#Endeavour first bus to Woodstock

[oeuvrinarydurian]

Fermentation for Fidgety Finger Friday.

Please enjoy the multiple finger fidgets, under glass, if you please.



[oeuvrinarydurian]

I can hear the Requiem playing as I look at this. I can feel his anxiety and trepidation. I love Baby Endeavour. This pilot is sublime. It’s perfect. It’s hard to believe he nailed as much range and emotion and heft and gravitas as he did. 

[too-antigonish]

Update to "So this is the geekiest thing I've ever posted about Endeavour..."

So way back in February I wrote about the gunshot scene in Exeunt and some rather geeky symbolism that came out of the fact that the church was called "All Angels" in the script—short for "St. Michael and All Angels." You can go back and read about that here. 

But for a while now, I've been waiting for it to be September 29th so I can say:  Wait! There's more!

September 29th is the traditional feast day of St. Michael. It is also Colin Dexter's birthday. As it happens, it's also when the world was first introduced to Morse. The main narrative of the first Inspector Morse novel, Last Bus to Woodstock, opens with the words, "Wednesday, September 29th." 

So in a sense, Colin and Morse share a September 29th birthdate. Given Dexter's cryptic tendencies, I don't for a minute think this was accidental.

La fontaine Saint-Michel, Francisque-Joseph Duret

Now the fact that September 29th also the feast of St. Michael is something that Russell Lewis may or may not have chosen to intentionally build upon—but it's sure fun to think about--because it's another layer on top of what's already one heck of a layer cake. 

September 29th is Colin Dexter's birthday

September 29th is the date of Morse's first appearance in Last Bus to Woodstock.

The gunshot scene occurring at St. Michael's and All Angels gives it full Pagan-Endeavour-Morse symbolism (see Feb post). 

Michael is the patron saint of police officers. 

Finally, you can also throw in Michael's traditional role as guardian of the dead, a point raised by @te_angeli  on Twitter in response to the February post, where she said: 

"St Michael is, more generally, the warrior-protector of justice. He also happens to be the Christian angel of death - a psychopomp who not only walks the newly departed to their judgment, but stays to advocate for them. ...which, to think of it, had been a large part - perhaps the main part - of E.'s earthly function."

It's all more over-the-top geekiness but I find it hard to resist.

Of course I'd be negligent if I didn't include a disclaimer, courtesy of S4E1: Game:

THURSDAY: Right! Just don't go making something out of nothing, that's all. MORSE: That’s what we do, isn't it? THURSDAY: That’s what you do.

Well, it's certainly what I do. It's half the fun.

**Note: Author Mike Ripley's lovely tribute to Colin Dexter first drew my attention to the connection between Colin's birthday and the appearance of Inspector Morse.

[thekenobee]

I've Just finished reading "Last Bus To Woodstock" and I have to admit, although I was pretty confused at the beginning by how much Colin Dexter's Book Version Morse differs from the Endeavour Shaun Evans's Portrayal and wasn't sure what to think, really, whilst reading the first novel (Unfortunately I didn't start reading in a chronological order- for me the first novel happended to be "Last Seen Wearing"), my heart is now aching for this poor, broken, shattered soul that Morse is, I don't mind anymore how imperfect, grumpy or annoying he might be- he has won my heart and it took him two novels

[aion-rsa]

Endeavour Series 8 Episode 3 Review: a Turning Point for Morse

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Endeavour Series 8 Finale Review: Terminus

Warning: contains Endeavour spoilers.

Back in 2019, I interviewed Endeavour’s writer Russell Lewis for Den of Geek. We talked about the young Morse’s love life (or lack thereof), the show’s many nods to 1960s cinema, and even Endeavour’s interesting choices in facial hair. After what had, at that point, been six series of the Inspector Morse prequel, one question was inevitable. Where would it all end?

Lewis (appropriate name, that) wouldn’t be drawn on exactly what the long game was at that point. Quite right, too: it was always going to be ITV’s call, and he could have been inadvertently setting us up for disappointment. “There is an ultimate super-terminus we’ve all got in mind for it, and we’ll see if we get there.” One word in that sentence stands out from this distance: terminus. The end point of a bus or train route, the final stop on a journey.

‘Terminus’, the episode, begins with a few endings, none of them happy. We watch as a disturbing tableau plays out on a wintry Oxford night, intercut with unpleasant news cuttings from 1963 that tell of a gruesome murder spree dubbed the “Bloodbath at Tafferton Park.”  In the present day, it turns out that a young woman who seems to be the object of a bus conductor’s overbearing attentions isn’t, in fact, the murder victim we’re expecting. Instead, the unfortunate Professor Stanton is found, brutally stabbed and with his eyes scratched out with crosses, in the grimly fitting surroundings of a churchyard.

Director Kate Saxon does a superb job of keeping tension high in what, for me, is the stand-out episode of this eighth series. There are some great jump scares and effective use of light and shadow in a mystery that blends period-appropriate Hammer stylings with a touch of Agatha Christie. For all Max DeBryn’s arch talk of “exsanguination”, there’s nothing supernatural here in the end. Not unless you count the portents of the future that haunt its final moments, that is. This case seems like it should be “right up Morse’s apse”, as Max puts it while taking a moment to consider the unusual crime scene. Yet, for once, our man is nowhere to be seen.

Morse is in a bad way, drinking so heavily that he’s calling in sick to spend more time knocking back pints in the pub. Thursday and Bright have noticed, and Bright – never slow these days to spot problems with his men’s morale – is considering transferring him to Kidlington. A change is as good as a rest, in his view. Thursday doesn’t want to lose him, but he knows all’s not well with his protégé. The stage is set for a major falling out between the two men, as Morse doesn’t respond well to being confronted with the evidence that he has a problem. The news that Thursday’s son Sam has disappeared while serving in Northern Ireland has already put him on edge; the thought of losing his surrogate son is more than he can handle.

Read more

TV

Endeavour Series 8 Episode 2 Review: Morse Haunted by Ghosts of His Past

By Gem Wheeler

TV

Endeavour Series 8 Episode 1 Review: the Inspector Morse Transition Begins

By Gem Wheeler

As a very convincing snow storm batters Oxford, bringing down phone and power lines and stranding its citizens in their houses, Morse tries to make his way home on the bus. It’s not long before the vehicle falls foul of the weather, and its mismatched band of passengers decide to seek shelter in, of all places, Tafferton Park. Abandoned after the slaughter at a school reunion carried out by “the Loomis boy”, the old place isn’t the most desirable shelter in a storm. Soon, though, the passengers will have bigger things to worry about than the cold. A killer is on the loose again, and this evening will prove to be a turning point for Morse, one way or another.

Everybody gets their turn in the spotlight here, as we reach the end of our route. Bright reveals the private grief behind his professional veneer to Thursday, with his usual quiet dignity. Endeavour and Joan Thursday share one last moment, reminding us of what might have been; Strange’s arrival to comfort Joan as she worries for both her missing brother and her parents’ struggling marriage is a nudge towards what likely will be. One of his fellow stranded passengers asks Endeavour his name. “Morse? Just Morse?” “That’s right,” he replies with the kind of smile that prohibits further questioning.

When the murderer is named and the case is closed, Morse and Thursday find themselves together in companionable silence. Fred’s still in limbo, with no news of his son; Morse, thanks to his old mentor’s help, is on the verge of breaking through the wall of pain he’s built around himself. The weather is changing. “Beginning to thaw,” Morse says, almost in wonderment. The sun will always come up, Fred tells him: that last, remorseless day is still in the future.

And so we leave Endeavour Morse, ready to take the first step on a journey we already know, from a last bus to Woodstock to murders Down Under. How fitting to part with a nod to John Thaw, just before Barrington Pheloung’s unforgettable theme kicks in. Late and much lamented, both of them: the last word, and the first, is rightly theirs.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

A big thank you to all of you who have followed these reviews since I started writing them for series two in 2014: reading your theories has been so much fun, and I treasured your kind comments. We may yet find ourselves back here again. If not – to pinch a quote from two titans of 1970s TV, in classic Endeavour fashion – it’s goodnight from me, and it’s goodnight from him.

The post Endeavour Series 8 Episode 3 Review: a Turning Point for Morse appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[endeavourfiles]

Endeavour pilot movie: First Bus to Woodstock

[amazingviralinfo]

Image copyright PA

Image caption Colin Dexter received an OBE for services to literature in 2000

Colin Dexter, who wrote the Inspector Morse books, has died at the age of 86.

His publisher said in a statement on Tuesday: "With immense sadness, MacMillan announces the death of Colin Dexter who died peacefully at his home in Oxford this morning."

His series of 13 Morse novels, written between 1975 and 1999, were adapted for the long-running ITV series, which starred John Thaw.

Dexter's characters also featured in spin-off shows Lewis and Endeavour.

'Sharpest mind, biggest heart'

He wrote his first Morse novel, Last Bus to Woodstock, in 1975 while on holiday in Wales. The fictional detective was then killed off in the final book, The Remorseful Day.

Inspector Morse and Lewis star Kevin Whately described him as "impish and bubbly and always fascinated with everybody and everything".

He told BBC Oxford: "I think I'm incredibly lucky to have had 30 years of his friendship. He would always turn up - he loved being on set with us, and we loved having him there. He was a very warm, benign presence always."

Whately joked: "We used to give him a little role, give him the odd line to say, but he was so awful at speaking and acting that we only let him walk through the shot."

Image copyright PA

Image caption John Thaw, Colin Dexter and Kevin Whately

Sheila Hancock, Thaw's widow, told BBC Radio 4's Front Row: "He did say to me a couple of times that he really did feel that John was the character and the character was John. It sort of evolved between them. In fact, I think one of the reasons he killed Morse off is he didn't want to imagine anyone else playing the part."

She described Dexter as a "remarkably well-read and clever man", as well as a "bubbly guy" who "just seemed to enjoy life so much" and "loved to laugh".

Maria Rejt, Dexter's most recent editor at MacMillan, said the author had "inspired all those who worked with him", adding: "His loyalty, modesty and self-deprecating humour gave joy to many. His was the sharpest mind and the biggest heart, and his wonderful novels and stories will remain a testament to both."

Listen to Colin Dexter on Desert Island Discs

Image copyright ITV

Image caption John Thaw, centre, starred as Inspector Morse alongside Kevin Whately as Lewis

Kevin Lygo, director of television at ITV, said Inspector Morse was "one of the nation's best-loved shows", with Thaw's "irascible detective with a love for crosswords, real ale and classical music" becoming one of the most popular characters of all time.

"Through 33 feature length stories, the casebook of Morse and Lewis changed the landscape of detective drama," he said.

Dexter worked closely behind the scenes of the show and later became a consultant on Lewis, the sequel starring Whately which ran for nine years.

He was also "one of the key creative forces" behind prequel Endeavour - the inspector's first name - which saw Shaun Evans appear as the young Morse.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Colin Dexter wrote 13 Inspector Morse novels

MacMillan's publisher Jeremy Trevathan added that Dexter's death represented a "tectonic shift in the international crime writing scene".

He said: "Colin represented the absolute epitome of British crime writing, and in the 1990s John Thaw's Inspector Morse took over Wednesday night television. He was one of those television characters who the nation took to their hearts. This is a very sad day for us all."

Fellow crime writers paid tribute on Twitter.

Lynda La Plante said of the late author: "Colin Dexter, a masterful writer and storyteller who entertained millions of readers."

Ian Rankin said: "Sad news - a gentle man with a steel mind; and the creator of such an iconic character..."

Val McDermid said: "Deeply sorry to hear of the death of my good friend Colin Dexter. He brought pleasure to millions and joy to his friends."

Maxim Jakubowski, vice-chairman of the Crime Writers' Association told the BBC: "He will be remembered not just as a superlative crime writer and the creator of such a classic character as Inspector Morse, but also as the most convivial of friends, impish, friendly to all, seldom seen in public without a smile, a man who accepted celebrity late in his life with wonderful dignity and humour."

'A large Glenfiddich'

Norman Colin Dexter was born in 1930 in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and studied classics at Cambridge University.

He worked as a Latin and Greek teacher from 1954 to 1966 before moving to Oxford - where he set the Morse stories - to become a full-time writer.

Carlton Productions made 33 Morse TV films with Thaw in the lead role. Dexter himself made many cameo appearances.

Image copyright ITV

Image caption Roger Allam (left) and Shaun Evans star in Inspector Morse prequel Endeavour

Dexter had type 2 diabetes, a condition that he also gave Morse in the last few books of the series.

When Dexter received an OBE for services to literature in 2000, he said he would have liked to have thought his fictional detective would have bought him a celebratory whisky.

Image copyright PA

Image caption Dexter pictured in his home town of Oxford, where he set his novels

"I think Morse, if he had really existed and was still alive, would probably say to me, 'Well, you didn't do me too bad a service in your writing'.

"He might say, 'I wish you'd made me a slightly less miserable blighter and slightly more generous, and you could have painted me in a little bit of a better light'.

"If he had bought me a drink, a large Glenfiddich or something, that would have been very nice, but knowing him I doubt he would have done - Lewis always bought all the drinks."

Sheila Hancock and Kevin Whately are on Front Row on Tuesday 21 March at 19:15. The interviews will be available online later

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

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[olutaller-blog]

Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter dies aged 86

Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter dies aged 86

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Colin Dexter, author of the Inspector Morse books, has died aged 86, his publisher has said.

He died peacefully at home in Oxford, said Macmillan in a statement.

The Inspector Morse books spawned the long-running TV series and spin-offs Endeavour and Lewis.

His first Morse novel was published in 1975 and called Last Bus To Woodstock. It was followed by 10 more novels and several short…

[morsesnotes]

Another example (thank you @librawritesstuff for reminding me of this and helping me find it):

Damian: The death of Morse’s father was a particularly beautifully written and performed scene which I suspect lesser writers might have overburdened with unnecessary dialogue. I’m curious as to whether this scene, and indeed the others with Cyril Morse, were always written with such brilliant understatement with so many wonderful implicit thoughts and emotions?

Russ: Well, you’d better add me to the lesser writers roster. In a fairly late draft, I think, Morse pere’ had goaded Endeavour during that first visit with a reference to Susan Fallon – (Bryce-Morgan). Something along the lines of ‘D’you ever see that girl?’ Which Endeavour hadn’t answered. It was there as a kind of rebuke – Cyril Morse mocking his son for his high-falutin’ ambitions – university, etc. He was, in effect, reminding Endeavour that for all his airs, girls like Susan Fallon would be forever out of his class. And – as I say – Endeavour left it hanging.

And then the final scene – when Endeavour visits Cyril, who is by this time comatose… I revisited it. Endeavour lays bare his soul – and is only able to do it when his father is no longer in a state to respond or make comment. He describes his feelings at having lost Susan. And then the final line was ‘Is that how it was for you?’

I’d felt that the final question from Endeavour to his father was the kicker. A conversation that they should have had many years before. It seemed to me fairly plain that Cyril and Gwen’s marriage had not been an altogether happy one – ‘I’d have rung it through myself only she won’t let me.’ But that having made his bed, Cyril – for pride, or sheer bloody stubbornness – had stuck it out. And with that question he was reaching out to find some common ground with this man. Was this unhappiness and regret something they shared. Had he ever stopped loving Endeavour’s mother? And it’s a question Cyril will never be able to answer. ‘Not every question gets an answer’ as Thursday warns Endeavour earlier in the series. I’d wanted to deal with what we affectionately referred to as ‘Susan, Susan, Susan’ across the first series. To bring it full circle from that brief maddening glimpse we got of her at the window in FIRST BUS TO WOODSTOCK. The ‘other shoe’ – which had never dropped.

So – that was my original version of it. With the exception of the final question, it had been a speech I’d had in my back pocket for Endeavour since before ROCKET. One of those that just pops into your head more or less complete. An aria. It could have gone in – albeit somewhat ungallantly, though no less truthfully — into one of his scenes with Alice Vexin, but I rather foolishly kept it up my sleeve for the last.

I think it was the day it was shot, I got a call from the floor asking if we could drop it. Both Shaun and Colm had issues with it. That it took away from the profundity of the moment. That it was a moment beyond words.

It was something we’d batted back and forth across the net in pre-production and after the read. So… they wore me down, and in the end I waved a white flag. Hold on tightly, let go lightly. Seriously… it wasn’t so much that I ‘suddenly remembered my Charlemagne’, but rather my Carol Reed and Graham Greene, and the difference of opinion they’d had over the ending of The Third Man.

You know – Shaun and Colm are both bright, smart fellas, and, like the man said, if enough people tell you you’re drunk, then maybe you should have a lie down. I suppose it comes back – as these things so often do – to Sir Arthur Quiller Couch’s advice. Murder your darlings. And believe me, you’d better. Because otherwise you’ll find there are plenty of people willing to murder them for you. In the nicest possible way.

So – there you are. Any praise due for masterly restraint in that sequence belongs wholly to Shaun and Colm. Theirs is the glory. The moral is… Work with good people. They will save you from yourself more times than you can thank them for.

full interview

“In early drafts of SWAY, I think right up until the readthrough draft – ENDEAVOUR kept the contents of Luisa’s letter from THURSDAY. Shielded him from the pain it contained. As with Lewis and the cassette tape. But Shaun wasn’t comfortable with that. He didn’t feel he had the right to keep something like that from Thursday. And so the final few scenes were rejigged to the version we went with.” -- Russ Lewis, Barcroft interview

I really love how much Shaun Evans cared about details like this.

[oeuvrinarydurian]

I’ve been slammed at work. Happy Thursday Thursday! 

[endeavourfiles]

In the beginning…