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Endeavour

(134 Posts)
Sparklefizz Mon 11-Feb-19 08:49:43

Is it just me or did the storyline of Endeavour last night seem far-fetched and ridiculous?

PECS Mon 11-Feb-19 12:34:56

Women are not always 'sisterly' & supportive Hilda Look at posts on GN!
Not many of the lads I know/knew in the late 60s would have stood up for us girls especially in the pub but maybe in an office or more formal situation they would have.

Jabberwok Mon 11-Feb-19 12:29:43

I agree about the horse! The fact of how he intended to move it in a police car?!! Also that it conveniently stopped right next to that child's body in what was clearly a several acre field!!!! The tash is awful! done to make him look older I guess, poor Win is clearly on the edge of a nervous breakdown ( hardly surprising!!) The new policemen are quite horrible, am confused about the suitcase, and thought the clergyman was shifty!!! But I still enjoyed it!!!!

HildaW Mon 11-Feb-19 12:27:22

Perhaps PECS. I worked in banking in the 1970s which was pretty much all about the men but my memories of it were more balanced because we half expected their attitudes and were primed to cope on them on whole. Also to sort of offset the nastiness there was still a lot of formalised politeness that does not seem to be reflected. In last week's episode Morse met a female character in a pub and he was shown remaining seated as she came into the room. My OH commented that back then he would have stood at that point. Yes there were some unpleasant events 'behind the filing cabinets' at work but my boss was a gentlemanly father figure and most of my male colleagues were polite and opened doors etc. Funnily enough my strongest memory of institutionalised sexism came when a female Bank union rep interviewed us all separately about welfare matters. She kept banging on about how much longer I was intending to remain in the job and was I expecting to get married/engaged soon. It was the general assumption that I was just doing a 'job' rather than starting a career that I found most frustrating and problematic.

PECS Mon 11-Feb-19 12:25:21

On the stuff I have see it says
"Filmed in and around Oxford, the new set of films will be set in 1969."

Jabberwok Mon 11-Feb-19 12:22:01

One slight puzzle! This series is supposed to be in the early summer of 1968 just at the time when Oxford City Police became Thames Valley Constabulary, later becoming Thames Valley Police. Only thing is that during the programme reference was made to watching on TV the investiture of P.C as Prince of Wales. That event was 1st July 1969!!!! hmm
I love it, but mainly because its about Oxford where I was born and spent my childhood.

sodapop Mon 11-Feb-19 12:19:30

I just couldn't see Morse ( John Thaw ) with that moustache PECS it looked like he had a bad smell under his nose.

PECS Mon 11-Feb-19 12:04:54

I think it is important to contextualize the era with reference to social attitudes/fashion etc. But I also agree that can be done without it feeling an add on! Maybe we notice it as clunky only because we now realise how awful it was ..for a senior police officer to make sexual and sexist remarks to a young social worker!

1inamillion Mon 11-Feb-19 11:59:03

It wasn't disappointing at all lemongrove. ?

HildaW Mon 11-Feb-19 11:40:14

It was all so deeply disappointing. The new officers were portrayed with as much subtlety as the detectives in 'Hot Fuzz' (which is brilliant but a raucous comedy).

My other little niggle were the young girls in their summer uniform frocks.....they all looked too fresh and new as if they had just come straight out of the shop....my memories of those days were that we got them pretty grubby from playing roly-poly back then, Mums only did the washing once a week! I know they were having their pictures taken but believe me many turned up scruffy!

Seriously, although I love the idea of Endeavour there needs to be a little more care taken to keep the quality of writing that went into the Morse series. Endeavour started out well but went seriously off piste after the daft episode with the escaped tiger in a previous series. All the clunky portrayals of gender difference and racial intolerance are painful to watch. All those nasty things existed back then but its as if its being done by numbers.

PECS Mon 11-Feb-19 11:28:19

confused I thought the suitcase evidence actually exonerated Thursday from having made an error of judgement?

Sparklefizz Mon 11-Feb-19 11:23:28

My ex husband was a police cadet, then a police constable in the 60s. Morse's hair, especially when in uniform, would have been very much a short back and sides more like the army. His is far too long.

Jane10 Mon 11-Feb-19 11:22:08

Marelli to cover up for Thursday.

harrigran Mon 11-Feb-19 11:17:57

Morse's moustache was 'of the time' my DH had an identical one in 1969.
The story was a little far fetched and the woman who played the car driver was not really believable, some actors can not do the 60s. Shaun Evans is believable.

Marelli Mon 11-Feb-19 11:13:12

Can't figure out why Endeavor took the little suitcase back to the church and hid it again, though? It had contained a bloodstained hammer and some material. ?

merlotgran Mon 11-Feb-19 10:53:19

We enjoyed it. I'd rather watch a crime drama over two hours than have it split over two nights because I tend to forget some of the minor characters from the first episode.

The 'tache was very 'Abigail's Party' grin

Not really a spoiler but....

Would he really have attempted to catch the horse with a handy dog lead/piece of rope - whatever it was that just happened to be on the passenger seat?

Surely he'd just notify the farmer and leave him to catch it?

ninathenana Mon 11-Feb-19 10:45:56

He did seem to get a little too involved for a uniform sergeant.
It didn't spoil my enjoyment though.
As someone mentioned, after what happened at the end (no spoilers from me) hopeful it will be back on track next week.

1inamillion Mon 11-Feb-19 10:24:54

DS and I both enjoyed it, it's one of the few programmes of that length that he will sit through.
Not far fetched at all. Like the way the different threads come together at the end and how Morse goes over every little detail.
Enjoyed the nods to the era, such as all the girls having satchels. Thought Morse's moustache made him look younger not older but it was trendy then.
Yes the station closed down in last series. Isn't Thursday better because he coughed up shrapnel that had been lodged inside him since the war??
We record it too Jane10 and fast forward through the adverts. Do that for nearly all ITV programmes now. Watched Call the Midwife then Endeavour.

PECS Mon 11-Feb-19 10:14:33

The thinking behind the Mosetache is discussed in the Radio Times link.

Eloethan Mon 11-Feb-19 10:08:36

I thought it was good, but I agree about the moustache.

I do hope it cheers up a bit. All the main characters are so unhappy at the moment, especially poor Fred.

Beau Mon 11-Feb-19 10:06:37

I thought it was always 2 hours per episode, like Vera? Sometimes they both feel a little stretched but I do like the 2 hour dramas as I watch very little television - it's a treat to sit down for 2 hours.

PECS Mon 11-Feb-19 10:04:19

www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-02-10/endeavour-moustache-morse/
All about the Morse tache!

Luckygirl Mon 11-Feb-19 09:59:20

Back story seems to be that a policeman died through an oversight by the team (?). Also the policing set-up for the area was re-vamped and their station dismantled.

Quite why Endeavour and Thursday were demoted is lost in the mists of my memory.

Yesterday's episode was a bit tough on the little grey cells.

PECS Mon 11-Feb-19 09:58:39

Haha! Why do you think a moustache is not Morse like?

Jane10 Mon 11-Feb-19 09:56:35

Well I enjoyed it! I like the length too but I record it and start watching a little later so I can fast forward through the adverts. I liked having to use my brain to work out what had happened. It added a layer of depth to the story.
It was odd to see him being a conscientious uniformed policeman. Glad he's being returned to detective duties.

sodapop Mon 11-Feb-19 09:56:02

That moustache was ridiculous and not Morse like at all. They were all demoted as they were blamed for the death of PC Fancy. I did think it was funny when the Chief Super was relegated to doing
ads for Pelican crossings.
Maybe next week won't be 2 hours which was too long I agree.