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SPOILERS AHEAD!

Where’s Colin?

Colin is seen around the 30 second mark.

Directed by Geoffrey Sax. Geoffrey has also directed the Endeavour episode, Quartet (Series 5, Episode 5).

Written by Colin Dexter (characters), Russell Lewis (written and devised by). Russell has written all the Endeavour episodes. He also wrote;

Lewis (TV Series) (screenplay – 4 episodes, 2010 – 2012) (story – 1 episode, 2006)
– Fearful Symmetry (2012) … (screenplay)
– Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things (2011) … (screenplay)
– Falling Darkness (2010) … (screenplay)
– The Dead of Winter (2010) … (screenplay)
– Reputation (2006) … (story)

He also wrote the Morse episode, ‘The Way Through the Woods’.

SYNOPSIS

It’s 1966. A petty criminal, George Aldridge, escapes from prison. This event sets off a chain reaction of unexplained deaths, a young boy, Tommy Cork, running away from home and apparent corruption in the police force. Who can Fred and Morse trust?

REVIEW.
(warning, this review will contain some spoilers)

Video Review Part One.

Video Review Part Two.

Filmed in Edinburgh.

Jags out of ten:

MUSIC.

All ‘modern’ music is what was used in the original UK broadcast. For legal and copyright reasons the music may be different in broadcasts in other countries and also on DVD.

The episode opens with the Purcell‘s Z 231/2. Nunc dimittis (Evening Service in G minor).

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Music is playing on the radio at around the 1m and 44second mark. Unfortunately I don’t recognize it.

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At 3m and 20s we hear the Charleston song.

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At around 15m and 20s Morse is listening to music in his flat. It is Bach’s St Matthew Passion | Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen.

LITERARY REFERENCES.

The young boy, Tommy Cork. reads books about dogs.

Many of the Observer books are now much sought after and collectable. The Ladybird books are not as valuable but have become collectable.

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At around the 7 and a half minute mark we find Fred and Bright in their office. Bright says, “Brave new world.” A reference to the famous novel by Aldous Huxley.

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Very interestingly at 1 hour and 21 minutes into the ‘Neverland’ episode, Endeavour quotes from the A.E.Houseman poem, ‘May’;

Ensanguining the skies
How heavily it dies
Into the west away;
Past touch and sight and sound
Not further to be found,
How hopeless under ground
Falls the remorseful day.

Of course, Morse quotes this piece of poetry to Lewis as they sit drinking in the final Morse episode, Remorseful Day.

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At around 33m and 20s we hear reading to her son. She is reading from J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.

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Endeavour visit’s the solicitor’s office.

“Vholes, Jaggers, Lightwood, Solicitors“. All three are lawyers who have prominent roles in Charles Dickens novels. Vholes in ‘Bleak House‘, Jaggers in ‘Great Expectations‘ and Lightwood in ‘Our Mutual Friend‘.

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We see the Diana Day’s poster being torn down and being replaced. The replacement poster, ‘Fight Cancer’ is a reference to a Phillip Larkin poem.

The poem is ‘Sunny Prestatyn‘ by Philip Larkin, which describes a poster being defaced and ends with the line “Now Fight Cancer is there”.

Sunny Prestatyn BY PHILIP LARKIN

Come To Sunny Prestatyn
Laughed the girl on the poster,
Kneeling up on the sand
In tautened white satin.
Behind her, a hunk of coast, a
Hotel with palms
Seemed to expand from her thighs and
Spread breast-lifting arms.

She was slapped up one day in March.
A couple of weeks, and her face
Was snaggle-toothed and boss-eyed;
Huge tits and a fissured crotch
Were scored well in, and the space
Between her legs held scrawls
That set her fairly astride
A tuberous cock and balls

Autographed Titch Thomas, while
Someone had used a knife
Or something to stab right through
The moustached lips of her smile.
She was too good for this life.
Very soon, a great transverse tear
Left only a hand and some blue.
Now Fight Cancer is there.

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When Morse is arrested at the end, the cop announces himself as Inspector Grigson, a name taken from the Sherlock Holmes stories, where Gregson often gets things wrong.

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Endeavour says to Monica at around the 56 and a half minute mark, “When the hurly-burly’s done” he’s quoting the second witch in Act 1 Scene 1 of Macbeth.

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At around the 41m and 40s mark Alderman Gerald Wintergreen says to Thursday, “But I’ll tell you what I put a price on far beyond rubies.” This is paraphrased from the Bible, Proverbs 31:10, “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.”

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While in the pub at 42m and 40s Morse tells Fred that the rosary beads are formed into letters of the Morse code. He tells Fred they spell out, ‘All for one and one for all.’ A famous phrase from the Alexandre Dumas novel, The Three Musketeers.

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At one hour and five minutes Bright is giving Endeavour and Thursday a dressing down. He says to Endeavour, “…four legs good view of the world.” This is Bright paraphrasing a phrase from George Orwell’s Novel, Animal Farm, ‘Four legs good, two legs bad.”

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After Fred is shot Deare turns to Morse,

Morse – “Bastard! You bastard!”

Deare – “Names? Really? No bon mots? No apposite Augustan valedictory? I expected better from a Greats man. “Oxford material”? No. Just a boy from the sticks with a chip on his shoulder and a library card. Where be your jibes now?”

Augustan valedictory refers to Augustan literature a style of British literature produced during the reigns of Queen Anne, King George I, and George II in the first half of the 18th century and ending in the 1740s, with the deaths of Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, in 1744 and 1745, respectively. It was a literary epoch that featured the rapid development of the novel, an explosion in satire, the mutation of drama from political satire into melodrama and an evolution toward poetry of personal exploration.

Also included in Deare’s speech above is “Where be your jibes now?” This is a quote from Hamlet, Act 5, scene 1. Hamlet is speaking to the gravedigger and says;

“Let me see. (takes the skull) Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times, and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. —Where be your gibes now?”

LOCATIONS.

The first location is the prison.

This is Kingston Prison, Portsmouth, Hampshire.

The prison is now closed and is being turned into modern flats.

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After the scene of the prison at the beginning of the episode we get a montage of shots. First we see Brasenose College.

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Up next we see the exterior of the police station. This is actually Southgate Town Hall, 6 Palmerston Cres, Palmers Green, London N13 4UA

.

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At around the one minute we see a council estate. UNIDENTIFIED

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Office of Nicholas Myers.

This was filmed at Langleybury House & Film Centre, Langleybury Ln, Sarratt, Kings Langley. If you look over the actor’s shoulder out of the window you can see a distinctive clock tower.

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We see Endeavour singing in the choir at around the one and a half minute mark.

This is Brasenose College Chapel.

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At 2 minutes we see the reporter Eric Paterson walking into the Town Hall.

This is Surrey County Hall, Kingston-upon-Thames, London.

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We see the young escapee, George Aldridge, making a phone call. UNIDENTIFIED

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At 4 minutes and 31 seconds we see Endeavour’s flat. This is Parktown in Oxford.

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Where the young Tommy Cork is hiding out. UNIDENTIFIED

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From the Sway 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.

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At 14m and 25s Morse and Fred are walking through the rain.

This is Turl Street.

Lincoln College is on the right.

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At 18m and 40 seconds Endeavour is seen walking down Turl Street. Turl Street is also where he looks in the shop window at rings.

The shop window he is looking in is the Oxfam Bookshop on Turl Street.

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Endeavour meets Josiah Landesman having lunch at around 19m and 15s.

This may be a room in the Surrey County Hall, Kingston-upon-Thames, London but I can’t be sure.

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Where George Aldridge’s body is found. UNIDENTIFIED

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Blenheim Vale.

This is Langleybury House & Film Centre, Langleybury Ln, Sarratt, Kings Langley WD4 8RN.

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Fred and DI Church walking through Radcliffe Square.

Their walk takes them onto Brasenose Lane.

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At around 40 minutes Endeavour visits the solicitors. This is Ship Street.

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Home of the Wintergreens.

Thanks to Max who identified this house in Church Street, Quainton, Bucks.

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At about 57 and a half minutes Endeavour talks to Angela McGarrett.

This is the front quad of Brasenose College.

PUB LOCATIONS.

At around 12m and 51 s we see Dorothea and Morse in a pub.

This is the Royal Standard of England pub, Forty Green, Buckinghamshire.

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Fred is in the pub at around 19m.

This is the same pub as used above in the scene with Dorothea and Endeavour, Royal Standard of England pub, Forty Green, Buckinghamshire.

The same pub is used again when Morse and Fred talk about the future and McNutt is mentioned.

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Morse and Fred are back in the pub at 42m and 40s.

It’s the same pub as used for the above scenes.

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Endeavour meets Jakes at about one hour and 15 minutes.

It is the same pub as all the other pub scenes.

Actors who appeared in NEVERLAND and/or Morse or Lewis.

Firstly we have Oliver Lansley who played Benny Topling in the Endeavour episode.

Oliver Lansley as the ventriloquist Benny Topling.

Oliver Lansley as David Capstone in the Lewis episode, ‘What Lies Tangled’, (Series 9, Episode 3).

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Next we have James Wilby who apart from being in this Endeavour episode also appeared in a Lewis episode.

James Wilby as ACC Clive Deare in the Endeavour episode, ‘Neverland’.

James Wilby as Hugh Mallory in the Lewis episode, ‘Expiation’, (Series 1, Episode 3)

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Next up we have Abby Ford who like many of the Endeavour actors appeared in a Lewis episode.

Abby Ford as Mona Cork in ‘Neverland’.

Abby Ford as Isabel Dawson in the Lewis episode ‘Quality of Mercy’, (Series 3, Episode 2)

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Paul Ridley appears in the Endeavour episode and the Morse episode ‘Service of All the Dead’. His role in the Morse episode creates a problem because his character is simply described as ‘husband’. I have been through the Morse episode a few times and I’m not sure who the ‘husband’ is. So, because of that I haven’t included a picture form the Morse episode. Sorry Paul, but if you read this let me know where you are in the Morse episode. 😉

Paul Ridley as Dr. Jasper Fairbridge in ‘Neverland’.

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Next up we have the Scottish actor Gordon Kennedy. Gordon also appeared, briefly, in the Morse episode, ‘The Settling of the Sun’.

Gordon Kennedy as Alderman Gerald Wintergreen in ‘Neverland’.

That’s Gordon Kennedy behind Morse’s left shoulder in, ‘The Settling of the Sun’, (Series 2, Episode 3). His character is known as ‘Dewar’s Detective’.

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Steve Munroe appeared in this episode and the Lewis episode, ‘Entry Wounds’, (Series 8, Episode 1). However, Steve is an extra and is credited in Neverland as Police Officer. In the Lewis episode he is, ‘Pool Caretaker’.

Here’s Steve holding the gate for Lewis and Hathaway. Sorry, Steve this is the best shot I could get. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pick Steve out as a police officer in the Endeavour episode so I’m afraid, no picture.

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There are a few actors who connect Endeavour episodes. First up is Nick Waring as the Force Medical Examiner.

Nick Waring as the Force Medical Examiner.

Nick also appeared in the Endeavour episode, ‘Trove’.

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Simon Kunz plays  DI Bart Church. We met this character firstly in the episode, ‘Nocturne’. In ‘Neverland’ he warns Thursday to watch his back.

Simon Kunz as DI Bart Church.

CONNECTIONS OTHER THAN ACTORS TO THE LEWIS, ORIGINAL MORSE SERIES AND PREVIOUS ENDEAVOUR EPISODES.

At around five minutes Joan asks Endeavour where his new scarf comes from. Endeavour replies, “Burridges.” Burridges is the clothing store that was at the centre of the Sway episode.

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We have a reference to Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World early in the episode. There is a reference to Aldous Huxley in the Morse episode, Cherubim and Seraphim.

At around the 46 minute mark Lewis and Morse are talking to Dr.Hayward the pathologist.

Morse – Are you suggesting this boy…

Hayward – Did an Aldous Huxley? – Yes.

Lewis – HuxIey? ls that Brave New World?

Morse – l think Dr Hayward is thinking more of The Doors Of Perception, Lewis.

Hayward – Heaven And Hell, actually.

Morse – When HuxIey was dying of cancer, he got his wife to inject him with LSD.
He had this notion, you see, that he would enter the next life in a state of euphoric bliss.

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At around the 14 minute mark in the mortuary Max says, “Our old friend Mister blunt trauma.” Endeavour replies, “Mister blunt trauma?” “I like to keep things simple. When dealing with the police.” says Max. That last line was also used in the Morse episode, Second Time Around;

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DI Hugh Chard

is referenced in the previous episode, Sway.

This is why Chard on seeing Endeavour says, “There’s the cocky sod that me look like a first class chump in the strangler case.”

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Morse is looking through George Aldridge’s file.

Boxgrove as mentioned in the file is the name of the home mentioned in the Lewis episode Fearful Symmetry. Russell Lewis wrote the Lewis episode.

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A connection to the previous episode Sway is the stockroom boy, Norman Parkis

It was mentioned that he was at Blenheim Vale children’s home the same as the boys in this episode.

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One of the main pieces of music used in the episode is Bachs’ Chorale from St Matthew’s Passion. This music is also used in the Morse episode, ‘Absolute Conviction’, (Series 6, Episode 4), though it is a different section of the piece that is used.

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At 32 minutes into the episode when Endeavour and Thursday are sitting in the pub, Thursday is talking of possibly retiring. He tells Morse he will find him someone suitable to mentor him and mentions, McNutt. The character of McNutt of course turns up in the Morse episode, ‘Masonic Mysteries’, (Series 4, Episode 4). In that episode he is no longer a police officer but a man of the cloth.

Ian Cuthbertson as Desmond McNutt.

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Near the beginning of the episode we see a cheque with the name of Wessex Savings Bank emblazoned on it.

Joan Thursday works at the Wessex Bank. The Wessex Bank is where the robbery is attempted in the Coda episode of Endeavour.

Also the Wessex Bank is the bank where the Older Morse has an account in the Morse episode Masonic Mysteries. Of course the Masonic Mysteries is the episode where we become aware of Morse’s dislike of the Masons. This episode has the Masons lurking in the background.

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At around 57 minutes the Diana Day’s advertising poster makes yet another appearance but it will be its last as we see it being covered up by a new poster.

Fighting cancer is better than eating Grimsby’s Pilchards. 😉

Miscellaneous.

When Max is attending to Eric Paterson the first victim at around 11m and 30s he says, “Goodnight Irene.” This could be a reference to the Eric Clapton song of the same name.

Or more probably it’s a reference to the phrase meaning to show one’s shock or dismay.

“Goodnight Irene” is also the title of a 1930s folk song by Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter.

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DI Hugh Chard says to Fred in the police station, “Winds of Change.” Probably a reference to a speech made by Harold McMillan on the 3 FEBRUARY 1960. It was a speech by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan to the Parliament of South Africa in Cape Town. The speech was about Apartheid.

“The wind of change is blowing through this continent and whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. And we must all accept it as a fact, and our national policies must take account of it.”

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At around 25m and 20s Endeavour is searching Aldridge’s cell. He sees this poster.

I can find no mention of a group from the sixties with the name The Debonaires but there is a modern day 1960s tribute band called The Debonaires.

I can find no mention of a Gracie Craig Dance Co.

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At 33m and 55s Dr. Jasper Fairbridge is shown reading “The Oxford Mail”. On the front page is the headline “South African Teacher Hanged” – a reference to the execution of John Harris, hanged in Pretoria Central Prison for a bombing in Johannesburg’s Park Station on April 1, 1965. Harris was the first and only white person put to death for political crimes in apartheid South Africa.

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The prison officer, Wainwright, appears to be a reference to a character an episode of ‘Porridge.

Above is Peter Jeffery playing the character Wainwright in the ‘Porridge‘ episode ‘Disturbing the Peace.’

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The ‘Nosey’ Parker character appears to to take his name from the Lionel Jeffries character in the brilliant 1963 film, “The Wrong Arm Of The Law“.

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The ventriloquism act, ‘Benny and Clyde.’ is obviously alluding to Bonnie and Clyde (Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow), American bank robbers and outlaws.

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Near the beginning of the episode we see a university professor teaching a class. He talks about a round table where was one seat that is always kept vacant. The seat was named the Siege Perilous.

In Arthurian legend, the Siege Perilous also known as The Perilous Seat, is a vacant seat at the Round Table reserved by Merlin for the knight who would one day be successful in the quest for the Holy Grail. The English word “siege” originally meant “seat” or “throne” coming from the Old French sege (modern French siège); the modern military sense of a prolonged assault comes from the conception of an army “sitting down” before a fortress.

British Phrases/Colloquialisms

At around 21 minutes Strange says to Endeavour, “…a certain DI is in for a leg up the greasy.” This is a reference to the phrase ‘greasy pole’ which means ‘the hard route to the top of a profession.’ So, a ‘leg up’ would make the climb easier.

In the same scene after Strange has made a comment about Thursday not liking the idea of having to report to Hugh Chard if he gest the promotion, Fred says to Strange, “Loose lips.” Loose lips sink ships is an idiom meaning “beware of unguarded talk”. The phrase originated on propaganda posters during World War II.

Again within the same scene, Jakes mentions that the young boy Tommy Cork has run off again. Jakes says, “…his old man’s give him a proper larruping.” Not necessarily a British phrase as I have read the word is used in the US. In the context of the Jakes remark it means to thrash or whip.

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When Jakes is talking to Tommy Cork’s mother he says, “Putting in windows and knock-down ginger’s more in Tommy’s line.” ‘Putting in windows‘ simply means throwing an object, usually a stone, through someone’s window. ‘Knock down gingers‘ is where children ring someone’s doorbell and run away before the person opens the door.

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Near the end of the episode before the shooting Thursday tells Endeavour that he has been a police officer for 28 years. So, this episode is set in 1966 which means Fred joined the force in 1938. We can assume that when WW2 broke out in 1939 Fred enlisted immediately. He would have been demobbed in 1945/46 and returned to being a constable working in London. If a series was ever to be written about Fred Thursday then Fred returning to duty after the war would be a good place to start.

THE MURDERED, THEIR MURDERER/S AND THEIR METHODS.

The first victim is the reporter, Eric Paterson.

Died by blunt force trauma. It’s never made clear who killed Paterson though we do see three county police officers beating him up.

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The second murder victim is George Aldridge the absconder from the prison.

Killed by drowning. It’s never made clear who killed George but we have to assume it’s the same people who killed Paterson.

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The third murder victim is Alderman Gerald Wintergreen.

Stabbed by Angela McGarrett. Angela was abused at Blenheim Vale when she was a child.

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The fourth victim is ACC Deare.

Shot by Angela McGarrett.

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Fifth victim though technically the fourth victim in regards to the timeline, Dr Fairbridge.

Killed by Angela McGarrett, his daughter by injection of poison one assumes.

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Chief Constable Standish is another victim.

Killed by ACC Deare to frame Morse after Chard failed to kill Endeavour.

CAST

Louis Ashbourne Serkis as Tommy Cork

Andrew Gower as Nicholas Myers

Martin Hancock as ‘Nosey’ Parker

 

Abigail Thaw as Dorothea Frazil

Sara Vickers as Joan Thursday

Jack Bannon as Sam Thursday

Shaun Evans as DC Endeavour Morse

Roger Allam as DI Fred Thursday

Abby Ford as Mona Cork

Anton Lesser as Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright

Jack Laskey as DS Peter Jakes

Oliver Lansley as Benny Topling

James Bradshaw as Dr. Max DeBryn

Shvorne Marks as Monica Hicks

Sarah Woodward as Hazel Wintergreen

Gordon Kennedy as Alderman Gerald Wintergreen

Vince Leigh as DI Hugh Chard

Richard Dixon as Josiah Landesman

James Wilby as ACC Clive Deare

Sean Rigby as PC Jim Strange

Sarah Beck Mather as Hilary Portmore

Oliver Coleman as Henry Portmore

Paul Ridley as Dr. Jasper Fairbridge

Emma Hiddleston as Angela McGarrett