Hello fellow Endeavourists and welcome to this review of Trove. I have already reviewed series 1,4,5 and 6 and this is me now starting to review series two and three. If you wish to read my reviews on series 1,4,5 and 6 then click here; https://morseandlewisandendeavour.com/endeavour/
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SPOILERS AHEAD!
Endeavour Series Two, Episode One; ‘TROVE’.
Chronologically this is episode 6.
First broadcast 30 March 2014.
Where’s Colin?
Mr Dexter sitting on the bench at 28 minutes and 10 seconds.
Directed by Kristoffer Nyholm
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
Four months after the events of the episode Home where Endeavour was shot and his father passed away Endeavour returns to Oxford police Station. Endeavour had been put on light duties at Witney, “counting paperclips”.
However, Endeavour still hasn’t fully recovered from the events of four months ago, mentally, emotionally and physically. But he is thrown in at the deep end dealing with a missing girl, theft of items from Beaufort College and the death of a private investigator. Things are not helped with Endeavour’s least favourite group of people, The Freemasons, possibly being part of the whole sorry mess.
REVIEW.
(warning, this review will contain some spoilers)
Suffice to say that all actors are at the top of their game in this episode. They say that acting is not about acting but about reacting. This ‘reacting’ is at an apogee in this clip. There are many other things I like about it but in particular is Roger Allam, as Fred Thursday, facial reactions to Endeavour near the end of the clip. After Endeavour jumps at the sound of falling glass Fred tries to bring the emotional state of the table back down to earth. He picks up his sandwiches and says, “Right then, let’s see. Thursday, must be…” Fred looks to Morse to reply as he normally does by telling him what it is and so spoiling the ‘surprise’. But…
Even Jakes is feeling sorry for Endeavour.
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Another great scene is where Endeavour meets Copley-Barnes. I love Jakes joy at Endeavour’s put down.
See literary references below for information about the Venerable Bede.
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Next we have a scene that I think is in every Endeavour fans top five favourite scenes of all the six series.
This is another scene that subtly tells us all is well in the world. How? Endeavour tells Fred what his sandwich filling is.
Episode Jag Rating – out of 10.
MUSIC
The first is played at the beginning and end of the episode, Brahms ‘Ein Deutsches Requiem’ (A German Requiem). Op. 45: Denn alles fleish es ist wie gra. (Behold, all flesh is as the grass).
If you want to hear the whole piece here it is below.
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The music at around the 51 minute mark is ‘La Gioconda, Act IV: Suicidio’. La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli.
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At around the one hour mark we have Lucia di Lammermoor – Mad scene by Gaetano Donizetti.
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At around one hour and five minutes when the police raid the photographer’s studio the music playing is Matthäus Passion, BWV 244: Kommt, ihr Töchter, helftmir klagen ( Matthew Passion, BWV 244: Come, daughters, help me complain).
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At one hour and 16 minutes when the election results and the beuaty queen winner are about to be announced we hear La Traviata: Act 1, Libiamo by Verdi.
For a list of all the Endeavour music in all six series click here; PDF – Music from Endeavour update march 2019
Excel sheet of the music – Music from Endeavour
LITERARY REFERENCES.
Looking down on the body on the car Max says, “Not how i’d “my own quietus make“.
Quietus is a poetic, old-fashioned word for death. It’s a way of viewing death as an “eternal rest,” or as a release from the turmoil of life, and also a delicate way to refer to the fact that someone has died. Shakespeare used the word quietus in his “to be or not to be” soliloquy in “Hamlet,”
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Bright asks Endeavour if he will be up to dealing with the suicide on his first day back. Endeavour says yes. Bright replies, “Once more unto the breach eh.” from Shakespeare’s Henry V, spoken by King Henry
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility.
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When Endeavour corrects Copley-Barnes in regards to dates he mentions the Venerable Bede and the The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. Bede was was an English Benedictine monk at the monastery of St. Peter and its companion monastery of St. Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria of the Angles (contemporarily Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey in Tyne and Wear, England).
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Latin: Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by the Venerable Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally.
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In the scene where Thursday, Endeavour et al confront Batten, Val and Frisco Thursday says “Murder will out.” The phrase murder will out, literally “murder will become public”, appears as far back as Geoffrey Chaucer’s works
ART
None to speak of.
LOCATIONS
This is All Souls College a view from University Church of Mary the Virgin.
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This is Broad Street, Oxford.
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This is the scene where Pettifer lands on the car. This was filmed in Brasenose Lane. The telephone box in the background was added by the film crew.
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Endeavour and Max discussing Pettifer’s death. This is above the back of the High Street between Alfred Street and King Edward Street.
Front view of the first photo.
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This is Kitty going to college. This is Merton Street with the entrance to Merton College in the background. Kitty is walking from Oriel Square.
The same location is used when Endeavour and Thursday detour around the parade.
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Endeavour returning to his flat.
This is Parktown. Ironically, he is staying opposite to where Dr. Daniel Cronyn, Endeavour’s nemesis from the Fugue episode, lived.
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Endeavour goes to retrieve the Pettifer’s pawned item.
This is Turl Street which has been used countless times in Morse, Lewis and Endeavour.
The antique shop is where Endeavour is looking into the window in the photo above.
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Next up Endeavour is looking wistfully toward the Cherwell River. Magdalen College can be seen in the background.
Oh by the way, there is no bench in that area. The bench is put there by the film crew.
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Justin Delfarge, the photographer, trying to make a getaway. First he is seen driving down New College lane.
Then he seen driving along Dead Man’s Walk adjacent to Merton Field.
Merton College is in the background.
Then he is seen driving through the grounds of Christ Church next to Christ Church Gardens.
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Endeavour and Thursday at the entrance to Trill Mill Stream.
In the background is Magdalen College. The location is Addision’s Walk.
If you want to learn about Trill Mill Stream then visit this website https://trillmillstream.wordpress.com/
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The team go to investigate the theft of the Wolvercote Trove.
This is Merton College.
I did some filming of Merton College while in Oxford. Here is a short clip from that film to show you the above location used.
I will be uploading the full video very soon.
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00h28m00s
Of course Merton College stood in for Endeavour’s Alma mater, Lonsdale in the pilot episode. We can see Colin Dexter in the above scene.
00h29m00s
Endeavour meets Dorothea.
This is still Merton College.
Endeavour is standing where the gentleman in the picture is standing. This is looking from the Front Quad toward Fellows Quad.
00h49m05s
The team find the dead body of the young girl.
The above is Magdalen College.
I haven’t as yet found this location below.
This is the hotel where Endeavour visits to talk to Diana Day.
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The swimming pool where the beauty pageant is being held.
This is Tooting Bec Lido.
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From this episode on the crew moved to a new building to create new offices for the police force, interior shots of Thursday’s home and Endeavour’s flat.
This is an old Victorian building in Taplow, Buckinghamshire. It also holds the production offices. A old paper mill is near to this building and is where the sets were built. The Victorian building is called Glen Island House.
The Old Paper Mill and surrounding buildings have now been transformed into homes. The buildings in the above map to the left of the power house are what is left of the paper mill.
PUB LOCATIONS
I believe all three scenes filmed in and outside the same pub,
The Royal Standard of England pub, Forty Green, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.
Actors who appeared in the Endeavour Series 2, Episode 1 ‘TROVE’ and/or Morse or Lewis.
There are quite a few returning actors so let’s crack on.
Firstly we have Jonathan Coy. In the Endeavour episode he played the part of Archie Batten.
Jonathan Coy as Archie Batten.
His other appearance was in the Morse episode, ‘Happy Families’.
Jonathan Coy as Harry Balcombe in the Morse episode, ‘Happy Families’ (Series 6, Episode 2).
Beth Goddard played Barbara Batten.
She also played Belinda Ashton in the Lewis episode ‘The Great and the Good’, (Series 2, Episode 4).
Next we have David Westhead who starred as Val Todd.
David Westhead as Val Todd.
David Westhead also appeared in the Lewis episode, ‘Gift of Promise’ (Series 5, Episode 4).
David Westhead as Leon Suskin in the Lewis episode, ‘Gift of Promise’.
The next had only a small part in each of her appearances but connect the Morse universe they do. Her name is Kay Lavrentiera and she played Frida Yelland in the Endeavour episode.
Kay Lavrentiera as Frida Yelland.
In the Lewis episode Kay played the hotel cleaner.
Kay Lavrentiera as the hotel cleaner in the Lewis episode,’Old School Ties’ (Series 2, Episode 1).
Next up we have Michael Hobbs who apart form appearing in this episode also appeared in the pilot Lewis episode.
Michael Hobbs as the Returning Officer in Trove.
Michael Hobbs as the Club Secretary in the Lewis pilot episode.
Again an actor with a small part, (insert your own joke here), Richard Herdman. In this episode he was the ambulance man and in two Lewis episodes he played a police officer.
That’s Richard Herdman on the right as the ambulance man in Trove.
Richard Herdman as a police officer in the Lewis episode, ‘Intelligent Design’ (Series 7, Episode 3).
Richard also played a police man in the Lewis episode, ‘The Ramblin’ Boy’ (Series 7, Episode 2). I dont have a picture of this.
CONNECTIONS OTHER THAN ACTORS TO THE LEWIS AND ORIGINAL MORSE SERIES
First and possibly foremost is the character of Dr. Matthew Copley Barnes who apart from turning up in this episode also appeared in ‘The Infernal Serpent’ (Series 4, episode 1), an episode in the original Morse.
Jamie Parker as Dr. Matthew Copley Barnes in ‘Trove’.
Geoffrey Palmer as Dr. Matthew Copley Barnes in the Morse episode ‘The Infernal Serpent’.
We also glimpse in this episode Dr. Matthew Copley Barnes’s daughter, Imogen and his wife, Blanche.
Imogen Copley Barnes, his daughter and his wife Blanche. (The actors are not credited).
Blanche Copley Barnes as played by Barbara Leigh-Hunt
Imogen as played by Irene Richard.
The next connective character is mentioned and barely seen and he is Danny Griffon. Danny Griffon appeared in the pilot episode of Lewis, usually known as ‘Reputation’. Well. when I say ‘appeared’ that isn’t quite accurate. He doesn’t physically appear (apart for a few seconds in a flashback) in the Lewis episode but is only mentioned as the dead father of Daniel Griffon, the troubled maths student.
A picture of Danny Griffon which is on Daniel Griffon’s desk in his student lodgings.
Danny Griffon is ‘seen’ twice in the Endeavour episode. Once as a judge at the beauty contest below.
And again when posing for pictures with the beauty queen Diane Day.
Russell Lewis, the writer of this and all episodes of Endeavour, wrote the story for the Lewis pilot episode but not the screenplay. As far as I am aware Russell Lewis had no connection with the Morse episode, ‘The Infernal Serpent’.
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Other actor connections but only to other Endeavour episodes are Nick Waring who plays the Force Medical Examiner in two Endeavour episodes, ‘Trove’ and ‘Neverland’.
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Shvorne Marks as Monica Hicks who plays the Nurse and Endeavour’s girlfriend for a while, appears in six episodes. All four of the second series and two in the third series.
Shvorne Marks as Monica Hicks.
Stuart Matthews plays the party political official in ‘Trove’ and a barman in ‘Nocturne’, (Series 2, Episode 2).
Stuart Matthews in the background as a barman in the episode ‘Nocturne’.
Miscellaneous
A very interesting verbal connection is made in ‘Trove’ to-wit the Wolvercote Trove. This trove included the late Saxon belt buckle mentioned in the Morse episode, ‘The Wolvercote Tongue’ (Series 2, Episode1).
The Wolvercote Belt Buckle as shown in the Morse episode, ‘The Wolvercote Tongue’. A representative picture of the tongue is shown through the perspex.
In the Morse episode a rich American was donating the Wolvercote Tongue to reunite it with the belt buckle.
The Wolvercote Tongue being brought to the surface by divers in, ‘The Wolvercote Tongue’.
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In the ‘Trove’ episode Endeavour mentions a Mary Richardson who famously slashed the ‘Rokeby Venus’ painting by Diego Velázquez.
‘Rokeby Venus’ painting by Diego Velázquez.
Apart from the fact that Endeavour gave the wrong year for the incident, (it was 1914 not 1913), I believe. possibly wrongly, that this painting was either mentioned or shown in a Lewis or Morse episode but for the life of me I can’t remember which one. I had a quick look through the Morse episode, ‘Who Killed Harry Field?’ as there is a lot of art shown and mentioned in that but to no avail. It rings the proverbial bell as I love art, my daughter is an artist, and I love Diego Velázquez, and for those reasons I’m sure I recall seeing it in either a Morse or Lewis episode. Anyway, onwards and upwards.
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I had to smile when I saw one of the books on Morse’s bedside table. It is a book I read in my twenties, ‘Germany Puts the Clock Back’ by Edgar Ansel Mowrer. A great read. I’m trying to figure out why Russell Lewis, if it was him, had that particular book placed in view of the camera. It may simply be that many people in the sixties read it due to its brilliant assessment of Hitler and Fascism and to help to try and understand why WW2 came about. We know that Morse eventually learns German as he speaks it in the episode, ‘Who Killed Harry Field?’. I’m grasping at the proverbial straws here to try and find a connection.
Meanwhile…
Here’s two tenuous links you are going to like. Firstly, the actor Nigel Cooke who played Walter Fisher in ‘Trove’.
Nigel is married to Sorcha Cusack who of course played Endeavour’s sister Joyce.
Sorcha Cusack as Joyce Garrett (her married name) in the Morse episode, ‘Cherubim and Seruphim’.
Secondly, and this is very tenuous, Beth Goddard who played Barbara Batten.
Barbara is married to Philip Glenister whose brother is Robert Glenister who played Lewis in the BBC Morse radio dramas. I told you it was very tenuous.
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Max and Endeavour are on the roof where the supposed suicide jumped from. Endeavour asks, “’cause?” Max replies, ” Something of a salmagundi.” Salmagundi (sometimes abbreviated as salmi) is a dish of seasoned meats, stewed with vegetables.
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This is tenuous and you are all going to shake your head but hear me out. When Endeavour visits the garage at around the 15 minute mark there is a poster on the wall.
As you can see the holiday camp is called ‘Caplins’. In Hitchcock’s masterpiece North by Northwest the character that Thornhill (played by the wonderful Cary Grant. Oh to be that handsome and charming), is mistaken for someone called Kaplan. The twist being, SPOILER ALERT, Kaplan doesn’t exist. So, this holiday camp doesn’t exist either in the episode or real life. Please all stop shaking your head. 😉
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At around 36 minutes Endeavour meets Tony Frisco. They shake hands.
Did Tony give Endeavour a Masonic handshake? Tony’s pinkie finger is in between both of their palms and watch the clip below to see Endeavour’s reaction.
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When Endeavour visits London looking for Pettifer’s office he looks at signs on the wall.
I believe Pacific All-Risk Insurance is a reference to the excellent 1944 film noir Barbara Stanwyck film, Double Indemnity. Fred MacMurray plays an insurance salesman who works for the Pacific All-Risk Insurance Company.
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Another sign on the wall is R. Duck & Co.
This is a reference to the very funny film, Withnail & I. In Withnail & I, Monty (played by Richard Griffiths) describes his first agent as being one Raymond Duck.
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Copley Barnes says to Endeavour when he questions him about Kitty Batten, “Touch of the barley fever.” Barley fever refers to sexual desire encouraged by light or moderate alcohol intake.
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At the end of the episode Val Todd asks Endeavour if he wants powerful friends or enemies. Endeavour says, “A bunch of overgrown schoolboys playing with the dressing-up box?” Fred Thursday says something similar in the episode Muse, “Grow up, you’re too old for the dressing up box”.
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At the end of the episode Endeavour and Thursday are sitting in the pub. Thursday tells Endeavour that Copley Barnes “gave me an earful. Said he’d remember you.” Endeavour replies, “Vainglorious fool like that? I doubt it.” This is of course a little reference joke as we know as Morse fans that Endeavour will meet Copley Barnes again in about 30 years. It’s also a little nod to fans of the original series to give a reason why in the episode Infernal Servant the character of Copley Barnes doesn’t remember Morse.
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The long arm of the Masons.
Taking Pettifer’s notebook that went missing from the crime scene.
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There is no Dorrick Street in Oxford.
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Thanks to John for this observation. On the right we can see someone named Robert Danvers. John wrotes, “the name of the man who held the gong in the yes no segment of the show, Take Your Pick, in the 1960s? He was Bob Danvers Walker.
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Thank you to Angela who provided the following interesting information, ”
In keeping with the other Hitchcock related moments, I was struck but the similarity of petrol station/ cabin owner Walter Fisher’s comments akin to Norman Bates of the fateful Bates Motel in “Psycho” . He also mentions how he’s not had much trade since the newly laid bypass road has steered drivers past the business, away from the back roads.
Walter tells Endeavour of a guest at his cabin called Mr Meeker. This might be reference to 50s actor Ralph Meeker who starred in many “Alfred Hitchcock Presents….” TV episodes. He also starred in classic film “The Naked Spur”, alongside Psycho’s Janet Leigh and North By Northwest’s Jimmy Stewart (also mentioned in blog).
I also read on Motortread site that Lincoln-Continental cars featured prominently on “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and Fisher mentions this was Meeker’s car.”
Thank you Angela.
FRED THURSDAY’S WORDS OF WISDOM.
Fred: “Suppose you tell me what was all about.:
Jenkins: Suppose we don’t.”
Fred: “Then i’ll have to take off my hat.”
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“You think I missed all the bottles round your flat? Six months, you’ll have enough off the empties to put down for a second-hand car.
Booze can be a good servant, Morse, but it’s a lousy master.”
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In the final scene Thursday tells Morse, “You don’t want to let a little tripehound like Todd bother you. Cos his sort’s nowt a pound – and shit’s tuppence. As my grandma used to say.
Northerner.” Thanks to John Thorpe who gave me the literal Yorkshire meaning of ‘Cos his sort’s nowt a pound – and shit’s tuppence’. John wrote “Copley Barnes is worth less than crap – “shit costs 2p and a pound of him’s not even worth that.” Thank you John.
MAX DEBRYN’S WITTICISMS
Talking about the ‘suicide’ who landed on the car, Max says “Dead before his mind had a chance to catch up with the rest of him”.
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Endeavour tells Max that the ‘suicide’ was a dentist. Max replies, “With teeth like that? I’ve seen better gnashers running at Uttoxeter. (Uttoxeter is an English race horse venue).
THE MURDERED, THEIR MURDERER/S AND THEIR METHODS.
First death was Frida Yelland.
Murdered by Tony Frisco. He also murdered Pettifer.
Both killed with a cosh though Pettifer may have also died from the fall onto the car.
BRITISH COLLOQUIALISMS TRANSLATED.
GNASHERS: Teeth. (said by Max to Endeavour).
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Said by Thursday, “nowt a pound – and shit’s tuppence.” I think it means that someone is mean or doesn’t have the money to buy anything of worth.
CAST
Nigel Cooke as Walter Fisher
Beth Goddard as Barbara Batten
Pooky Quesnel as Muriel Todd
Jessica Ellerby as Diana Day
Shaun Evans as DC Endeavour Morse
Sara Vickers as Joan Thursday
Anton Lesser as Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright
Jack Laskey as DS Peter Jakes
James Bradshaw as Dr. Max DeBryn
Shvorne Marks as Monica Hicks
Abigail Thaw as Dorothea Frazil
Philip Martin Brown as Bernard Yelland
Jessie Buckley as Kitty Batten
Roger Allam as DI Fred Thursday
David Westhead as Val Todd
Samuel Oatley as Mallory
Emily Plumtree as Lydia Martin
Celyn Jones as Jenkins
James Palmer as Justin Delfarge
Jonathan Coy as Archie Batten
William Mannering as Dr. Malcolm Speight
Jamie Parker as Dr. Matthew Copley-Barnes
Liam Garrigan as Tony Frisco
Nathan John Carter as John Pettifer
Caroline O’Neill as Win Thursday
excellent review Chris. One of my favorite Endeavour episodes and it only makes me realize why I haven’t liked the last few series (save a few episodes). I always enjoy when there are connections in Endeavour to the other series in the Morse universe and this one is chock a block with them.
Thanks Tom, I’m glad you liked it.
First scene from Delfarge’s attempted getaway looks like it could be Queen’s Lane (hope the barriers were up!).
Hi Ian. Yes that was actually my first thought but it’s not.
Also, regarding the Rokeby Venus, I wonder whether you could be thinking of the paintings that were featured in ‘Ghost in the Machine’. You’ve catalogued those in your review of that episode, and the Velazquez isn’t among them (Sir Julius’s collection appears to be primarily nineteenth-century works), but the subject matter is on the same lines.
Thank you, as always, for this amazing amount of work! The phrase “my own quietus make” appears in the poem “No Memory for Faces” by William Beatty-Kingston (1885-ish). “If I thought it wouldn’t hurt, I would my own quietus make / With a bodkin, or a bullet, or a slice of poisoned cake; / For my cup of life is brimming full of sorrows and disgraces, / All resulting from the fact that — I’ve no memory for faces!”
I have racked my brain and now it’s tired – too tired to tease out the answer from the many reviews – but who ended up with the black book taken from the evidence of Pettigrew’s death? I cannot find a reference to the black and white check floors.Thanks!
Over the last few days there has been an entertaining and interesting discussion in the comment section of the Trove review. The Masons were the recipients of the black book.
Interesting and informative, as always.
Great review .. I think the name of the Holiday Camp relates more to ‘Maplins’ in the 1980s BBC Comedy Hi-Di-Hi. They also had entertainment staff called ‘Yellow-Coats’ as shown in the picture
Ah yes I forgot about show; understandably. 😉
Justin Delfarge’s getaway is along New College Lane. Not a good way to go since I seem to remember it is a dead-end.
I believe the episode Muse references the Rokeby Venus.
Hello Denise. I think I mentioned that in my review of the episode Muse.
One of the best episodes of the entire run of Endeavour. The writing is top class and as you say, everyone is on top of their game.
Nowt a pound and shits tuppence means don’t give anything to them. As in hard earned money pays for good things. As in the person is worth less than shit. Not worth thinking about, not worth any of your time, nothing’s as a person.
The orange dress worn by the daughter of the newly minted member of parliament is significant. Orange is the visual signal for “33” the Masonic number; House of Orange etc. This dress is so bright in what is otherwise an austere world it can’t help but be noticed.
Just a thought.
Rgds.
Very interesting Colin. Thank you for your comment.
This is, like you said Chris, a great episode. The interaction between Endeavour/Thursday is superb and something I’ll miss in later seasons. That can also be said about Endeavour/Jake. Jake also gave the suspicious suicide the nickname Icarus, later to become episode 5:6.
The shady business and underlying power of the Freemason is evident when a notebook goes missing and when Miss Frazil informs Endeavour that the press received orders from on high to treat the theft at Beaufort as a non-story. Nor are the Masons deterred from attacking a police officer when Endeavour is knocked down in Pettifer’s office in London.
In the pub Endeavour later tells Strange that a man can’t serve two masters, sooner or later the day will come when one has to choose and tells him not to lose his way. The Freemasons tentacles continue and in the episode Neverland, 2:4, Endeavour tells Strange that now that day has come and he has to make his choice.
Finally, I think Kitty Batten, the young college student, would’ve been the perfect wife for Endeavour. They never had anything going in the episode but during their brief encounter at Beaufort the intellectual connection between them is obvious.
They would’ve been the perfect couple on equal and intellectual grounds. In Endeavour Kitty would’ve a husband supporting her continued career and who would see her as much more than just the empty head and Colgate-smile she talks about. And for Endeavour, Kitty would be the woman to love and with whom to share his passion for literature and opera.
The neighbour Monica is sweet and caring but I can’t see any lasting relationship between her and Endeavour no matter what did happen in the Neverland episode.
As a strong, independent woman, Kitty is by far one of the most interesting women in the series. And as a couple I think they would’ve made the most of their time together.
Bo, I didn’t get the missing notebook significance in regards to who took it and why. And the shot of the ring at the end is still a mystery to me. That was never explained at least to my understanding.
It’s a Masonic ring, and I take it to mean that Jim Strange nicked the missing notebook.
Sorry to disagree with you Sheldon, but throughout series two, police evidence from the murder victims, which mysteriously went missing, was being removed by the long arm of the Masons. In essence, many unscrupulous, freemasonry members, were all connected with one another, and thus trying to help each other out, by removing evidence. We eventually found out, this pre-empted the battle of the good detectives, Morse, Thursday, Jakes, Strange and Bright, against the various corrupt elements of Oxford society, undoubtedly a number of them having masonic links, be it councillors, businessmen and policemen, during the explosive finale of series two, “Neverland”.
Sorry, I should have also mentioned, that Strange joined the Masons in this Endeavour episode. However, as an honest policeman, I do not believe he assisted his fellow masonic members, many of whom were corrupt, by removing evidence. After all, there were a number of other crooked policemen in the masonic lodge, to do that dirty work, as portrayed in the series two finale, “Neverland”.
My favorite scene in this great episode is the one where Morse takes down Copley Barnes and Jake loves it!
Hello, I am late to the Endeavour party and have just started watching it. Great reviews on the show, by the way. I did not catch the Masonic handshake. That’s a good one. Val’s parting threat to Morse seems clearer now that I know it.
What do you make of the ending sequence with the notebook switch (the missing one from Pettifer’s, I assume)?
Thank you.
Thank you for your reviews, Mr Sullivan. I’m very late to Endeavour, and I saw ‘Trove’ only recently. This is what stuck out to me:
The pageant where Miss Great Britain is attacked bears more than a passing resemblance to Dallas in 1963. I believe the inclusion of a Lincoln Continental is no accident;
The photographs of the exhibition are ‘By Thomas.’ Thomas is the photographer’s name in Antonioni’s Blow Up;
Speaking on Antonioni: Bannen’s swapping identity with a dead man is perhaps a nod to The Passenger;
Marion Crane in Psycho is both wrapped in a (shower) curtain and conveyed in the boot of a car after being murdered in a cabin.
Warwick Dunbar
James F.B., feel free to disagree with me, but how else do you think that the (mostly) gormless Jim Strange managed to get further ahead than Morse in such a short time ? It’s his Masonic connection ! Just my tuppence.
By the by, Reginald Bright isn’t a detective. He’s the Chief Superintendent . And don’t call him “Reggie.”
Thanks for taking the time to read my comments Sheldon, and for replying so quickly. I certainly agree with you that Strange used his Masonic connections to rise through the ranks of the police force. When we first meet him in Endeavour, he is a mere uniformed police constable, while Morse is already in CID. However, as you say, he quickly gains promotion to Sergeant, earlier than Morse did. In part, because of the enemies Morse has made, his exam papers for promotion to Sergeant, purposely go missing. We also know, of course, Strange eventually reaches the relatively high position of Chief Superintendent, as portrayed in the original Inspector Morse series. Surely, once again, the Masons played some role in Strange becoming a Chief Superintendent, while John Thaw’s Morse without Masonic links, only remained a Detective Chief Inspector.
Furthermore, in the first episode of the sixth series of Endeavour, “Pylon”, Strange uses his Masonic influence, to help his friend, Morse. Marooned out in the sticks, Endeavour has become a uniformed Sergeant, with what appears, only a benign area of countryside to police. However, Strange’s Masonic links enable Morse to rejoin the main detective team, led by the corrupt Box and Jago, alongside a demoted and quietly frustrated, Thursday, at the new headquarters, Castle Gate, of the freshly amalgamated Thames Valley Police.
There is no doubt thus, in his journey through the police force, Strange pulls significant levers with his Masonic membership. Nevertheless, whether he was the one, who made sure critical evidence from murder victims, went missing, in this second series, I am not absolutely certain. You could be right, Sheldon, possibly during his early induction into the Masonic brotherhood, he had to take on certain tasks to prove he was loyal, to his fellow Masons. Perhaps, this is a good question for Chris to answer, if he has the time to do so, on this excellent website, he has created. I assumed the other corrupt elements in Oxford society, which we witness in “Neverland”, who had Masonic connections, were to blame for the evidence going missing, but I could be wrong.
I take your point Sheldon, my list of the “good detectives” should not have included Bright, as he is a uniformed Chief Superintendent. My main objective though, was to allude to the team of good policemen, Morse, Thursday, Jakes, Strange and Bright, up against the various unscrupolous and nefarious members of Oxford’s elite, shown in “Neverland”. Finally, that is very true, Sheldon, Bright does not like being called “Reggie”, as we noticed in the Endeavour episode, “Cartouche”. This is illustrated in the humorous scene between Thursday and Bright, when they bumped into each other at a restaurant.
Yes, Strange may be on the square, but he’s still honest.
I got the feeling it was Jakes, presumably not one of the brotherhood, who’d been passing on those pieces of evidence, for cash. (He looks decidedly shifty when the notebook’s discussed, over eager to explain the disappearance.) His offer to give Morse sight of the sergeant’s exam papers made me think he must have some connection to the rolled-up trouser brigade, and be able to call in small favours himself.
Jakes is a bit morally weak, for reasons we certainly can understand, but he redeems himself soon.
I should have also said, Thursday keeps wanting to call Bright, “Sir”, rather than Reginald. While, Thursday’s brother, was the one who wanted to call Bright, “Reggie”, much to Bright’s dismay!!
I have just realised I made a silly typing mistake. I spelt “unscrupulous”, with an “o”, after the “p”, rather than the correct letter, “u”, in my last but one comment, above, sorry about that.
Kathleen, sorry for my late reply. Haven’t been here for a while and I only saw your comment from Aug 7 today when I read the discussion between James F-B and Sheldon about this episode.
Well, here are my thoughts. As we learned during the episode, Pettifer’s secretary told Endeavour and Thursday that he kept everything important in his notebook. And we know that he was on to Todd about the murder of the young girl and its connection to the Masonic world.
So, did Strange take the notebook as a kind of introduction rite to the Lodge? As we learn from the discussion between James F-B and Sheldon he might, or might not, have fiddled with the book and as always there are two sides of the coin.
But I think we can establish one thing. If Strange took the book he is inside the Masonic world. And once you’re in, you stay in. Once you’ve made your choice there is no turning back. As Todd so eloquent put it; you choose if you want to have powerful friends or powerful enemies.
And if Strange didn’t deliver the notebook, someone else did. But then the question arises; what else did he deliver? Because you have to give them something since they use each other’s contacts and information to gain influence and protection in society. So if not the notebook, what?
Todd knew of the importance of the notebook and it disappeared between the crime scene and the police station. It never came inside the station, ‘this is what we got’, said Jake and showed Endeavour Pettifer’s hat and his other bits and pieces.
To my knowledge Strange was the highest ranking uniform at the scene and he could have figured out who took it, if it wasn’t himself. But no investigation was conducted and the matter dropped.
Later at the beauty contest Strange is all dressed up and very friendly with Todd. Why is that? What did Strange do there? Bright had chosen Endeavour to be the police representative so why did Strange look like a penguin and mingled with the owner of the show? He explained to Endeavour that he had joined the Lodge and they met every Wednesday.
So if not the notebook, what did he deliver? Or did the Masons just accept him as a member anyway, one to be used at a later occasion?
In “Oracle” Strange tells Endeavour not to bring anything home that belongs to the investigation because he (Strange) is now responsible for anything that goes missing from the department and he don’t want any trouble. Isn’t that to put the fox in charge of the chicken farm? I don’t think Strange always was the cosy uncle we got used to watch in the Morse series.
And the mysterious ring on the hand that grabs the notebook in the end of the episode. One clue is the black-and-white chess floor. Did anyone notice that particular floor in any other episode? Another clue is from “Raga” when they shoot clay pigeon where we can spot, although short and fast, how Ludo wears a similar ring on the same finger and hand as the one that took the book.
Could it be our all time favourite crook Ludo after all?
To sum it up: Strange took the notebook, and the hand with the ring belongs to Ludo.
This Kathleen, is of course only my poor and inadequate speculations and I’m sure others will have more sophisticated explanations.
Hope you are well!
(Finally, talking about Reggie, ACC Deare in Neverland also calls Mr. Bright Reggie when they leave the restaurant.)
Thanks Bo, for reading my comments in discussion with Sheldon, and thank you also for writing a very detailed and interesting response to this debate. I suggested, I could be wrong in my assertion, that Strange did not remove Pettifer’s notebook, and your excellent argument above, Bo, has further convinced me, I may have made a mistake, analysing this issue. I thus apologise to Sheldon, for my initial strong disagreement over this matter, and I am sorry if I have mislead anybody else, in believing Strange was always completely straight and honest. Perhaps, throughout his career, Strange played a very clever part, in carefully passing on to corrupt Masons, enough information to think he was on their side, but at the same time, never giving away enough, for fellow good policemen to believe, Strange, was in any way compromised or not acting with full honesty and propriety.
Hi James, my statement above is only my theory and as such, nothing more. If, as I think, the notebook went missing between the crime scene and the police station, then who took it? Someone must have acted very quick and from what I can see that could be noone else but Todd and his helping hand Tony. If the notebook reach the police station it will be logged as evidence and become more complicated to get rid of. Therefore, in my theory, Tony contacted Strange and after that the book is gone.
Who put together Pettifer’s things on the car’s roof? How many of the other policemen, except Strange, knew about Pettifer’s things, one or two? And who is more interesting for the Mason to contact? A simple constable or a policeman with some rank?
I’m not saying that I’m right, just trying to take it step by step and figure out what could have happened. There could of course be other explanations.
No need to apologise, James. I might have overlooked something that give credit to your theory. But I think there’s more to Strange than meets the eye.
Thanks Bo, for your kind and generous comments. I feel you have made a very good case, outlining why you believe, Strange, was the one who removed crucial evidence from the murder victims in series two, particularly the notepad in this episode, “Trove”. Originally, I thought that the two policemen, we find out to be corrupt in the series two finale, “Neverland”, ACC Clive Deare and DI Hugh Chard, were possibly behind the deliberate elimination of important police evidence. This could still be conceivable, although I have to say, Bo, you have made a compelling argument, that it could be Strange.
I doubt that I need to refresh anyone’s memory on these pages about the concluding events of “Neverland”, but Morse was falsely lured in his car, to a destination, to find the missing runaway, that is the young boy who had befriended the escaped prisoner. Lo and behold, instead of discovering and rescuing the boy, the corrupt DI Hugh Chard appears, and attempts to shoot and kill Morse, through Morse’s car window. Meanwhile, the very conclusion of the episode sees, ACC Clive Deare, in a final confrontation with Morse and Thursday, and he shoots Thursday, leaving Morse’s mentor in a critical condition. Thankfully for Endeavour, the daughter of the doctor (who had known about the crimes in the children’s home, but had cowardly taken no action) had come to realise her father’s role, and she shot and killed Deare.
Anyway, as a consequence of this ending to the second series, I assumed Deare and Chard were the two corrupt policemen, removing evidence. However, as you so eloquently put it, Bo, there is perhaps more to Strange than meets the eye. He is conveniently, the PC on the ground, possibly at the scene of crime before any other police officer, who first discovers the evidence. It could be, that he is the link to Deare and Chard.
Whether I have made any progress in this discussion, I will leave others to judge. I wonder what Chris’s thoughts are on this matter, if he has the time to answer. Who was the person, behind the removal of evidence, in the second series of Endeavour? We all know that it is someone in the Masons, but who exactly? Is it, Strange, Deare, Chard, or even someone else? I just hope it is not Ludo, given the recent poor seventh series.
I don’t think that it is fair to say that the doctor’s daughter was “cowardly”. If I remember the Neverland episode correctly, she was also abused as a young girl by the same men who abused the boys and knew of her father’s role from childhood. In my opinion, her father was an unspeakable coward, enabler, and worse. The trauma that Jake suffered there as young boy seems to completely explain to me why he couldn’t bear to go with Endeavour to Blenheim Vale.
Further, the doctor’s daughter was now able, as an adult with a gun, to stop another violent crime by one of her (and the boys, including Peter “Little Petey” Jakes) abusers and to save Endeavour’s life, whereas before she was one of abused helpless and blameless children (and the only girl), if I remember her back-story from the Neverland episode correctly. [Enough from me on this topic – I know that this is just fiction and these aren’t real people.]
Hi Jackie, I guess that’s the sign of a good script when the characters are so well written and acted that we think of them as real people. We invest in their lives. I agree the doctor’s daughter was not cowardly; in fact rather brave when she goes to confront her abusers and subsequently saves endeavour’s life. Some events in a person’s life are so traumatic that it is impossible for them to reconcile with them, especially knowing your own father consented to your abuse. And she identified with the “lost boys” and knew her father and her boss was responsible for their misery. In my opinion a very good episode.
Thanks for your contribution Jackie. I may not have explained my words properly, and caused a small misunderstanding, sorry about that. I should have made a myself a lot clearer, that I was referring to the doctor himself, as being cowardly, not his daughter. I used brackets above to describe the doctor’s actions, or lack of them. The doctor (who had known about the crimes in the children’s home, but had cowardly taken no action). However, I apologize, because I said the daughter of the doctor, then I opened brackets, and anyone could easily think, I was talking about the doctor’s daughter, when I was actually speaking of the doctor himself. Anyway, thanks for your interesting comments, Jackie.
In my opinion, the first two series of Endeavour were brilliant. Using a university degree marking system, I would award those two series, a First. For the third and fourth series, I would say a 2:1, was roughly the correct rating. In terms of the fifth, perhaps a 2:2 in my view, would be the score awarded. For the sixth, it is closer to a 2:1, just because I particularly enjoyed two episodes in that series, the first and last, “Pylon” and “Deguello”. Unfortunately, the much talked about and most recent seventh series, is struggling to get a Third, from my own assessment. Hence, we all hope the final series of Endeavour will reach the tremendously high levels of the first four series.
Finally, that is all from me for now. Take care everyone, and all the best.
I just noticed a silly mistake, in my last comment. “I should have made “a” myself a lot clearer, that I was referring to the doctor himself, as being cowardly, not his daughter”. There was no need for the “a”, I included, before the word “myself.” Sorry about that small typing error.
James, sorry for my misinterpretation of your words (and subsequent long harangue), in which you clearly meant the daughter of the cowardly doctor, who was in fact much more than cowardly. He was actively covering up the crimes of the even-then “pillars of Oxford society” by patching up the children’s physical injuries. Being fictional characters, it is nice for me to imagine that Jakes’s involvement and marriage to an American (gasp!) and moving to the American West (Montana or Wyoming – double gasp!) is the start of a happy life for him, far away from Oxford as a new father and is loved by his wife and embraced into the her family. Obviously I am too emotional and too sensitive because this is one of the Endeavour episodes that I can’t bring myself to watch again (hence, unsure of some of the details). Hopefully, this time it is really enough from me on this episode. Regards to you and to Kathleen for your and her comments.
That’s not a problem, Jackie. Thanks for reading my comments and contributing to the discussion.
I forgot to say, as I refer back to the daughter of the doctor again, who saved Endeavour’s life, her name in the “Neverland” episode was Angela McGarrett. And this character was played by Emma Hiddleston, the sister of the actor, Tom Hiddleston.
Hello, after watching closely the final scene of the figuring approaching with the notebook and cigar butt, I and my kids think it was Strange who turned over the evidence to a fellow Masonic member. If you watch closely, that person has Strange’s exact same gait which is distinctive and peculiar to Strange of all the characters.
During my live streams on Twitch myself and other Endeavour fans discuss the episodes and coincidentally we have being discussing that we believe it is Strange stealing evidence for the Masons.
I missed a lot of the discussions concerning Strange and the missing evidence. The comments from Bo and Priscilla and James particularly on this seem to definitely point the finger at him and that certainly discolors my view of the elder Strange in the Morse series; however, in the Morse series he seems so above board and dedicated despite that he has all these connections and tries to rein Morse in on his investigations of influential people. So I think during his career it has always been a struggle to decide “which master” he will choose and he continually must straddle that fence. Now that I’ve read these comments, I recall things that Strange has said like when he tells Morse that he doesn’t have his brains so he needs all the influence he can muster. I particularly find the observation someone made about Strange being responsible for the transfer of Morse – yes, how did he do that without connections? And he did seem to like the idea of inspector promised to him if he set up Morse when he met with his fellow mason. But he did doggedly pursue the murder of Fancy, bar nothing, he did come through for Morse and Thursday in Neverland although hesitantly, and he did come through in Deguello at the end seemingly against his fellow masons. All examples of his having to decide which side of the fence to come down on and when. Perhaps he would only go so far for the Masons but would not turn a blind eye to murder, especially of his friends. I think the Strange character turns out to be the most enigmatic of all.
One more thought, I had the impression that Morse did not really strive for promotions, that he was happy doing what he was doing at that rank. I think it was in Driving to Distraction that Strange says to him that he really didn’t want the promotion that went to Bell and Morse answers no. Or maybe it was because he knew he was disliked by the upper echelon and would never be promoted. Some much food for thought!
I noticed, I made a small mistake in the last but one comment, I posted on this page. In the context of the sentence I wrote, I should have used the word “misled”, rather than “mislead”, sorry about that.
I have just come across another silly typing error of my own volition. I should have said, (the two policemen, we “found” out to be corrupt), rather than, (we “find” out to be corrupt), sorry about this.
James, I don’t think that you lose marks for typographical errors ! I sincerely hope that it isn’t Ludo who removed the evidence in series 2. I can see it being Hugo De Vries, but I hope that Ludo doesn’t turn out to be Hugo, because (for me) the actor who played him was especially poor, which added to series 7 being (by far) the weakest one yet. I prefer Christopher’s theory that Kent Finn is Hugo .
Hi again James. Yes, you’re right about ACC Deare and DI Chard, two nasty pieces of works. But neither of them came to the crime scene and both worked at different locations, other police stations. (Did ACC Deare work at headquarter? As you remember Bright sometimes complain when headquarter want them to do something they don’t feel is right, for instance in “Rocket”)
Anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if Deare/Chard got other policemen to act for them. If Tony didn’t go to Strange right away, he and Todd were in the vicinity because of the parade, Todd could have called Deare/Chard who then asked someone to remove the notebook from the crime scene. And that someone might have been Strange because he didn’t come up with this idea on his own. But this is good thinking James and also we don’t know for how long Deare/Chard had been working behind the scene.
There you see, together we can add one piece here and there into the bigger puzzle. And, like Sheldon said, don’t bother about your typos… my typos (not to speak of my grammar) have both much to wish for, it’s your thinking that matters. 😊 Take care, James.
Thanks for kindly replying once again, Bo. Thank you also, Sheldon and Kathleen, for your comments. I believe, together, we have come much closer to answering the question posed, regarding the missing evidence.
In fact, through a little more “detective” work, I have some more information to bring to this discussion. In the excellent Endeavour episode, “Sway”, the third episode of series two, with that wonderful soundtrack in the background by Dean Martin, which the episode is named after, we first came across, DI Chard, albeit only in reference.
At the beginning of “Sway”, Morse is looking into the police files, for background on the strangulation of two women, fairly close together by date, to see if there are any connections or patterns between these two murders. The files he uncovers are from a DI Chard, who had clearly been working on this case, he therefore must have worked at Morse’s Cowley station. Chard had wrongly arrested a husband for one of these homicides, and he had failed to realise there was link between the two brutal deaths, which suggested one man was behind both of them. The victims were both married women, whose wedding rings had been stolen by the killer. Sure enough, a few hours later, a third murder occurred, with Morse attending the crime scene. It portrayed all the characteristics Morse had deciphered, but with the additional feature, that this woman was strangled by a stocking from the departmental store, Burridges.
Anyway, my enjoyment of that episode has meant, I slightly digressed. Fast-forward to the next episode, the finale, “Neverland”, and we finally met in person, “DI Hugh Chard”, who we later found out to be a corrupt and nasty piece of work. Thursday and Morse walk into their local police station, where Fred surprisingly notices DI Chard. Here is a little segment of quotations from that scene, as Thursday talks to Chard, and Chard replies.
Thursday – “So what brings you above ground? Didn’t think nightwatch could venture out in the daylight?”
Chard – “Sworn to Fred. Sworn to. It will all come out in the wash. I’m sure”.
All of a sudden, Chard spots Morse – “Well, well, well, if it ain’t the cocky sod that made me look a first-class chump in the strangler case”.
I have thus realised DI Chard did work at the Cowley Police Station, but generally he was on nights. There is even a reference to everything coming out in the wash, as if he was subtly letting on, he was up to something, we later know was utterly corrupt.
Relating this to our interesting debate, I thus deduce, that possibly Chard asked Strange to bring certain pieces of the “missing” evidence to him. I assume, Chard, gave up his sleep during the day, to deliberately make sure certain pieces of evidence went missing. Chard, in all likelihood, would be a Freemason, he probably had a phone call from his fellow Mason, Todd, about the murder of Pettifer. Pulling rank, as well as expecting loyalty from a freshly minted Mason, that is Strange, who had just been accepted into the Brotherhood, Chard tells Strange, to bring certain pieces of evidence to him. From this perspective, it could be the case that Strange did not know the “true” reasons why he was asked to carry out this task, until the explosive conclusion to “Neverland”, and the horrific secrets discovered about Blenheim Vale, by Morse and Thursday. This analysis partially exonerates Strange, although he should have been more suspicious about what Chard was up to.
Hopefully, together, we have now solved this matter. Thank you Bo, Sheldon and Kathleen for your excellent contributions. Shall we go down to the pub, for a celebratory pint or two, in true Morse style!!!
Finally, God forbid, what Morse would made of the recent lockdown, causing all the pubs in the country to be closed, because, he would have had to put up with “undrinkable” supermarket beer!!! This was portrayed in “Last Seen Wearing”, when Lewis bought some cans of beer from the local supermarket, after the pubs had reached closing time, but Morse would not touch them!!!
James, wouldn’t it be grand if we could all go to the pub! The Strange-Chard connection you make is entirely plausible, given that Strange would be obeying orders of a superior but I do recall Morse telling someone, can’t remember who, to be careful about evidence as “things have gone missing.” If he said this to Strange or in front of him, then Strange would know something was not on the up and up. The scene in the police station when Morse asks Strange for backup and to “choose his loyalty” and Strange refuses as he was told not to by county (obeying orders) could support your theory. In the end, though, Strange does come through. However, I do think the main nasty piece is Chard who reports to and does the bidding of Deare.
I fancy a pint now!
Bo and James and Sheldon,you all make such good points in your theories of the culprit who stole the notebook. For no other reason than I Really don’t want it to be Strange, I rather instead think it was Chard giving the order to some underling at the scene as we know and so did Thursday, he was shady from the beginning. I know Strange was deep into the masons but when pressed To betray Endeavour in exchange for promotion he refused. Strange was ambitious, and as he said to endeavour not everyone had his brain to aid in getting ahead. ButI think he had a line he wouldn’t cross at least I’d like to think so.
After thinking more about it I think that the pinky ring might belong to the Councilman. I also think Kent Finn is DeVries!
Faulty thinking on my part – the ring couldn’t be the Councilman’s since he was already dead and could not be in the end scene receiving the notebook!!
Excellent analysis, James, which gave me the thought about Jake. What if… Jake and Chard seemed to be pretty close. What if Chard asked Jake to snitch the notebook when it was brought in from the crime scene? He could have had it in his pocket all the time when he told Endeavour it was missing…
What I also think is a bit peculiar, and out of character with Endeavour, is why he didn’t pursue this matter. At the station, why didn’t he ask Strange where the notebook was? Who bagged the stuff at the crime scene, who took it to the station? Strange knew all that and if one of his boys had done something, Strange would have found out. Now they just confirm the book is missing and continue. Why? In that book Pettifer could have written down his last appointment, persons he met, addresses, but no. The book is missing and that’s it.
Well, I would surely need a pint…
If we’re going down the pub, just a Ribena for me, thanks. I don’t drink.
Thanks for all your replies, Bo, Kathleen and Sheldon. I am sure the “virtual” pub will do a Ribena for you Sheldon. The original Ribena I remember, was always blackcurrant, but I believe they do many different flavours these days. What about a non-alcoholic, Ribena blackcurrant, cocktail? Of course, Sheldon, you can always keep to an ordinary Ribena drink, if you wish?
You could be right about Jakes, Bo. Although, given the concluding events of “Neverland”, when we found out Jakes was one of the young boys abused at Blenheim Vale, many years before, he must have felt sick, if he had helped Chard, and then discovered that Chard was corrupt, and part of the conspiracy to cover up those horrific crimes. Possibly, this explains why, Jakes, was frozen and numb in the pub, when Morse explained to him what was going on. Originally, I just thought, it was the trauma and fear being brought back to his mind, because of the shocking violence he had suffered at the children’s home, but now there could be another twist. He was ashamed of himself for having helped Chard, and by association Deare.
To be honest, I will not go along with that theory, wouldn’t Jakes have remebered Deare as one of his abusers at Blenheim Vale, from his childhood? After all, Deare is named as one of those hateful men, who carried out that ghastly abuse. Although I suppose, Deare as an ACC, is top brass, and Jakes wouldn’t have known Chard was assisting Deare. Having said all of that, I am sticking with my own theory, that Strange inadvertently helped Chard, which was then passed on to ACC Deare. This makes the most sense to me, and Strange didn’t know the full implications of why he was giving certain pieces of crucial evidence to Deare. In essence, PC Strange should have been more suspicious, before the eventual realisation, during the explosive conclusion of “Neverland”.
Yes, I agree about Jakes and his terrible experience at Blenheim Vale. And we remember how he froze when he saw Deare in Bright’s office. But on the other hand he was laughing and telling jokes to Chard and didn’t seem to have any problem with him. So if Chard asked him to do something… well, it was just a thought.
Take care all!
I sympathize with Jakes all the way and I don’t think he would have done something for Chard. Almost everyone gets that Jakes was abused at Blenheim Vale. But I have seen almost no one state why I think he broke down and couldn’t go with Endeavour in the end. He was tortured to betray the one that all the boys knew was “guilty” [sorry it has been so long I forget the names] and he is breaking down now, in the pub, because it was due to him not being able to withstand the torture that he gave out the name to the powers that be. In other words, betraying the boy’s unwritten pact. If he had just suffered the abuse it would not have been so bad as his own feeling that he betrayed the cause.
Hi Bo. It was a very interesting thought of yours, relating to Jakes. When I referred to the scene, where we, that is the audience, first met DI Chard, he was in conversation with Jakes, and they appeared to be enjoying a joke together, before Morse and Thursday entered through the office door. Therefore, you have every right Bo, to possibly assume, Jakes, could be assisting Chard, because they did seem quite friendly with one another.
However, thanks partly to Barbara’s excellent contrbution to this discussion, thank you Barbara, for joining this debate, I feel it is less likely that DS Jakes helped Chard. I forgot to mention Jakes, known as “Little Pete”, during his horrendous time as a child at Blenheim Vale, had very reluctantly given the name to his abusers, of a fellow child, who was guilty of torching the car of the new monstrous boss, named Alderman Wintergreen, in charge of the children’s home. As you said Barbara, to prevent any further torture and punishment being carried out, by the wicked men running Blenheim Vale, Jakes told them, “Big Pete”, had been the boy responsible, for that arson. The horrifying effects of this, led to Big Pete, being taken away by those authorities, never to be seen again. The poor boy must have been killed.
Back to the main time setting of “Neverland”, some 10 to 15 years later, those friends of Big Pete, who had been in the children’s home at the same time, and also suffered badly, were aiming to dig up the land surrounding Blenheim Vale, to find Big Pete’s body, to discover how he was killed, and to finally acquire, some form of justice.
Anyway, all these years later, Jakes still clearly felt ashamed, that Big Pete’s name had been viciously beaten out of him, when he was a child. Given the abuse which went on, no doubt sooner or later, a fellow child would have “squealed”, and revealed the name. However, Jakes understandably felt further pain from this time, because he knew, as you eloquently pointed out Barbara, that he was the one responsible for betraying an unwritten code or pact, he shared with the other boys. He was the first child to “grass”, and to succumb, to the terrible powers that be. Jakes shouldn’t have felt like this, as he was tortured to give this information, but of course, he wishes he could have somehow withstood that violence, because of what then happened to Big Pete.
Finally, this storyline makes it difficult to believe Jakes was helping Chard or Deare. I know you could argue he was friendly with Chard, and he wouldn’t have known Chard was assisting Deare, to cover up the atrocities and shocking past of Blenheim Vale. However, I believe the idea, that Strange was inadvertently aiding Chard and Deare, is a stronger theory. This is because the Masonic plot line featured heavily, regarding the missing evidence, and Strange was clearly shown as someone, who had just joined the Masons. Without knowing why, Chard wanted the missing evidence, Strange obediently and perhaps naively, carried out the task given to him, by a senior officer. Chard could have also been a fellow Mason, who Strange needed to show loyalty towards, to help his own career, as one day Chard, would have to help Strange.
I have just noticed one or two silly mistakes again. “Strange didn’t know the full implications of why he was giving certain pieces of crucial evidence to Deare”. I should have said, “Chard”, sorry about that. As you know I have argued that Strange was passing on evidence to Chard, and Strange didn’t know, that Chard was helping ACC Deare.
In addition, when I said, “wouldn’t Jakes have remembered”, I missed the second “m” out of “remembered”. Finally, in my last but one comment, I accidentally left out a word, at the beginning of my final paragraph. “Finally, God forbid, what Morse would “have” made of the recent lockdown”. I forgot the word “have”, sorry about this. Anyway, I know you all knew what I meant, but I feel I should correct myself, when I realise my own error.
Thanks for all your contributions, and that is all from me for now. Take care, Bo, Kathleen and Sheldon.
James and Barbara, I agree that Strange taking the notebook is the most plausible explanation, and also my main theory. But, as any a good detective, you can’t rule out any possibilities. Jakes had the opportunity and he knew Chard, if Chard ever had anything to do with it. And yes, Jakes had this terrible and traumatic experience at Blenheim Vale and the massive guilt coming back to him in later years, but I still fail to see in what way that would prevent him for doing Chard a favour. For me that is still two different things. Why, then, didn’t he keep away from Chard in the same way he did with Deare? Didn’t he know about the connection between them? Did anyone?
Anyway, let me end this by saying we (or me only?) have two theories about the missing notebook with Strange as the most likely and Jakes, not convincing, but still there. Enjoy your weekends!
Thanks for the reply Bo. You are of course, very welcome to that interesting theory of yours, relating to Jakes. To quickly summarise this discussion, I believe there are three possibilities, regarding the missing evidence. From the most likely scenario, to the least likely, I would agree with you Bo, that Strange is the most plausible explanation. Jakes is the next best answer to this question, we have all been debating. Finally, a third hypthesis would be the one, Kathleen suggested. Perhaps an “underling”, if I could borrow your term Kathleen, or in other words, another uniformed PC, unknown to the audience, was ordered to give the crucial evidence to Chard. There is a small degree of evidence to justify this third and final theory. When Morse is lured in his car to pick up the runaway, the young boy, which I mentioned in an earlier comment, but instead met Chard, who tried to shoot Morse through the car window, Morse reacted rapidly, by reversing as fast as he could into Chard, while avoiding the bullets and flying glass. However, we then witnessed an unknown police constable in uniform, make an attempt to shoot at Morse’s car. As a consequence, we, the audience, realise that there are also corrupt PCs on the ground, who could be assisting the evil pair of senior policemen, DI Chard and ACC Deare.
Anyway, that is all from me for now. Thanks for all of your contributions.
That is very well spotted James, the unknown police constable in uniform in the “Neverland” episode. However he is not one of the three policemen on the crime scene in “Trove”. But he obviously works for Chard and could of course have taken the notebook at a later opportunity. And that is all for me too. Yes, three theories… how about that pint…?
James, Kathleen, Sheldon and Barbara – thank you for an interesting discussion.
Personally, I don’t believe it’s either Jakes or Strange. It’s an unidentified officer with connections to the Masons. I believe if it had been Jakes we would have either have been told it was him or at least a hint he was the guilty party in his last appearance. I certainly don’t believe Strange’s character would be tainted in this way. I’m afraid we will never find out as Russell is prone to not tying up loose ends. In fact I don’t believe the Masons will make an appearance in the final series as I think Russell will be to busy wrapping up the Ludo storyline, setting up a reason why Fred is never mentioned in the original Morse, (over and above the fact Fred is a Russell Lewis character), Strange getting a promotion and so change the dynamics of the character’s interactions, the introduction of McNutt, Bright retiring after the death of his wife or possibly committing suicide or being killed in some way. Why Bright being killed? Russell will want a BIG dramatic denouement though we may get a double ending. A penultimate ending with the death, possibly Bright or Fred plus a final scene as I have mentioned elsewhere, of McNutt being introduced to Endeavour. With only three episodes in the last series Russell will not get distracted with such things as the Masons.
Thanks very much Chris, for finding the time to add your own inimitable and excellent analysis to this discussion. Your thoughts on how the Endeavour series will conclude, with just three episodes left to be filmed, are very interesting. After this year’s disappointing seventh series, Russell Lewis has given himself a lot of hard work, to tie up all the loose ends. Personally, I would have preferred the Ludo storyline to have already come to an end, I have seen enough of it, and it wasn’t to my cup of tea, but unfortunately, there are many questions that still need to be answered. For example, is Ludo dead, is he Hugo DeVries, etc, etc? I hope he isn’t Hugo DeVries, as he doesn’t appear anywhere near as chilling and menacing, as the same character, brought memorably to life by Ian McDiarmuid, in the classic and original Morse episode, “Masonic Mysteries”.
This plot line will have to be resolved, even before all the other issues you spoke about Chris, which Russell will need to include, before we hopefully see, Endeavour, bow out on a high. It is thus an onerous task, for the ubiquitous writer of this series, but let us wish, he can fulfil this promise.
As for the debate, we have all recently been involved in, on this page, it appears Chris, that you agree with my third and final hypothesis, I suggested in my last comment. The most likely scenario is that an unknown constable, with Masonic connections, was helping the corrupt and nefarious pair of policemen, DI Chard and ACC Deare. Thanks for your insight Chris, I had finally also come to believe that was a possible theory.
This second series of Endeavour was superb, my only gripe would be that the gruesome subject of child abuse came to the fore once again. However, the stories were excellently told, and made for great viewing, unlike this year’s series.
I will only be able to join the “Sunday Night Lewis Club”, for about half an hour or so, today. “Down Among the Fearful” is another exquisite Lewis episode, and I look forward to the discussion on Tuesday evening. Thank you Chris, and that is all from me for now.
Can you believe it, I have made another silly typing error. I left out the letter “o”, in the word “hypothesis”, in my last comment I posted, above, sorry about that. Finally, thank you Bo, Sheldon, Kathleen and Barbara, for conveying your own fascinating remarks, towards this discussion.
I just rewatched “Masonic Mysteries” last night. A real cracker of an episode.
Just a small parentheses to the last discussion above. Those of you who want to see more of the Masonic mysteries can also watch “Gently”, 2:4 and of course “Midsomer Murders”, 10:3 with a young and innocent Flora Montgomery before she ends up in “Endeavour Pilot” as the lovely Mrs. Stromming. And as DCI Barnaby so rightly puts it; the Masons may not be a secret society, but they are certainly a society with secrets.
You can also see our own Kevin Whately playing against type on this episode of “Inspector George Gently.”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2222494/
What was up with Kitty Batten? About halfway through she seems haunted by something. She leaves her mother’s speech and Endeavour goes to speak to her, but they don’t show what they said. There seems to be something on her mind, so that I wondered if she knew something about her father. It’s almost like a scene or two was cut. She’s one of the most interesting female characters in the series, although maybe that’s because it’s the fantastic Jessie Buckley. (She and Shaun Evans are quite similar physically, they could play brother and sister.)
It’s very sad to realize that Kitty lost a half-sister she didn’t know she had, who died violently. The orange dress does seem to be significant. Maybe it’s just suggesting the link between her and her father, and his hidden life that impacted on her and her mother.
We do see Endeavour talking to Kitty after Endeavour has spoken to her mother and her father. Endeavour is outside talking to Thursday, he sees Kitty crying and goes over to talk to her. Endeavour says, “You should have stayed, you would have been proud.” Kitty replies, “I am.” I don’t believe Kitty knew about her father but just realised how proud she is of her mother’s achievement. It is possible that if you live outside the UK the scene was edited out. It happens particularly in the USA where scenes are deleted or truncated to fit in with PBS’s timeslot. You will find on my website examples of scenes cut from the Endeavour series.
Melissa, are you in the U.S.? This may have been part of the ten minutes PBS cut from the episode.
It must have been cut because I’ve seen that scene on my DVD and also on Amazon video which shows the entire episodes.
Oops. Sorry, didn’t see above. That missing ten minutes is always so frustrating!
Maybe because the Endeavour series is close to reaching the 33-episode limit, when I watched this episode (Trove) recently, I was struck by the sweeping threats that Todd made to Endeavour near the end of this episode: “You cross these people [the Masons, the corrupt ones anyway], they will bring you down. But not before they’ve destroyed everything you hold dear. Colleagues. Friends. Family.” Notwithstanding Chris’s considered view that the Masons will not be part of the concluding season, I couldn’t help but wonder if they are responsible for doing in Fred Thursday and for some reason Morse feels guilty or it is just too painful a memory for Morse to ever mention him and only refers to McNutt as his mentor. I read somewhere that Russel Lewis has know for a long time (since the beginning?) how he planned to end the Endeavour series, so maybe this is foreshadowing of the end. Just a thought. Maybe the mystery of who took Pettifer’s notebook will finallly be resolved too (or not).
As an American viewer, I was puzzled by the smarmy Dr. Copley Barnes’s reference to the “Hendon curriculum.” It’s the wonderful scene posted above where CB sneers at the poorly educated (he assumes!) coppers in his midst. He says, “Strangely enough, I can’t imagine that a working knowledge of the Historia Ecclesiastica looms large in the Hendon curriculum.” I think this must refer to the Hendon Police College where Metropolitan Police are trained. Fun facts from my research quest: The motto of Hendon, an area of London, is . . . “Endeavour.” Also, Hendon is mentioned in the Domesday book.
Hi Mary Anne, very interesting. I was wondering about that but just assumed it was, what we would call, a local high school, since Copley Barnes would snobbishly assume that none of the officers went to college. But now knowing it is a police college makes more sense, and the motto is so apropos. Thanks for the research!
Very interesting Mary. I will add that info to my post.
Chris, My internet was down for a few days so I missed the twitch on Sunday and Wednesday concerning Trove. I watched it after the fact and I very much agree with something you said about the feminist movement being all about choice. Diana Day chose to be what she became and there is no right or wrong to that. I thought so the very first time I watched the episode. No one should be molded into someone else’s idea of what they should be or do with their life. One question, though, I don’t remember the belt being part of what was stolen, or the tongue to it in this episode? Did I miss that? I know it appears in the Wolvercott Tongue episode in Morse.
Hopefully, I will ‘see’ you on Sunday for the Nocturne episode. You’re correct the belt and tongue were not stolen. Mea culpa regarding that error.
Hi Kathleen. Sorry to hear you missed this week’s Twitch streams. Given that you were, without internet coverage, have the winter storms severely affecting the southern US, also unfortunately, hit your part of Florida?
As for your question, funnily enough I asked Chris that on Sunday night. Of course, Chris has beaten me to it, tonight, answering your question, Kathleen. Neverthless, I can provide a little passage of what Copley-Barnes and Speight said to the police, after the Wolvercote trove was stolen from Beaufort college.
Copley-Barnes – “What Speight’s trying to say, in his scenic way, is that the swag constitutes all the major finds from the Second Wolvercote Trove”.
Jakes – “The which, sir”.
Speight – “You’re familiar, presumably, with the dig of ’31, which unearthed a late-Saxon belt-buckle now in the Ashmolean”.
From those quotations, we can thus glean that the Wolvercote belt-buckle was already on display in the Ashmolean museum, as early as 1966, the year or setting of this Endeavour episode. Hence, it was not stolen from Beaufort college.
As I gaze into my crystal ball, I can also tell you Kathleen, that 21 years later in 1987, a certain elderly American lady, made a final journey to Oxford, to donate the previously missing Wolvercote tongue!!! This elusive item could then, finally be re-joined to the belt-buckle!!! This being the Morse universe, the events leading to the final unification of the two pieces, took a few twists and turns, as we witnessed in the great Morse episode, “The Wolvercote Tongue”!!!
I mentioned on Wednesday evening, during the Twitch discussion, that I had read a portion of the small print under the newspaper headline, shown at the very beginning of the episode. The garage owner, Mr. Fisher, just 8 seconds into the programme, was reading this article. It was also shown briefly again, with Kitty Batten, at 3 minutes and 2 seconds, into my DVD. Kitty had a map planning her parade ambush, but she also had the newspaper article, as well.
Reading the small print, there were references to Wallace and Derek Clark, who ran the post office in the Endeavour episode, “Girl”. It appears, as if their post office was understandably closed, after the murderous events of “Girl”. In fact, those murders have been covered up, with the article merely saying the Clarks’ “endured personal tragedy”. Furthermore, If I have read and interpreted things correctly, a brand new supermarket has since been built, on the very site of the old post office. There was also another reference in the article to Brenda Grice, the tea lady at the Brooms’ missile factory, in the episode, “Rocket”. She has since been made unemployed, and her surname has changed from Grice to Werth.
Here is the newspaper headline, and as much of the article I could read, before it became blurry:
MISS GB SHOPPING SPREE
Customer’s Praise Beauty Queen’s Grand Opening
Tongues were wagged, cats were called, and wolves began whistling as Miss Great Britain herself – the curvaceous Miss Diana Day, to give the self-styled “lovely lady” her full title – was on the scene to christen the opening of the new Degarmo Supermarket on Cowley Parade yesterday.
Some critics have hit out against the building, which has forced the closure of several local businesses in its wake.
The biggest casualty cited by on-lookers was the East Cowley Post Office, which formerly stood on the grounds, and was well-loved throughout the community.
East Cowley, a quaint store previously run by father Wallace and son Derek, shuttered last year, after the family endured personal tragedy. But market forces may also have played a role in its dwindling commercial fortunes.
“Sickening”, spat Brenda Werth, a dispossessed former tea lady, recently rendered unemployed due to cutbacks at Oxford’s British Imperial Electric Company.
That was as much as I could read, and I hope you don’t mind me placing this, in the comments of your website, Chris. I thought it was interesting, as obviously, there were references to two previous Endeavour episodes.
James, good detective work! That’s really interesting and I would not have thought to try to read that.
Did you notice that several paragraphs in that article are repeated in the story to the right? I’ve noticed this in lots of classic movies, too. Guess the props people never dreamed that one day we’d be able to pause and read newspaper stories! 🙂
Two Mad Men references in this episode. One is plot point of stealing of another person’s identity in a war (Dick Whitman for Don Draper in Mad Men). The second is the line “Lane from SCDP called”. Lane Pryce (Jared Harris played him) was a British character in the show, and the ad agency was known as Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (or SCDP) for a few seasons.
Watched this episode again last night ITV3. Really was very very good.
Good to see one of the stars of this episode, Jessie Buckley nominated for Academy and BAFTA awards this year.
I might have missed this reference, but if not, the advert for ‘Grimsby Pilchards’ refers to a ‘Hancock’ episode called the ; Bownmans’
I believe I mentioned the Hancock reference in a previous or following episode. But, well spotted.
In keeping with the other Hitchcock related moments, I was struck but the similarity of petrol station/ cabin owner Walter Fisher’s comments akin to Norman Bates of the fateful Bates Motel in “Psycho” . He also mentions how he’s not had much trade since the newly laid bypass road has steered drivers past the business, away from the back roads.
Walter tells Endeavour of a guest at his cabin called Mr Meeker. This might be reference to 50s actor Ralph Meeker who starred in many “Alfred Hitchcock Presents….” TV episodes. He also starred in classic film “The Naked Spur”, alongside Psycho’s Janet Leigh and North By Northwest’s Jimmy Stewart (also mentioned in blog).
I also read on Motortread site that Lincoln-Continental cars featured prominently on “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and Fisher mentions this was Meeker’s car.
Hello Angela. Thank you for the wonderful information. I have included your comment in my post in the ‘miscellaneous’ section.