Nocturne
- Episode aired Jul 6, 2014
- TV-PG
- 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
8.5/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
The death of an elderly gentleman with a specialism in heraldry and genealogy propels Morse to the Blythe Mount School for Girls.The death of an elderly gentleman with a specialism in heraldry and genealogy propels Morse to the Blythe Mount School for Girls.The death of an elderly gentleman with a specialism in heraldry and genealogy propels Morse to the Blythe Mount School for Girls.
Emily Renée
- Shelly Thengardi
- (as Emily Warren)
Michael Shannon
- Nahum Gardiner
- (as Michael J. Shannon)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAt the beginning Morse walks past a large billboard advertising "Grimsby Pilchards" and featuring Diana Day, the beauty-queen character from the previous episode,"Trove". This billboard will feature in future episodes, too.
- GoofsWhen Endeavour is explaining to Thursday how he knows that Terence Black is the killer he describes the coat of arms Weiss was creating for Black. He says: "It was unnamed, but it included various clues in the form of rebuses, heraldic jokes which would suggest it was meant for Terence Black. The escutcheon is sable, the heraldic term for "black". In the upper sinister quadrant is a pick-axe, or pick, while the lower dexter quadrant contains flowers of the genus Matthiola longipetela, also known as stocks." But when we see the coat of arms the pick-axe is in the upper-left from our point-of-view which is the Dexter side - similarly the stock is bottom-right which is the Sinister side. Sides are named from point-of-view of the bearer of the shield - not the viewer.
- Quotes
[Strange has organised a double date which includes Thursday's daughter, Joan]
DC Endeavour Morse: [to Strange] Where would you like your ashes scattered?
- ConnectionsReferences Mary Poppins (1964)
Featured review
Generally one of the best 'Endeavour' episodes to date
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.
Was very impressed by the pilot episode, even with a very understandable slight finding-its-feet feel (that is true of a lot of shows, exceptions like 'Morse' itself, 'A Touch of Frost' and 'Midsomer Murders', which started off great and were remarkably well established, are fairly few. The first episode of the first season "Girl" was a very welcome return, a fine episode in its own right and was even better. Morse's personality is more established with more obvious recognisable personality quirks and generally things feel more settled. Then there was "Fugue", which to me is one of the best episodes of 'Endeavour', while "Rocket" and "Home" just as good.
Even with an appreciatively darker tone than the first season, Season 2 started very well with "Trove", which was also sadly let down by a far-fetched and over-complicated ending. "Nocturne" is one of the darkest 'Endeavour' episodes and also one of the creepiest, most suspenseful and poignant. It's not perfect, the scenes with Morse and his nurse neighbour are a little pointless (though am not going to denounce it for political-correctness) and the final twist does come a little out of the blue, though is much easier to digest and understand than the ending of "Trove".
"Nocturne's" production values once again are spot on. The episode 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, and the use of music is the most ingenious since "Fugue", adding enormously to and actually enhancing the atmosphere.
Writing, even for so early on, is every bit as intelligent, entertaining and tense as the previous episodes and as the best of 'Morse'. The story has tension, nail-biting a good deal going on and little feels improbable or too obvious while being suitably complicated. Was unnerved a lot by the creepiness of some scenes and also moved, while the twists are well done. Those not so familiar with 'Morse' or new to 'Endeavour' will find plenty to enjoy, and while the pilot and first season are more accessible in tone they will still appreciate the darker route Season 2 takes.
Relationship between Morse and Thursday, which is like a father/son sort of chemistry, is entertaining and heartfelt with so much warmth. 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, lead and supporting, with Morse displaying more recognisable character quirks with each episode and as aforementioned it is impossible not to love his relationship with Thursday.
Shaun Evans as ever 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, Anton Lesser has always been fine to me as Bright, the character and performance more sympathetic than usual, while Sean Rigby does a nice job as Strange and James Bradshaw would make Peter Woodthorpe proud. All the support is strong.
All in all, wonderful and one of the best 'Endeavour' episodes to date, even if not quite perfect. 9/10 Bethany Cox
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.
Was very impressed by the pilot episode, even with a very understandable slight finding-its-feet feel (that is true of a lot of shows, exceptions like 'Morse' itself, 'A Touch of Frost' and 'Midsomer Murders', which started off great and were remarkably well established, are fairly few. The first episode of the first season "Girl" was a very welcome return, a fine episode in its own right and was even better. Morse's personality is more established with more obvious recognisable personality quirks and generally things feel more settled. Then there was "Fugue", which to me is one of the best episodes of 'Endeavour', while "Rocket" and "Home" just as good.
Even with an appreciatively darker tone than the first season, Season 2 started very well with "Trove", which was also sadly let down by a far-fetched and over-complicated ending. "Nocturne" is one of the darkest 'Endeavour' episodes and also one of the creepiest, most suspenseful and poignant. It's not perfect, the scenes with Morse and his nurse neighbour are a little pointless (though am not going to denounce it for political-correctness) and the final twist does come a little out of the blue, though is much easier to digest and understand than the ending of "Trove".
"Nocturne's" production values once again are spot on. The episode 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, and the use of music is the most ingenious since "Fugue", adding enormously to and actually enhancing the atmosphere.
Writing, even for so early on, is every bit as intelligent, entertaining and tense as the previous episodes and as the best of 'Morse'. The story has tension, nail-biting a good deal going on and little feels improbable or too obvious while being suitably complicated. Was unnerved a lot by the creepiness of some scenes and also moved, while the twists are well done. Those not so familiar with 'Morse' or new to 'Endeavour' will find plenty to enjoy, and while the pilot and first season are more accessible in tone they will still appreciate the darker route Season 2 takes.
Relationship between Morse and Thursday, which is like a father/son sort of chemistry, is entertaining and heartfelt with so much warmth. 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, lead and supporting, with Morse displaying more recognisable character quirks with each episode and as aforementioned it is impossible not to love his relationship with Thursday.
Shaun Evans as ever 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, Anton Lesser has always been fine to me as Bright, the character and performance more sympathetic than usual, while Sean Rigby does a nice job as Strange and James Bradshaw would make Peter Woodthorpe proud. All the support is strong.
All in all, wonderful and one of the best 'Endeavour' episodes to date, even if not quite perfect. 9/10 Bethany Cox
helpful•124
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jul 4, 2017
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Filming locations
- Bearwood College, Bearwood Road, Sindlesham, Wokingham, Berkshire, England, UK(Blythe Mount School for Girls)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
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