thanks, Chris
I guess that explains most of the difference. No ads in my PBS station version. 😊
Enjoyed your review – but on the comments on the FB site(Inspector) you seem to be very upset with the way Russell is setting his script in regards to the original Morse- hope the next one makes you happier ;o) After all he is the writer- you have to give him some credit for knowing where he is going ??- maybe things will fall in place better as time goes by-hope so- On another note Thank you so much for your review and all the information-to location- music and in particular- the interpretation of some of the” sayings “we in the US are unfamiliar with .
I probably give Russell a harder time than he deserves but I am annoyed with the way he is steering the good ship Morse. I should have thought about ‘translating’ British idioms before but someone who was watching my live stream, an American, gave me the idea. I plan to go through older posts and add that section to them all.
I sometimes wonder if the series writer is poking fun at being British. Even the ‘borrowing’ of the Christie plot seems not playful but mildly accusatory, as if we were foolish to enjoy so much the confections that grande dame provided us. That a family in 1969 would dress for dinner after the pater has been murdered IS ridiculous. And can the British really be so orderly and self-effacing that a factory runs like a library might? Even the children’s card games brought to life with such quiet, menacing irony is a great deal to accept. Perhaps that is just literature today. For myself I like the satire of Swift or Voltaire that both shocks and sets one to strong and unrestrained laughter.
It is quite feasible that Russell Lewis is as you wrote, ‘poking fun at the British’. Coincidentally, I just recently started reading Gulliver’s Travels.
You will love “Gulliver,” though it is strong. Swift wrote that with it he meant “to vex the world rather than divert it.”
I should add that the episode was beautifully shot and of course some lovely acting.
Chris – re: Isla’s fathers home Paul Cripps posted on his Instagram (during filming) the house and from memory the location.
True – no memorable Thursday lines – although his warning off of Morse dating the suspect pretty insightful – Morse’s response unnecessarily cruel (but he has been right through this series)
Thank you Maria I will check out Paul’s instagram.
Oh, and if anyone here reads horror, too, Steven King takes this conceit of village gone mad to the most gruesome point imaginable in his “Needful Things.” It’s not a bad read.
Oops, STEPHEN King, of course.
An excellent job as ever, Chris, but I do have to disagree with your four-Jag summation.
I thought this was a much-anticipated return to form, at least when compared to last week’s episode. I quite enjoyed it, and thought you would be enthusiastic about it, too! Yes, the poison pen plot is an old one, but in fact such an old one that I wouldn’t accuse Russell Lewis of plagiarizing from Agatha Christie so much as buying into a perhaps too hoary murder mystery trope. Dorothy L. Sayers used the same theme in “Gaudy Night”–set in Oxford, no less–before Christie wrote “The Moving Finger” (though I don’t know if there was an actual murder; I do remember a suicide attempt, though); I believe I remember the same theme in an old “Father Brown” story; I wouldn’t be surprised if the same theme goes back to Wilkie Collins and Dickens. At least in this case I was kept guessing as to who the author was, at one point thinking it was the personnel director and at another thinking it might be one of the brothers.
More importantly, to me, I felt the overall series plot was advanced, and in a reasonable way. Two or three weeks ago, especially when Fred Thursday was a little hysterical by Morse’s discovery of the hammer that killed Stanley Clemence’s mother all those years ago and wanted to turn it in because anything else would be “corruption,” I wouldn’t have believed he ever would have taken a back-hander. But by now, especially given what we saw earlier in this episode, we’ve seen just how low he’s been brought. Win’s bitter reply of, “With what?” when he suggested going out of town for a weekend, suggesting their fraught financial state, said more with two words than a whole episode could in another show. Then, seeing her waltz with another man…. Then add Box’s oily, but also, to a point, true, words about how Thursday has been mistreated by the department. Box knew exactly what he was doing by pushing an envelope full of cash towards Thursday for doing, essentially, nothing. I could almost hear Thursday’s brain saying he’d turn down the next payment, and refuse any demands for actually covering up crimes or distorting evidence, but we all–and, frankly, Thursday himself knows–it doesn’t really work that way, does it?
I don’t know why they’re piling sorrow on top of sorrow onto poor Bright, but they did it awfully well, didn’t they? I was struck by their dinnertime conversation that his marriages seemed less arid than I thought it would be…and that his wife was younger and more glamorous that I thought she would be, too. (Though I have to say Bright/Anton Lesser looked MUCH younger in that moment in a later scene when he took off his glasses, so maybe it was a more even match that I originally supposed.) I was struck, again, in his scene with DeVyn at how our core characters do such a good job of combining honesty with kindness. Harking back to his scene with Thursday where they discussed the TV ad, I wouldn’t be surprised if Thursday, like so many others, did indeed think Bright looked rather ridiculous, but had too much respect for the man to say so out loud to anybody, let alone to Bright himself. When called on by Bright, I think he had to scour his brain a bit to come up with something positive to say. But when he did hit upon something, it was sincere, and Bright could tell, and he appreciated it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bright saw the effort, too, and appreciated the kindness behind that. It was a bit similar with his conversation with DeBryn. Let’s face it, DeBryn isn’t used to dealing with the living and having to counsel them. Yet DeBryn did the best he could, which wasn’t bad. Which, in turn, Bright appreciated. I don’t know that it provided comfort, per se–I mean, here’s further confirmation that his beloved wife is dying–but he’s being treated with kindness and respect by someone he, in turn, respects, and that’s always a good thing.
I found it all profoundly sad, but well integrated with the series so far. I don’t know how “well integrated” the final car crash was–I mean, how many guns shoot that caliber of bullet, meaning how can they say so easily it’s connected to Fancy’s death?–but it’s good to see Morse finally, definitively part of that investigation, and some new evidence added to the pile. It will be interesting to see what he does with Thursday in this regard. I know that final shot of Thursday laughing it up with what, to us, are “the bad guys” is meant to demonstrate his corruption, but it also showed to me just how lonely Thursday has been. How long has it been since he’s had a good laugh with ANYone? I don’t know if Morse was thinking “corruption” as much as we were when he saw that. I do think was thinking something along the lines of, “That’s it. I’ve lost him.” Does that mean he’s lost him as an investigative partner or just as a friend? We’ll see, I suppose.
Things are so very sad that I almost didn’t watch this episode. (I’m glad I did.) It’s so strange to me that the writer gets the personal lives of the regulars down so well but that the murder plots and its characters are so silly, or made of cardboard.
librariankej enjoyed all you wrote.
Thank you!
I am sticking with Thursday being undercover to root out corruption, so all this laughter etc is all a show. As I said in my video the actors and the crew are doing a sterling job but are being let down by rehashed plots and storylines.
We all know Thursday’s at a very low ebb, particularly in his domestic life, but Fred ‘on the take’ is a non starter for me. Ok, We’ve just witnessed he’s put the envelope in his pocket, but I think that’s ‘evidence’ for Thursday in what might transpire into a later plot line unveiling of innate corruption within the force & also possibly inextricably linked with Fancy’s demise. Fred’s toeing the path with Box, for now… Endeavour cannot trust anyone, seeing that Thursday is comfortably ensconced with Box & his cronies or is he???? Fred Thursday can’t be bought…can he?? My heart says he has far too much integrity to go down that path.
I don’t know, dorothy. After all, we do know that Thursday later changes his name to Denis Cornford.
I literally laughed out loud when I read this. If Endeavour fans who haven’t watched the original Morse series or don’t know anything about it are going to be scratching their head and saying, ‘He does?’
When Win said “What with? Washers?” What did she mean by Washers?
The metal discs with a hole used between a nut and bolt. So poor that instead of coins (money) they only have washers.
those metal discs between nuts and bolts..often used to indicate someone penniless (skint!)
Until vending machines became sophisticated, washers (we called them slugs) could sometimes be used in place of coins.
Excellent comments!
Another two references to the Trumptonshire series…
Bell is also the name of the farmer in the series (Farmer Johnathan Bell there and Rennet Bell here), while in a newspaper in one scene there is reference to a missing chemist, Joseph Honeyman. He was the chemist in Camberwick Green, and I suspect the missing persons is a reference to the fact he was only ever mentioned by other characters (though his wife appeared). There might be more within the paper, I just couldn’t read it clear enough (sorry I don’t know exactly when it was!)
Thanks Will I will add that info to my post.
I expect that, as a David Lynch fan, you know that IN DREAMS is prominently featured in BLUE VELVET. I enjoyed your review (as ever), but I do think that this episode was the best of the series, so far. It was interesting to see an episode without a Joan Thursday appearance. One thing that bothered me (a bit) was why everyone in the village seemed angry at the postman. I expect that they were put off by the poison pen letters, but all the poor chap did was deliver them !
Yes I was stuck with that – a bit like hating the weatherman for rain on your holiday!
A good illustration of the saying ‘don’t shoot the messenger’!
Thanks Chris for you review of Confection. You’ve given everyone lots to think about. I think there was another piece of classical music you didn’t mention, the first movement of Mozart’s Divertimento in D K136. It was played during the return from the hunt and the subsequent feast. I must say too that although I loved hearing Casta Diva (my favourite soprano aria) played during that interesting scene between Morse and Strange, it was all I could do to concentrate on what they were saying because I was enjoying the music so much!
Hi Alison. Well spotted regarding the Mozart piece. I didn’t hear that. I will add it to my post.
I really enjoyed this week’s episode, but then I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie…!
I liked how there were two deaths right at the start, it set things up for an exciting episode, and I felt it didn’t disappoint. I probably should have realised that the vets daughter was the murderer as soon as Morse asked her out (going by past form) but it genuinely passed me by. Having paused the recording to read the letter to the agony aunt Morse found on the back of a recipe in the kitchen, I wondered how anyone could *not* have known it was written by the vets daughter! So many identifying details it seems everyone in the village would have known who it was from.
Having read the summary of next week’s episode I am afraid that the Fancy storyline is indeed going to be wrapped up with a nice little bow, as ‘they uncover the truth behind the crime that has haunted them all’.
Also the title of the final episode of this series ‘Degüello’ means to take no prisoners or fighting to the death, so it appears there is a showdown coming!
I found a lot to enjoy in this week’s episode, and am looking forward to an exciting denouement next week!
I was wondering if we know anything about Bright’s marriage? They seemed a devoted couple in “Confection”. I do hope we will still see Bright after his wife’s demise, he and DeBryn have become my favourites. Another thing which I am pondering, is if Trewlove reminded Bright of a younger version of his wife, hence his warmth towards her?
In, I believe, the “Icarus” episode last year, the last episode of the series, Endeavour goes to Bright’s house for some reason or another and spots a photograph of a young girl with a pony in amidst a group of framed family photos. Bright says it’s of his daughter, who died at a young age while they were in India. Though they never say it outright, the implication is that Trewlove reminds him of his daughter. Frustratingly, they cut that scene out of the American broadcasts of that episode, which seems especially absurd as it seems to say so much about…so much.
I hate it when they edit out scenes just because our PBS needs airtime for advertising.
Thank you. I do remember something about his daughter – so it would make sense that Trewlove invokes memories, making Bright quite protective of her. I’ve just ordered the DVDs of series 1-5 so I can refresh my memory .
Could the overfed Pekingese mentioned by the vet Charles Shepherd be a reference to Mrs Pumphrey’s dog Tricki Woo from the James Herriott books?
Possibly. But there are so, so many overfed Pekingese.
Thats what I thought, too……
There were a few comments regarding differences between Inspector Morse and Endeavour. Just a few random thoughts. I don’t know too much about the Morse series, but have been watching some episodes recently, and do like and admire them. I’d say they had a smaller budget than Endeavour, and in some ways are less polished. Of course we have come to expect increasingly more sophisticated productions over the past decades and Endeavour is an example. Watch the church choir in the Morse episode Service of the All Dead. They sing Bruckner’s beautiful ‘Locus iste’, but in fact that is only the soundtrack, because the choir on screen is obviously singing something completely different. It becomes quite funny at one stage because while we are listening to the basses singing alone we are watching a boy treble singing away. But Endeavour just gets this sort of thing right. Look at the opening of Neverland where the choir sings a Nunc Dimittis by Purcell. The sound matches what we are watching. Endeavour Morse himself is part of that choir, singing the bass part, and it has been so well rehearsed that his performance, like that of the choir, fits exactly with the words and music as written.
Another thing that strikes me with Endeavour is that we see the characters change and develop over time, and this gives great human interest to the stories. I don’t notice that character development in the Morse episodes I’ve watched. Both Inspector Morse and Lewis are not really much different in any of the episodes. I don’t say this is wrong at all – maybe it’s what people like about Inspector Morse – but for me Endeavour just has that additional spark in this regard.
Chris, I don’t agree with your ‘distraction’ commentary. It seems a bit extreme to say that the writer inserts certain scenes in an attempt to distract viewers from how poor the plot is. The distractions you mention (The Fred and Win situation, the Fred and Box situation, the Endeavour and Joan situation etc) are a great way to illustrate people’s strengths and weaknesses, their vulnerabilities, and their emotional makeup. Such interactions give depth to the characterisation and allow us a glimpse of the personal tensions that may or may not influence their professional activity. It means we can relate to the characters. After all, few of us will ever be called on to track down criminals, but we all have personal tensions in our lives. I think great writers going back as far as Chaucer have used similar tactics, and I can’t imagine a popular crime series that has none of these ‘distractions’ achieving anywhere near the same level of interest.
Having said that, I don’t watch much television, and I might see things differently from people like you who are far better informed. Thanks for all your hard work, and your very heartfelt review.
One small point. The Wiener Blut is not an overture, though I’ve seen that designation in print elsewhere. There was is an operetta Wiener Blut, but the waltz in question, as far as I’m aware, does not appear in it. Could the waltz have been used to introduce the operetta? Maybe.
And as an aside, the one brother calling the other’s wife a broodmare is a terrible insult, isn’t it? The implication is that there is no love between the couple and that her job is simply to produce an heir.
Didn’t John Thaw used to pull on his ear when Morse was thinking? Is this the first time we’ve seen young Morse do the same?
Also, astute viewers should have known that as soon as Morse got mixed up with a woman involved in the case, she was going to be (to paraphrase Fred Thursday) a wrong un’. It’s as much a Morse tradition as the red Jag or picture of Colin.
I got the impression that the Goodman Library and Morris Room, where Bright’s meeting with DeBryn took place, was supposed to be DeBryn’s club, judging from the drinks everyone had in their hands and from the comment about supper that DeBryn made. If it was, that’s one club I’d like to join, with a library like that! Have we heard any reference to…what do they call them, “gentlemen’s clubs”? though, locally, those are strip clubs!…like those in Oxford before? Either in “Endeavour” or in other of the Morse programs? I always associate them with London, though I don’t know why there wouldn’t be any in Oxford as well.
I agree great comments by Librariankej. Thank you! I liked this episode a lot – I do not think Thursday is undercover but when he realises what he has done he may be able to become undercover and help. In this episode we continue to see the lives of Thursday, Bright and Morse falling apart – or rather experiencing loss. And Mrs Thursday. It’s very moving and Morse’s shrivelled personal life means he starting to just have work and to be attracted to the eventual murderer he meets in the course of his work which is a hint of things to come… I think after the great communal feeling in that last series we see the main characters unable to draw much solace from each other. I think that Bright being tested personally and professionally and yet remaining good and gracious to DeBryn and Thursday shows his strength of character when set against Thursday who is also losing his wife in a way and yet falling prey to weakness. The character of Strange is the person who is the healthiest as he acknowledges what is lost straight on.
The “unidentified” picture of a white house with a couple and a dog on a lead, is of a house next door to the Cottage Bookshop in Penn, it’s clearly visible in the photo of the bookshop. You can see the windows, part of the porch, the white picket fence and the lantern on the gatepost.
The problem was that I couldn’t get Google maps to stop outside that house so could never get a clear picture. Thanks Liz
Chris
After reading all these comments I see it that almost from Endeavour pilot to the latest, that Russell knows that his links/connections/borrowed? plots and characters are being observed under the literary microscope of endeavourists like ourselves. He must be teasing us to work out the connection and links like a Morse puzzle. He seems to never waste a scene or a phrase and after recording and replaying there seems always to be a message, however detached from the main story, trying to provoke a comment. I am still trying to work out the scene of Farmer Bell loading his shotgun with cartridges ( not ‘shells’ in the UK, shells are on the beach) from a box marked ‘West and Whites shotgun shells’ this must have a covert meaning or is it me. It seems every scene and phrase has a link to something or is it just me?
What? I missed that since I am an American.
Another thing missing from this series and the previous series is “Oxford”. The city that is synonymous with Morse and Lewis is barely seen in the last two series. The plots are in Villages or random warehouses or side streets with only the suggestion that it’s taking place in Oxford. Both Morse and Lewis featured extensive scenes of the characters in and around the breathtaking sights around Oxford. I understand this has something to do with the period nature of the program but there are few accommodations made and without the Oxford feel the show has really begun to become generic.
I will say, however, that Morse dating the killer is probably the most “Morsian” thing he’s done in years, as in both the books and original series Morse was not above dating the subjects of the investigations.
“Another thing missing from this series and the previous series is “Oxford”. The city that is synonymous with Morse and Lewis is barely seen in the last two series.”
I wonder if at least part of the reason is sheer logistics? Just about all of the interviews we’ve read have mentioned the crowds that gather whenever they film scenes on the streets of Oxford, and it sounds like those crowds have been growing as the program has continued. It could be it’s gotten to be just too unwieldy to be worth it.
But they’re Thames Valley now. And it was a bit much with all the undergrads and dons involved in the mysteries all the time.
I thought the irony was that, while the chocolate assortment was called Happy Families, every family we saw in the episode was distinctly unhappy. So special mention should have been made of Fred Thursday purposefully buying a box of the chocolates to remind Win of their happier times together, in the hope of winning her back. Just for a moment his reminisces appeared to be working before she brought the shutters down.
After that, surely the big surprise was that, after Mrs Bright almost joined the ranks of Mrs Mainwaring, Arthur Daley’s “‘Er indoors”, and even Maris Crane – television spouses that were constantly referred to but never seen – 25 episodes on from the arrival of Chief Superindendent Bright, we finally get to meet Mrs Bright. And any celebration is quashed because it’s definitely not good news. Younger than Reginald Bright, I assume she had been part of the 1920s fishing fleet. If her news at the dining table was a punch in the gut for Mr Bright, him going to Max DeBryn for advice, only to discover that his suggestion for a second opinion would be from the specialist who had given the initial diagnosis, was a brutal kick in the teeth.
And how has Endeavour changed?! As already mentioned, we got to see him spectacularly fall for the wrong ‘un, something John Thaw’s Morse constantly did. But his anger of betrayal really was something to see. Compare the end of Girl – beginning series one – where he made sure that Pamela Walters got to keep her baby, pointedly threatening Sir Edmund Sloan and Helen Cartwright if they tried to take the child to America with them, with him here, angrily man-handling Isla Fairford into the back of the police car without letting her look back and she her young boy at the window.
I don’t know if, tonight in the final episode of this series, we’ll see if they are selling hippy wigs in the Oxford branch of Woolworths, but times are obviously changing, and certainly not for the better.
My first thought on viewing this was that it was a bit Agatha Christie and reminded me of The Moving Finger Writes. The factory reminded me of the one in the tv version of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd too. I’ve checked and in fact the Kempton Steam Museum was the location used. The vet in this episode was Mr Shepherd episode and Roger Ackroyd had a Dr Sheppard.
I thought this episode was like Midsomer Murders but without the humour (pretty village location, multiple killings, even the postman). I’m sure this wasn’t the intention.
I completely agree that the episode was very reminiscent of Agatha Christie and from the beginning made me think of The Moving Finger. The chocolate factory also reminded me of the factory in the tv version of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd but this isn’t surprising because the Kempton Steam Museum was actually used for that as well. I suppose the location is used a lot for tv programmes but Dr Sheppard is one of the main characters in Ackroyd and the vet in this was Mr Shepherd. Perhaps this wasn’t entirely a coincidence.
I think there was another nod to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd too. The vet, Dr Shepherd, was sent off to visit a patient to give the murderer their alibi. The place he went to was Kings Abbott which was the village that Poirot retired to in Roger Ackroyd when he moved in next door to Dr Shepherd and his sister Caroline.
You missed one – The Postman in Camberwick Green is called Peter Hazel, don’t know why it was changed to John Hazel here
******************* SPOILER ALERT *******************************
As ALL the villagers had Trumpton names, I worked out who the murderer was, pretty early on, because I knew that the writer wouldn’t make one of the Trumpton folk the murderer, so I just looked for the outsider – the only one without a Trumpton name 🙂
Also the factory whistle is how every Chigley episode ends ( The clock above the factory entrance hits 6 o’clock,the whistle sounds and all the workers head off to the open air dance)
Speaking of locations, there’s a nod to a famous movie of the past. The Cresswell Sweet Company factory was filmed in the same location as its illustrious predecessor The Scrumptious Sweet Co of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fame! Confectionery perfection! As soon as I saw it, I spent the rest of the episode looking out for CCBB references.
Alex
This is my first comment on your tremendously informative website. Regarding the section, “Actors who appeared in this episode and have also appeared in a Morse or Lewis episode,” I noticed Sophie Stanton, who featured in this epiosde as the Greengrocer “Letty Clamp,” was also in the Lewis episode “The Mind Has Mountains” and played the character “Shauna Malin.”
Thanks James I have added that info to the post. Don’t know how I missed that.
I noticed that the fox hunting scenes show trees in full leaf; quite clearly filmed in the summer. I thought fox hunting was a winter pastime, November to March?
Hi. I hate fox hunting with a passion so any time is is a bad time. Regarding the filming. Endeavour filming is usually done through the summer months.
Bravo, Chris. A cruel and disgusting thing (it’s not a sport, but animal cruelty!) for those who like to play the snob.
I saw this episode tonightin the Netherlands.
I was wondering what version of “In Dreams” it was in the beginning of the show?
In my opinion it wasn’t Roy O.
I’m searching the internet but been not wiser.
Somebody who knows this version of In Dreams?
I’ve seen a copy of the British broadcast version that was uploaded to Youtube and lasted there a couple of days before being deleted. Tonight I watched ‘Confection’ again when it was broadcast in Australia for the first time. The British version definitely started with Roy Orbison singing ‘In Dreams’. However, the song played at the start tonight was not Roy Orbison and not any version of ‘In Dreams’. The song had a similar rhythm to ‘In Dreams’ but a different tune. The main refrain was ‘I dream of you’ but it was still a completely different set of lyrics. The singer was a Roy Orbison wannabe, even attempting falsetto. Neither the singer nor the song were familiar to me.
Even the DVD from ITV did not have the Roy Orbison song In Dreams. I’ve never heard the one played on it.
I agree with this – I was just comparing the ‘Confection’ opening clip sampled in Chris’ review above with the ABC iView online version. We definitely aren’t getting Roy O on the Australian broadcast.
The same thing happened last week in ‘Apollo’. Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ was replaced with an instrumental heavy guitar track – similar in style but not any Zeppelin song that I recognised. Something to do with local broadcast rights or copyright?
I have the answer for you
This is the song that was played
In the Still Of The Night
The Five Satins
In the still of the night
I held you
Held you tight
‘Cause I love
Love you so
Promise I’ll never
Let you go
In the still of the night
I remember
That night in May
The stars were bright above
I’ll hope and I’ll pray
To keep
Your precious love
Well before the light
Hold me again
With all of your might
In the still of the night
So before the light
Hold me again
With all of your might
In the still of the night
In the still of the night
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Hoagy Carmichael / Jo Trent
In the Still Of The Night lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Endeavour season 6 episode 3 ‘Confection’.
First I agree that Russell has forgotten that classical music is part of not only Morse himself but the Morse universe. The music in season 6 is quite different in each episode.
But the greatest mysterie in the Morse saga is the singer of the “In dreams”-like intro song. I don’t find any information on the internet. Only that it is “In dreams” sung by Roy Orbison, but although the second part sound like him, it is not him. The first part sound more like Johnny Cash, but it is not him either. Nor is the song “In dreams”. All close but no cigar. Who solves this unclassical Morse mystery ?
Thanks for such a great blog.
I enjoyed this episode. It seems to me that Russell Lewis is deliberately pastiche-ing the themes in this episode, everything is meant to be way over the top, hyper-real, dream-like, or a bit darker – phantasmagorical.(This would also tie in with the previous poster’s note (Pali Sael) that the song “In Dreams” sounds like the original song, but is in fact a different version, so not quite what it seems.) References to other detective stories abound. It means self-reflection for Endeavour the series and the character. The episode is about families and the volatile bonds they form – as Tolstoy said in Anna Karenina: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The families are a sharp contrast to Morse as he doesn’t even have a home and is house-hunting. He’s also quite happy with a quick fix solution – dating a woman who already has a child – a ready-made family. (Never mind that she’s also very beautiful.)
And yes, Isla is the obvious candidate as in Inspector Morse, Morse tends to date either victims or perpetrators, and as Isla is set-up as a victim (a widowed mother, a damsel in distress), so that was an obvious red-herring. It makes for a fine psychological bridge from the young(er) Morse to the latter. Something a prequel needs that the original series didn’t.
I do think the team sometimes keeps in great lines which just don’t make sense in the context of a detective story, as Evans seemed to struggle with giving credibility to “No solipsistic impulse knowingly overlooked” after inspecting the Mahler record at the suicide scene. Still, some of the fans really enjoy these, myself included.
This was the literary reference/comparison I was going to point out, too: That the Happy Family chocolate assortment (like the title of the original “Morse” ep mentioned above) is a reference to Anna Karenina.
Cresswell would be an allusion to Cadburys, the Quaker chocolate family firm recently in a hostile takeover by the American firm Kraft. Kraft has now renamed itself! The cresswell brothers suggest the cadbury brothers.Practicing the “kind face of capitalism”, Cadburys was well known for looking after its staff .
Surely the allusion to Cadbury’s is Gidbury’s – only two letters’ difference. Although Gidbury’s wanting to take over Cresswell is the reverse of Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury’s. But since the year is 1969 (? I’m not sure), this could be a reference to the merger of Cadbury’s and Schweppes which happened in 1969.
Thank God somebody finally had the courage to call out Mr. Lewis for his bad writing. I thought I was the only one who noticed.
Without getting too specific, I can say the plot points of this year have broken my heart. The show’s been such a huge part of my life, and now I can’t watch it anymore.
Hi Donna. One can only hope that the seventh series, which may be the last, will be the best yet. You and I are not the only ones who have been disappointed as can be seen by many of the comments here on my website.
Hi Chris, thanks for the great write up.
I don’t usually watch Endeavour but was particularly interested to see this episode as a lot of it was filmed in Penn and Tylers Green where I grew up.
I just wanted to drop you a quick comment regarding your ‘pub locations’ section. I can confirm that both pub scenes were indeed filmed in the Horse and Jockey, Church Road, Tylers Green, just down the road from the other village scenes, and they’re certainly not film sets.
Morse and Isla have their drink in the right hand front window as you’re facing the front of pub, whilst Thursday and Box have a cosy chat and a drink half way down the left hand side on the way to the Gents.
I’ve spent many years drinking in this pub and still class it as my local even though I unfortunately no longer reside in this beautiful village. It’s a wonderful country pub that’s loved by many villagers and is well worth a visit!
Best regards
Richard
Hello Richard and welcome. Thank you for verifying the pub location. It’s good to know it wasn’t a film set.
Thank you for your reply Chris.
I was actually sat in the same window just after Christmas and have a couple of photos of each internal location which I’d be happy to send you if allowed, however I’m not sure how to add photos to this message.
Please advise whether you’d like to see them.
Best regards
Richard
Hi Richard. I would love to see them. You should be able to send them via the ‘contact me’ option at the top of the page.
Hi Chris, thanks for your reply and apologies for my late response. I’ll attempt to send you the photos of the interior of the Horse & Jockey right away.
Best regards
Richard
Hello again Chris, unfortunately there’s no option for uploading or pasting photos into the ‘contact me’ section.
Best regards Richard
When you have time, Chris, will you amend your Pub Locations captions?
I will.
Hi Chris, have you thought of a way that I can send you the photos from the interior of the Horse & Jockey pub from this episode? Best regards, Richard
Hi Chris!
I love reading your blog.
I’ve noticed that as the series continues you are getting more and more disappointed by Russel Lewis. In this post you wrote that there were no classical pieces of music included in this episode and it’s making you disappointed that ‘Endeavour’ is getting further from its origins and traditions.
I’ve been watching these series since the first season and for me season six is one of the best. I love that this season started completely differently from others and it shows not only the changes in Thames Valley but also in Oxford itself.
I agree that something changed here but this is why it’s getting more interesting to watch it. It doesn’t mean that Endeavour stoped listening to classical music (As we know he loved it till the end of his life). Morse changed as well. Like, really, he now has moustage and it looks so stupid on him! Haha! I just hope that he will get through that phase and just have it off in the next season.
I think that this season was supposed to look dirty and corrupted so that is why there were less classical music, literature references or any other things which are considered classic. Lewis wanted to show us the atmosphere where Endeavour looks strange, different and unwanted. Just like in Thames Valley with Box and Jago around. (Yo, Box made this season 100% better! He was exactly the character which I loved and hated at the same time:D)
Anyway, I understand what you wanted to say with that. You still love ‘Endeavour’ but you would prefer if there was more old good Endeavour in it!:)
Please, continue doing reviews for the next season of ‘Endeavour’. I cannot wait for it to come out! (I hope that Box survives and he’ll be back in the game!:D)
Best regards,
Marija
P.S. sorry, if I have grammar mistakes! I’m not English!:D
I still can’t find the name of the song or the singer to the opening of “Confection”. In the Australian release it is definitely not Roy Orbison (I’ve been an Orbison fan since mid-sixties). It is not Larry Gatlin as I have read elsewhere and it is not “In the Still Of The Night by The Five Satins” as I have read here.
It is not a particularly good rendition of whatever the song is but I would like to know something about it just to satisfy my curiosity.
Thanks,
John.J.
First of all, what a fabulous blog. So helpful to add context to this episode, since I am not British and would have missed the reference (and specifics)to other British shows. What is most frustrating is that no one can identify the opening song. It is definitely not Roy Orbison, Nor is it the Five Satins. I tried Shazam and it can’t identify the song. And even IMDb does not identify it. It is similar to a Roy Orbison song so I wonder if it was written just for this episode? So wish someone could find out the name and singer. The Orbison and Five Satin words do not even match the words in this song. I wonder why it is not even listed in IMDb? If anyone finds out what it is, hope it will be posted. Again thanks again!
Do you think it was deliberate that De Bryn’s German pronunciation (of Alles in Ordnung) was bloody awful, to bring him down a peg perhaps? The inclusion of the Johann Strauss seems appropriate to me, as it is Mrs. Thursday drowning herself in sentimentality to forget her troubles.
They say that the song at the beginning is Roy Orbison’s In Dreams…..but it is a different song…because when I listen to In Dreams it is not it !!!
It was Roy Orbison’s, Dreams in the original UK broadcast. I wrote the following at the beginning of my review, ” My review of course includes information on locations, music (though some music may be different to what was used in the US and Australia due to copyright)”.
I love the song!!! These are the lyrics I wrote down:
In the still of the night
I drift away
and in the twilight hour
I hear you say
We’ll meet again
as true lovers do
untill we meet again
I dream of you
With every breath I dream of you
with every thought I dream of you
I dream you’re mine
till the end of time
till then I dream of you
of you
The moonlight doesn’t thrill me
the stars have lost their charms
the sun in the sky it sees me cry
when you’re not in my arms
But then sometimes I find
my own peace of mind
when I dream of you
When I dream of you
I dream of you
You’re probably right about copyright!!! I’m in Canada but watch on PBS…I’m still trying to find which song that is and who sings it !!!! There are lots of songs called Dream or I dream of you etc…..but so far no luck….That may not be the title…..Anyway, if someone finds it please let me know….
We are all trying to figure it out. Although the voice and song are similar to Orbison, we know it is not him or his song In Dreams. And clearly not the Five Satins as someone said. I grew up in that generation and know melodies and words by heart. I tried Shazam and it did not recognize the song. IMDb does not list the song in its soundtrack. I searched for words in the lyrics in Google and came up with nothing. I wonder if the producers just hired someone to write and sing the song and only they know who the singer is? Very frustrating. What an opening though!
I did the same!!! tried with the lyrics and could not find it….it’s like a mix of We’ll meet again and In Dream or I’ll dream of you!!!! Tried Google, Tunefind also but no luck…..If I ever find it I’ll let you know!!!
Diane, I will also let you know if I find out the song and singer as well. Somehow I feel the song was created for the episode and maybe the music director had the song written for the show and they hired someone to sing it. It is strange otherwise not to be able to locate it via searches on the internet or Shazam. I also did searches on YouTube using key words. Nothing. Take care!
I did the same thing as everyone, but no luck here too. Please let me know if you find it and I’ll do the same. Thank you.
Hi again, I had an idea. I video it with my cell phone and transferred it to my PC and it works. The sound is not great but I can hear it.
Would love to know the answers everyone else is asking about the “Song” It’s beautiful.
I have recently discovered your blog and am thoroughly enjoying it as I have been rewatching all of Morse, a show and character I loved so much I could never quite bring myself to watch the last episode wherein he died — he was that much of a living person in my imagination, part of my (and my wife’s) life. ( I also had the great pleasure of seeing John Thaw and Diana Rigg in a new Tom Stoppard play in the West End in the early 80s — fantastic!) RE. Endeavour, I was wondering if you would catch the reference to a certain former US President in this episode, and so you did! Have lived in Los Angeles for 26 years, but got my BA at University College, which of course was Bill’s college. Some time after I graduated they decided to honor him with a specially commissioned portrait which has to be one of the ugliest things ever put down on canvas — it is relegated to a dark corner of the dining hall. Funnily enough, on the occasion of my last visit there, many years ago, for a friend’s wedding, we were hanging around in the main quad when who should walk by but two then current members of the US Supreme Court (Sandra Day O’Connor and Ginsberg) on their way to a grand dinner with the Master of the College. None of the other wedding guests had any idea who had just walked past! Ah, only in Oxford….. And yes, I wish they would let some new writers work on Endeavour — it is somewhat losing its way, a fact confirmed by watching the old shows.
It’s encouraging to read here, that the interest is growing to define the enigmatic singer and song in the David Lynch like opening sequence. Especially since neither is mentioned in the credits of the episode. Many people believe that it is the original song In Dreams by Roy Orbison. But it certainly is not. Maybe that recording was used in an overdub by a new singer with other lyrics reproduced here above. The voice is quite close to Roy Orbison’s but clearly not his, same for the lyrics. I tend to believe that this was intentional, “not quite what it seems” as Anne Luisa De Klaes remarks above. If anybody can throw some light on the riddle, please share it here.
Bunce: It’s cockney (i.e. from London) rhyming slang for earning money. Bunce is derived from Bunsen burner (a common piece of school laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame and named after Robert Bunsen) and this rhymes with earner. (Urban dictionary)
Box also says that after the first time, “It’s all gravy” which means that there is an abundance of good things (Urban dictionary). And hence ‘gravy train’.