Endeavour (TV Series) Pilot (2012) User Reviews

Quality drama from ITV for a change !

[ian-1364 · 9/10 · 2 January 2012]

I was a massive fan of Morse and was both excited and dreading this at the same time. Quit simply, excitement won !

I truly hope that ITV make this one off drama into a series, it was wonderfully acted (great performances from both Shaun Evans and Roger Allum), well scripted and was of course set in Oxford the home of Morse. I won't spoil the story for people that haven't seen it but suffice to say (as is usual in most Morse episodes) the culprit isn't any of the usual suspects.

All of the supporting cast play their parts well but Evans and Allum really do shine and seem to have that on screen chemistry that worked so well for John Thaw and Kevin Whately. I'm already planning to watch this again later on in the week as I'm sure I've missed some of the subtle nuances and twists that made Morse so great to watch.

Well done ITV, finally you're matching the BBC for quality drama instead of dreary reality and talent shows.

Fantastic...just that

[bobscaife · 9/10 · 6 April 2013]

Always used IMDb as a reference site but never registered. However, this has forced me to put the effort in just to say how impressed I was at seeing this programme. Being a fan of the original (in part, forced to watch it as a teenager by my parents) it was great to see Morse back with all his quirks. The young actor does an exceptional job and the plot still retains the overall feeling of angst, intellect and hierarchical debauchery that the original series exuded. The "bit part" actors created an engaging ensemble and projected a perfect sixties feeling. All in all, superbly acted, a great (if not hugely intricate)story and a wanting for more. Sure this can be a series to watch out for.Can't wait to see further episodes.

Justice for the magic created by John Thaw.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 4 May 2017]

ITV took a very definite risk with this show, the follow up series Lewis had a stability in Kevin Whately, which I suppose gave viewers a link to the great show. Whereas with Endeavour the challenge was creating the DNA from the Morse show, the biggest question had to be 'Is Shaun Evans Morse?' The answer to that question is a resounding yes, watching Shaun I believe one hundred percent that he is Morse.

In this Pilot episode we see the very beginning of Morse's career, put into the team of Fred Thursday at a very junior level, it isn't long before the genius of Morse is recognised, and it's his attention to deal and ability to look beyond what's in front of him that helps solve the case of a missing fifteen year old girl.

Beautiful music combined with the great camera work and production values make this a very high quality drama, the story is intriguing, and the performances are excellent, most notably from the two lead actors.

They took a gamble, and boy has it paid off. 9/10

The Beginning is beautiful

[robrien50-256-423454 · 10/10 · 3 January 2012]

Like most Inspector Morse fans, I was really excited about how this prequel would hold up. I can honestly say it was fantastic, full of the same high quality scriptwriting that we have become used to from the original and its equally impressive spin-off Lewis...

I am not going to go into the plot, suffice to say it follows previous styles with the usual twists and turns.

What I enjoyed were spotting the little Gems in the program..watch out for Colin Dexter make his usual cameo appearance, the touching moment from John Thaw's daughter Abigail...Max is played to perfection that Peter Woodhouse would be proud...the final scene pulls the heartstrings...

ITV you have a sure fire winner here, please make a series

Blown Away By Endeavor Morse Prequel

[sheri-whalen · 10/10 · 7 October 2012]

I can add nothing new to the prior ten-star glowing reviews of the surprisingly satisfying young Endeavor Morse except to say that I am hanging on the edge of my seat hoping that this evolves into a series. I thought Shaun Evans showed amazing talent in his subtle and believable portrayal of young Morse. His sensitivity and depth and solitude were a fine introduction to the Morse he would become later, before life made him more impatient and sarcastic. The rest of the cast all gave stellar performances....there wasn't one character that I felt was a reach in any way. The connections to his Oxford past brought the original Morse series come full circle for me. Beautifully done! More, please!

Back to the future ...

[dropzone2011 · 10/10 · 14 July 2012]

We know that Colin Dexter gave this production his blessing. Now we've seen it we can understand why.

Like the original Morse series, the production values, acting and script were superb. And just like the original, there wasn't a moment my wife and I didn't enjoy. Shaun Evans as Morse was brilliant. The emotions that played across his face before he regained control of them were palpable. My wife and I were both left feeling sympathy for young Morse as the world of his dreams came crashing down around him.

To see him take to his ale so readily after saying he didn't drink reminded us of Morse and Sgt. Lewis. His love of Jaguars reminds me of my own. Repeating the previous reviewer, we hope to see this one-off continue as a series.

MORSE Begins...

[erpetzer · 10/10 · 2 January 2012]

What a great prequel/tribute to Inspector Morse. Shaun Evans played a young Morse brilliantly, I'm sure John Thaw would have been impressed and proud to see the character's introduction executed with the same style and effort as the series. Having seen all of the original series' - remembering most, I really appreciated seeing references to Morse's passions and how they were introduced in the story. Though the character is complicated, smart and very dedicated, the simple love of the Jaguar (in particular the red Jaguar on the forecourt) was all that was needed to cement the character ;) Not that there weren't other, more sound references, however, that car was the one thing that said 'Morse' to me.. I really hope that this isn't a one-off!

An excellent new Series more please

[chasfrost · 10/10 · 8 January 2012]

This is possibly one of the best new series in the last 20 years. As a great Morse fan I was apprehensive but this is superb quality viewing. The cameo appearance of John Thaws daughter Abigail is very touching as is the finale. More please and the new portrayal of Morse is captivating.

No one could ever replace John Thaw but this is an excellent portrayal.

There are some discrepancies as regards the props in relation to the period but they now detract from the quality of the script or the acting.

Look out for his first meeting with Max and the base of his later idiosyncrasies . Thank you.

Morse's first case in Oxford

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 2 January 2012]

After the success of 'Inspector Morse', which first aired a quarter of a century ago, and the spin off 'Lewis' the only place left to go for this successful franchise was Morse's early years as a young detective constable. The story follows the young Morse as he gets involved in his first cases in Oxford; an investigation into a missing fifteen year old school girl and the apparent suicide of a university student. While dealing with the latter case he finds himself visiting the home of the student's tutor and here he meets the man's wife; a beautiful singer of whom Morse was quite a fan. The girl's body is found in a nearby wood and as the case progresses it is clear that some of the most powerful people in the land are somehow involved as well as more than one local policeman.

Having enjoyed both 'Inspector Morse' and 'Lewis' I was interested to see how this would turn out; as it happened it turned out very well. Shaun Evens did a fine job as Morse, largely because he made no attempt to act like John Thaw's Morse, Roger Allam did well as Morse's boss, DI Thursday and Flora Montgomery brought just the right amount of vulnerability to the role of Rosalind Stromming. This story nicely introduced the characters of Morse and DI Thursday; they could go on to be a great team should a full series be commissioned and on the strength of this I wouldn't be at all surprised if we don't see more of this young Morse. Like all good who-dun-its there were plenty of suspects and although I didn't guess who the killer was once the case was solved one could see that the clues were there.

Twenty Years?

[BILLYBOY-10 · 15 January 2014]

At the end of an episode where Morse and Thursday are in the car and Thursday asks Morse where he sees himself in twenty years, Morse looks in the mirror and sees an image of Thaw in the later series. Since the Endeavour series takes place circa 1965 and the later Morse series didn't start tip 1987, it seemed likely it should have been where he saw himself in thirty, not twenty years. Agewise of the two actors also makes this the more plausible future reference. Funny how little things like this bug me. Anyway, it's a ripping good yarn I've been able to stream all four of the 2013 episodes on Netflix, and anxiously await the episode which will air in 2014. Superb writing, spot on acting and production values.

Bent...in several ways

[kayaker36 · 6/10 · 4 July 2012]

The biggest mystery is how this scrawny, sensitive,"musical" type ever became the world-weary but unflappable Inspector Morse.

There is interesting character development in the early part of the episode with the usual office politics and pecking order as Endeavor Morse seeks to establish his place in the Oxford Police to which he has been reassigned. It is a sort of homecoming as he had been a student at the famous Oxford University.

It is once the story gets going that things become incredible and abnormal. A cruel joke involving a Pygmalion-like attempt to pass off a well developed local fifteen year old as a university student turns into an affair between that girl and a forty-ish Oxford tutor. The man's wife, an elegant former opera singer, gets wind of the affair and rather than risk "losing him forever" (a small loss, it seems to me), she embarks on a plot of unbelievable complexity involving crossword clues, a murder, impersonation, **another** murder (to cover the first one) made to look like suicide, all of which have the local police thoroughly baffled until young DC Morse shows up.

But our Endeavor nearly flubs it, too because, musical guy that he is, he has become infatuated with the murderess cum **diva**, a woman easily fifteen years his senior. This puppyish attraction is undiminished even when DC Morse is fully aware that the woman has coldly killed two innocent young people who never did anything to her.

Suddenly the director runs out of time The coda is a series of rushed, soundless scenes, all with the Puccini aria **Un bel die** playing shrilly over all. We're meant to find it all so tragic but the effect is mawkish, nearly comical.

If this is to be a series, the writers will have to come up with plots that the viewer can swallow, and perhaps a few girls his own age for the hero.

A good insight into the uprising of Inspector Morse

[nicolas-1882 · 10/10 · 2 January 2012]

Marking the 25th anniversary of the very first episode of Inspector Morse, Shaun Evans steps in to John Thaw's shoes to play the younger version of Colin Dexter's iconic character.

Set in 1965, the story follows the hunt for a missing schoolgirl which draws Endeavour Morse back to the place which will ultimately shape and define his destiny – Oxford.

Deep in a full-blown murder investigation and led by Detective Inspector Fred Thursday, Endeavour finds himself side-lined, discredited and at a dead end.

Will he risk it all in the hunt for a truth that could haunt him for the rest of his days?

maybe it's just me

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 23 July 2012]

"Endeavor" is a prequel to the popular Inspector Morse series, with Shaun Evans as the young, bright Inspector Morse.

For all of us Morse fans, the end of the Morse series and the death of actor John Thaw were devastating, the end of an era. Never again will someone say "Lewis" the way he said it, no more dry humor, no more brilliant deductions.

Well, apparently, the powers that be were simply not ready to let Morse go. So Inspector Lewis has been given his own series. I happen to like it, and I have to admit it's comfortable to see Lewis and to feel that somehow, the Morse saga continues.

Now we have a prequel, with a young Morse showing his early deductive powers in a very good mystery. Just one problem - I couldn't connect this guy with the Morse of John Thaw no matter how hard I tried. To me he didn't look like a young Morse, act like a young Morse, and I couldn't see him evolving into the Morse we all came to know and love. Persistent, yes; bright, definitely; likable, yes, but in a different way from the older Morse; gentleness, certainly. Evans is good but as Morse very unexciting, and his accent is just wrong.

It may sound crazy, but I would have rather seen someone like Benedict Cumberbatch as Morse, who would have been definitely more interesting and with his brilliant acting could have shown some of the Morse that he was to become.

If this had been a mystery introducing a new detective, I would have found the acting a little bland but enjoyed the mystery. As a Morse story, I was disappointed. I like to think of a young Morse as a quirky, albeit energetic and smart young man with a dash of humor. Maybe in subsequent stories this will be more Morse-ish, but right now, no.

Inspector Milquetoast

[perfect_peony · 5/10 · 2 January 2017]

The actor or director read the character card wrong - it's Morse, not Morose. But I suppose that's the easiest way to portray a deep-thinking intellectual these days. Forget dialogue, just give us long shots of brooding stares out of windows in the pouring rain with everyone's favourite suicide aria from Madame Butterfly playing on a scratchy old LP in the background. And of course allude to the requisite religious struggle. (Cliché after cliché.) Any more long-faced and this Morse would turn into a bloodhound.

Not saved by the laughably convoluted plot which involves trysts convened by crossword puzzle clues.

View from a Inspector Morse newbie

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 4 September 2013]

I've never seen the show. All I know is that it's a long running police show in Britain. So I have no preconceived notion. The pace is a little slow. The British accent is a little thick. The production is good. The story is pretty good. Murder mystery plus corruption hits all the right notes for a cop show. What I like the most however is the Morse character.

Far too often, young police is often shown as fearless. Morse isn't always right. The one scene that impressed me most was when the sleazy suspect actually threaten and backed Morse down. You see the stunned fear on his face that's almost never happens to a lead in a cop show. He's a realistic character. I can see great potential for the character.

Morse, thy name is Endeavour

[robert-temple-1 · 10/10 · 22 April 2014]

This is a moving and ingenious film about the young Inspector Morse. Morse would never tell anyone his first name because he found it so embarrassing, though at the very end he admitted it: it was Endeavour. This film, and the series which has followed, charts the beginning of Morse's career. We learn all the things we always wondered about him, how he dropped out of Oxford and joined the police, how he idolised an opera singer, and what happened to her. The film has been very sensitively written and its story told with considerable pathos. It is especially powerful in that Morse is not just an investigator of a crime but is actually personally involved in the unfolding and tragic events in a way which shapes the entire rest of his life. Shaun Evans is a young actor who has been chosen to play the young Morse, and Roger Allam plays his boss in the Oxford police force. Just as with the INSPECTOR MORSE series and the LEWIS series (see my review), this film succeeds to a large extent because of the inspired and perfect casting of the leads. They give stunning performances. The conception and writing by Roger Lewis is inspired, based upon the Colin Dexter characters, and the entire effort is a runaway success. This is a marvellous third incarnation of the Oxford Police sagas, and they are beginning to rival the Icelandic Sagas. Furthermore, the TV series ENDEAVOUR following on from this (see my forthcoming review) is just as good as the other series. Treats never end when we get getting stocking after stocking stuffed with sweeties like this.

Good stuff

[pawebster · 9/10 · 3 January 2012]

This was a very enjoyable film - and surely the curtain-raiser for a series. The mystery was exactly the type of slightly preposterous story that the John Thaw's Morse routinely solved, and the older cast members were a solidly reliable group of familiar faces in familiar roles, such as Patrick Malahide as a slimy upper-class person. Roger Allam was very good as the experienced detective who backs Morse.

Does Shaun Evans make the grade? He has a tough act to follow. I think he just about does. If we had never seen John Thaw as Morse, there could be nothing but applause for his performance as the clever, but still somewhat unsure, young detective. I am well aware that, in interviews, actors speak with horror of imitating anybody. They always say they want to make the role "their own". Hm. Personally, I wish Evans had done a bit more imitating. For one thing, I think we needed a bit more of the casual exasperated arrogance of Morse and less of the eager puppy.

There were two moving moments for me: when he tells the opera singer how listening to her taught him that there is beauty in the world and when he looks into the rear view mirror just before the credits roll (I won't say more).

It is great that Max the grumpy pathologist is already in action, and the actor is very good in the part.

One niggle: Morse insists that he doesn't drink - until he is ordered to have a beer after fainting - whereupon he instantly starts guzzling the stuff like a binge drinker. A small niggle, but a bit crass.

Overall it was very good and I thoroughly recommend it.

Endavour really is the new Morse

[gtoniazzo · 9/10 · 14 May 2013]

It might be because Abigail Thaw (playing the role of the journalist Dorothea Frazil) is keeping an eye out there but Endeavour shows deep love and respect for the late John Thaw.

The series is set in 1965 and tells the story of how young DC Endeavour will become Inspector Morse with Shaun Evans in the role of the main character.

What a responsibility for Evans ! But how great the results !!

Shaun Evans resembles John Thaw not only physically (magnetic but sad blue eyes) but emotionally as well. This actor has found a way to bring into every episode the melancholy of his future self but being young he still relies on hope, which makes things even harder if you are a Morse's fan, knowing that he will never really get over his inner loneliness.

All episodes have a great plot thanks to the script of Russell Lewis (of course based on characters created by Colin Dexter) and there is an attentive reconstruction of the '60 but the wisest thing has been to borrow Inspector Morse's soundtrack with the famous "Morse's theme" for the end's credits. Do not worry, even if you are not familiar with the 1987-2000 series, you will be able to enjoy Endeavour because the constable is a smart and intriguing character…. his future more than his past is what makes him fragile.

A Worthy Endeavour

[kenbarr-ny · 10/10 · 2 July 2012]

This prequel to the legendary Inspector Morse series brings us a newly minted DC (Dectective Constable) Morse working his first case in Oxford. There he meets his mentor DCI Thursday, played by "V For Vendetta's" Roger Allam, who introduces Morse to his most familiar thinking tool, a pint of the amber nectar. Opera also plays a huge role, with Puccini arias ever present and we see Morse meet one of his singing heroine. As with most of the women that Morse shows affection for, she ends up disappointing him. Watch for John Thaw's daughter Abigail who gives us an inside joke and a flash of the late, great John Thaw reflected back to his younger incarnation. "Endeavour" continues a season of triumphs for the PBS Masterpiece series, with the latest "Inspector Lewis" series to air in the coming weeks.

College dropout finds his métier in this entertaining TV prequel

[The_late_Buddy_Ryan · 8/10 · 21 January 2014]

Morse fans will gobble this up no matter what; take-him-or-leave-him types like yours truly should find this TV prequel quite enjoyable as well. Shaun Evans projects a wonderful intensity as the young DC Endeavour Morse, called in as an extra pair of boots on the ground in a missing persons case; we happily suspend disbelief as he's tapped by DI Thursday to play a leading role in the ensuing investigation. The murder plot is a bit overdetermined—turns out the missing girl's involved in three or four different kinds of shenanigans—and the murderer's MO is almost laughably complex, but the film creates a nice, creepy atmosphere of small-town depravity, almost worthy of Dashiell Hammett, and there's some interesting byplay between Morse and an obstructive sergeant, a couple of smarmy Oxford dons, and the attractive wife of a suspect, a retired operatic soprano. (No extra points for guessing what happens there.) It's a pleasure to watch the young Morse take a turn at the wheel of a Jaguar and down his first pint in a pub; his taste for opera records and crossword puzzles is already fully formed.

Shaun Evans Good but . . .

[oldmovieman · 8 July 2012]

It's never easy to play another actor's character. As another reviewer pointed out, every actor wants to make the character his own. That, however, must be tempered by a fair reference to the character as already known by the audience. I thought Shaun Evans did a very good job of capturing the attitude and body language of the older Morse as we knew him from John Thaw's work. One problem for me, a big one, is that Evans plays Morse with an accent wholly different from John Thaw's. (It seems to be a Liverpool accent but don't quote me.) What's surprising is that Shaun Evans is an accomplished voice artist and presumably could have duplicated Thaw's accent perfectly. I'd love to know what he was thinking.

Morse drinks at Agatha Christie's Fountain!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 29 November 2018]

Featured as a movie in Brazil this pilot of Endeavour series is quite interesting even it drink at Agatha Christie's fountain, it shall be a flaw, course not it expand the horizons of the upcoming show as exposed in this first episode, is auspicious, D C Endeavour Morse is clever and wise apart to be so young, more all ellements presented and proposed in the pilot assure to the viewers a pleasant what coming to next,the fine supporting increase and fill out the empty blank fields!!

Resume:

First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25

A great start.

[Wiki9 · 10/10 · 29 March 2018]

Unlike most on here, I've never watch Inspector Morse before, not even heard of it. I've seen some of the Inspector Lewis, but not in a regular basis, and not knowing his relationship with Morse. But ever a fan of the thriller/mystery genre, nothing more interesting than watching detective series. Came across Endeavour when I was randomly flipping channel and caught a recent episode on PBS. Immediately intrigued, I went straight to get my hand on the Pilot.

There are many things to like about. A change of pace for certain, when I'm used to watching modern detective series which nowadays technology does most the works. Love the period piece, the 60s in England has its charm (though I was told that Oxford hasn't changed much even to these days). The language is different from modern day and very pleasant.

Obviously, not knowing how Mr. Thaw played the character, I watch Endeavour with fresh eyes. Have to say I like what I'm seeing. In the Pilot, a very unsure young man trying to find his way in the world. Shaun Evans' interpretation of the young character won me over immediately. He portrayed the nuance of the characters rather brilliantly. Just a look at his face and you feel the angst, the longing, the doubt and the determination. I've never heard of Shaun Evans before watching Endeavour, but just one view and I'm a big fan now. Also brilliant is Roger Allam, very likable father figure to the young Morse.

Since then, I binge all 5 series in many days. I like the classical music, and occasionally some modern one. I like all the regular characters, they make me laugh a little and cry once in awhile. I like the wit of some dialogue, and most importantly, I like those plots that twist my brain a little more often than not.

'Endeavour' gets off to a great start

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 3 July 2017]

Having recently been, and just finished being, on a roll reviewing all the episodes of 'Lewis', which generally was very enjoyable before having some disappointments later on, it occurred to me to do the same for 'Inspector Morse's' (one of my favourites for over a decade, and all the episodes were also reviewed in my first year on IMDb eight years ago) prequel series 'Endeavour'.

As said in my review for the entire show two years ago, 'Endeavour' is not just a more than worthy prequel series to one of my favourite detective dramas of all time and goes very well with it, but it is a great series on its own as well. It maintains everything that makes 'Inspector Morse' so good, while also containing enough to make it its own, and in my mind 'Inspector Morse', 'Lewis' and 'Endeavour' go perfectly well together.

"Pilot" (aka "Endeavour") is generally a great start for the series. Did say two years ago that it was more a good start than a great one but the episode has been re-watched since and has fared better. Yes there is a finding-its-feet feel (particularly in some of the characterisation which got richer later), which is perfectly natural as most shows have that to begin with and then get better (the case with 'Endeavour') and maybe the final solution was slightly over-complicated.

On the other hand, "Pilot" (aka "Endeavour") looks great. It is exquisitely photographed and there is something very nostalgic and charming about the atmospherically evoked 1960s period detail. It was also a genius move to keep Barrington Pheloung on board, with his hauntingly beautiful scoring and immortal Inspector Morse theme, while the classical music and operatic excerpts are delightful to hear and fit perfectly.

Writing, even for so early on, is every bit as intelligent, entertaining and tense. The story has tension, a good deal going on without being over-stuffed or convoluted and surprising poignancy, such as with Abigail Thaw. Very little is improbable or too obvious. Morse and Thursday's father/son relationship, while even stronger later being more entertaining and heartfelt, has a lot of warmth, is so well written within the story and is a large part of the series' appeal and there is some good suspense.

The pacing is restrained, but that allows the atmosphere to come through, and pretty much all the same it excels in that aspect. The characters are interesting, though Morse's obvious characteristics became more obvious admittedly in later episodes and maybe his accent may take some getting used to when used to the more erudite and articulated one of the older Morse.

Shaun Evans does some powerful, charismatic work as younger Morse, showing enough loyalty to John Thaw's iconic Morse while making the character his own too. Roger Allam is also superb, his rapport with Evans always compels and entertains but Thursday is quite a sympathetic character, as well as loyal and firm, and Allam does a lot special with a role that could have been less interesting possibly in lesser hands. All the acting is very good (such as Patrick Malahide, Abigail Thaw and a Max that would make Peter Woodthorpe from 'Morse' proud, plus a cameo from Colin Dexter), as is the controlled direction, but it's the performances of Evans and Allam that will always be remembered most vividly.

In conclusion, great start even with a finding-its-feet feel. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Interesting throughout

[vitoscotti · 8/10 · 26 April 2020]

I thought this pilot was better than episode one "Girl" which I watched first. The story had a nice flow. Episode one is much more complicated, and choppy. Terrific rapport between Morse and Thursday. Shaun Evans as young Morse is good so far. But, John Thaw's Morse was legendary.

Might be overdoing it with the codebreaking, and most everyone smoking. Overall very impressed so far. Vito S. 4-26-20