Endeavour Series 5, Episode 2 Cartouche

Cartouche begins with a show @ The Roxy Cinema & immediately cuts to Brown’s Cafe where a wide boy called Liam Flynn is collecting ‘Protection’ money for Eddie Nero from the Cafe’s owners.

The following scene finds a deceased person lying on his bed in a room, whom Max de Bryn is attending alongside Endeavour. His identity is that of Ronald Beavis who was once  a detective sergeant @Banbury,  County Police..  In his pocket, a fob watch with an inscription is discovered. He also lately worked at the Museum in Pitt Rivers, which will become more relevant as the plot line develops with the Keeper of the Archaeological  Finds, Dr. Moharram Shoukry, who is dedicated to the preservation of his ancient culture & increasingly fired by the motives for British Imperialism. The heritage of colonialism is a major theme in Cartouche with arson attacks directed at Asian families, proving to be a thorn in the side of Thursday and Bright. A cinema ticket is also found amidst his possessions indicating a visit to the Roxy the previous evening. Beside his bed, his false teeth lie resplendent in a glass & the oft witty Max states.

‘He won’t bite…

A further development sees an arson attack with petrol having been poured through a letterbox in a house with Asian inhabitants.  Fred is heard to remark…

Two Bob BlackShirts..

making reference to the rise of the para military wing of the Fascist Union, Mussolini,  Nazi Germany & the rise of the Fascist Union in the UK under Oswald Mosley.

Max remarks

Cruelty, torture and Kensington gore…

Fred & Endeavour seek out Amand De Vere the Manager of The Roxy to make enquiry, where they find a Horror Extravaganza event in the planning, honouring legendary star Emil Valdemar (Donald Sumpter), currently shooting a horror film in Oxford. A further nod to the legendary Boris Karloff, whom as a young girl I used to watch in Hammer House of Horror films, very often hiding behind the settee!

Joan, meanwhile is seen assisting an Asian family, doing some p/t admin. work in a public advice centre, when a brick is thrown through the window~ No surprise that the building where this happens is also owned by Eddie Nero, a local gangster.

Endeavour, is seen entering a phone box to call in that he is knocking off duty & on exiting sees a young attractive girl stood outside & gets talking. It appears she has been stood up by a friend she had gone there to meet ( Later, we learn this is in fact, Joan!) Endeavour lost no time in accompanying the damsel in distress to his Inn of choice for a beverage. Well, I may well of had to suspend my disbelief at this contrived plot line, however, at this point, Endeavour did not know who she was, but obviously, had his head turned by a pretty girl. When we return to Strange’s flat, busy making breakfast, Endeavour appears & in the background Carol emerges. The look on Strange’s face is ‘priceless’.

‘Thought you were done with Birds?’ Whose she?

Endeavour replies ‘Just some Girl’

I was a little surprised at Endeavour’s night of passion, as somehow it seemed incongruous with his past faltering steps with Joan, where he had plenty of opportunity. Perhaps, he compartmentalised it. His attempts at showing Carol round Oxford fell on deaf ears until he asked he to suggest what to do & they end up at the Cinema Event.

Photo Credit@ Nasir Hamis@ SimplyOxfor@Twitter

We return to Max who has found strychnine in the deceased’s blood & contemplating that his orange squash may have been the cause.  Max is heard to remark

For some of us, it’s horror season all round

Fred seeks out Mr Bullings’ the Assistant Manager of The Roxy & reminisces over

the threepenny rush going to the Saturday Flicks, seeing a ‘Western’, If you’re lucky & Laurel & Hardy.

Photo Credit @Onitube @Google Images.

Roger Allam delivers his lines as though he has lived it! It brought back many memories for me, going to the Saturday morning Pictures @ The Hippodrome in West Derby Road, Liverpool, previously Hengler’s Circus where, I  used to spend my ‘Tanner’ to watch a varied programme every week & yes, we used to ‘bunk in’ if we could!!, if the side doors were left open & charge down the aisles before the programme began. The Keystone Kops on the big screen!

Fred seeks out the usherette, Betty Persky ( no small coincidence that a nod is made by the writer to Lauren Bacall who was born  (Betty Joan Perske) who talks of the building being under threat of demolition, being pulled down for flats or a car park by a Developer & discusses recent events with the Cinema Organist, Leslie Garnier who relates that the cinema is owned  by the Jepson Family & he  reveals that Beavis had a meeting with someone  he observed from the cinema’s rooftop on the night he visited the cinema.

On the home front Fred & Win are hosting Fred’s younger brother, Charlie *(played convincingly by the inimitable Phil Daniels), his wife, Paulette (Linette Beaumont) & their daughter, Carol (Emma Rigby)

Charlie can hardly hold his pride at the car parked on the Thursday’s Drive as he says to Endeavour, with a smirk….

See the car did yer?

Photo Credit’@Nasir Hamid@SimplyOxford@Twitter

The two cars juxtaposed says it all really….  Charlie is brash & outspoken, where our Fred is a wee bit more circumspect even though he surprises the viewer with his Thursdayisms.

Fred & Win being coiffured on set.

Photo Credit @ Nasir Hamid@ SimplyOxford@Twitter.

 

 

On an evening out fine dining @ Chez Andre, Charlie displays some irritating shouting to the waiter to fetch a drink & remarks

My mouth’s like Geronimo’s sock!

An odd reference which I immediately thought referred to the Indian Apache Leader, Geronimo, maybe a nod to the western franchises run in cinemas at the time, however, I think this may be more likely~ SWF Sock Wrestling Federation. Charlie being so parched, his mouth felt like an acrid sock!

Photo Credit @ Geronimo Sock Festival @ Google Images

Charlie rambles on to disclose Fred’s background much to Fred’s chagrin! & the embarrassment factor gets even higher when, Reginald Bright turns up as Charlie proceeds to call him ‘Reg’. Bright could hardly contain his disdain & corrects him immediately~ ‘Reginald’.  Charlie continues in the same vein,  discussing Fred’s early upbringing which irritates Fred, no end & Bright responds by saying he finds it ‘interesting’.. Strange arrives on the scene ~ stating there’s been an incident…The Organist has been found dead, slumped over his Organ @ The Roxy.

Meantime we cut back to the Horror Event at the cinema, where Emil Valdemar is being presented with a watch in honour of his services to the Industry, however, the watch has gone & in its’ place is a Cartouche which Valdemar  immediately rejects. Debryn makes a further pathology assessment & declares that cynanide has been used & an autograph book is found in the Organist’s pocket with a signature from Emil Valdemar & a drawn cartouche underneath.

Fred & Endeavour proceed to question Emil Valdemar during his film shoot in Oxford & he tells them that it is his signature, but that he did not add the Cartouche drawing.

Photo Credits@ Endeavour ITV

We’re next back at Cowley Nick where Mr Kenneth Bullins’ has been brought in for questioning & it transpires that he has had Previous. He was convicted for ABH 10 years ago & was pulled in by DS Ronald Beavis. Could he have a revenge motive?  Bullins’states he’s a changed man & that he made the martini for the cinema organist & put in a Lemon Twist, which was how he liked it every performance, however, an Olive was in the Martini, the straw of, which was found to contain the poison.

Liam Flynn, meanwhile is busy collecting his extortion money for Eddie Nero & is found stabbed outside Browns Coffee Shop….the Cafe owners denying all knowledge of any profiteering racket. Someone’s got motive but WHO?

Photo Credit@ Nasir Hamid@SimplyOxford@Twitter

Joan turns up at Cowley Nick & an awkward conversation occurs between Fred & Joan with him expressing his concern as he had n’t seen much of her & he leaves her with a fatherly hand on her shoulder. A little progress from the cold thaw of late. Joan also bumps into Endeavour & mentions her cousin, Carol & Endeavour must be shuddering as the elephant in the room is released.

Photo Credit @Magog83 @Google Images.

Emil Valdemar receives a Letter headed Peninsula & Oriental HO with a white feather the emblem of cowardice & alarm bells begin to ring. Someone is on to him! By the time we reach the denouement, The Roxy is ablaze.

Amand de Vere falls into the collapsing auditorium & we discover the perpetrator of  the cinema demises. 50 years after the event, a  character ‘wants justice for the boys’ & is facing up Emil Valdemar who in a previous life, had been ‘Second Lieutenant Roberts’ before joining the cinema acting bandwagon.

Revenge is a dish better served ‘Cold’….

From a personal viewpoint, I enjoyed Episode 2 Cartouche  more than episode 1 Muse as I felt there was just too many strands vying for attention  & it did n’t quite work for me as a viewer. Having read the production review from Damian Barcroft for the 6 episodes, I’m anticipating  Episiode 3, Passenger to be a Fire Cracker as Neil Duncan stated he loved the scripts for Ep. 3 straight from the first draft.

Series Trailer for Endeavour Series 5

 

 

It’s a flashback to the village of Bramford in September 1962 where a motley attired hitch hiker is given a lift by a man en route, possibly to a power station. We later learn his name is Matthew Laxman, a botanist. We are treated to a pastoral aerial view of the location & see the car brought off the road by an army truck. What happens afterwards is a tale to unfold….

Switch to present day, September. 1967 & we see a hand dealing tarot cards, 7 Trumps, The Empress, King Swords, Ace of Wands….

Meanwhile, there’s an archeological excavation going on in Bradford Mere, which coincidentally, just happens to be in the area where Laxman went missing. The Dig turns up some remains & Max De Bryn & the constabulary of Oxford are called upon to investigate. Que Endeavour & Thursday. De Bryn reveals that the body has been there some 2000 years & was the victim of some torture or ritual & that it is not the wherabouts of the misssing Laxman, however, a pair of spectacles (20th Century) are found at the site & warrant further investigation.

Picking up where the last investigation left off, the pair set about interviewing the curious residents of nearby Bramford Village who are preparing for the Autumn equinox. The Morris Dancers adding drama to the event.

Enquiries also lead Morse to the local nuclear power station, Bramford B   & we’re introduced to Professor Donald Bagley, who is a key figure in the birth of nuclear science in Britain, at Wolsey College who was a friend  & mentor of Laxman’s & he can throw little light onto Laxman’s disappearance, other than relate the work he was carrying out.

 Young Morse, initially thinks this may be a wild goose chase, stating  County have already investigated to which the ever resourceful Thursday retorts.

‘County could n’t find their arse with both hands & a map!

‘The intrepid Morse is detailed to go doorknocking in the village of Bramford, but has little success with the ‘locals’, having doors shut in his face, until he meets Ros, a young american lady from Omaha, Wisconsin, who has fairly recently moved to the village with her husband who coincidentally, also works @ Bramford B. She helpfully directs him to Dowsable Chattox, beautifully played by the wonderful Sheila Hancock, who resides in a house in the woods.

‘Morse, that’s your name, innit? Morse, I’ve been expecting you…’

She proceeds to warn Morse about the American girl & the Lamb with two heads. Morse applies a rather more scientific explanation for the Equinox rather than the dark deeds at the power plant nearby.

Endeavour & Thursday meet Dr. Tristan Berger, a GP, who lives with his sister, Selina, whom, on the face of it, seem fairly innocuous. Russ Lewis treats us to some radio footage of the London – Aldermaston CND marches.

Meanwhile, back @ the Thursday household, Endeavour is waiting for Thursday & says ‘Goodbye’ to Win, who does n’t answer from her chair & when Endeavour leaves ahead of Fred, she says…

Morse attempts to get into Bramford B but has no success other than getting through the front gate & needing Official Papers to go any further. Dismayed, he leaves. A moment of light relief intercedes when, during the evening, the local pub quiz is on & Strange has joined Endeavour  for a beverage. We’re treated to the Rolling Stones ‘Paint It Black’ on the pub jukebox

The song’s lyrics are, for the most part, meant to describe bleakness and depression through the use of colour-based metaphors. It was their first song that featured a sitar instrumental, which ties in with the transcendental meditative themes of the period. Perhaps an allusion to the way Endeavour has been feeling, similarities with Win’s sense of despair & also to what’s going on in Bramford.

 Enroute home, Strange mentions a job going in The Met that would be ideal for Morse, quick promotion prospects etc & eating his chips, give the young Morse food for thought. On reaching his flat, Endeavour realises his home has been burgled & the SOCO’s are brought in to dust for fingerprints & personal possessions taken to the station, one of which is a photograph of Joan , which Fred picks up & discovers her address on the back….

Endeavour sets out to interview Selina Berger who says she saw a Black Morris Oxford in the area, just after watching The Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner with Tom Courtenay  (homage to the great John Thaw) & her GP brother returns. Seeming worried about him, Selina says

‘It was alright to tell the police, was n’t it? & his reply is

‘Yes, that’s what I would have expected’.

Something does n’t quite ring true with our Doctor. ‘Shifty/Guarded, is how I would describe him. Turns out he’s head of the Village Cult, leading the Equinox Procession with Echoes of The Wicker Man, uppermost in mind.

We cut into a nice pastiche of Endeavour & Dorothea Frazil discussing Endeavour’s difficulties in gaining access to Bramford B. It just so happens she is writing a piece on the Power Plant & has Press access, she offers Endeavour up as her photographer ‘Snappy’ Jenkins & he accepts the challenge. Endeavour is walking the area of Bramford fields when he stops to rest near a scarecrow, who at closer inspection is wearing a jacket, which turns out to be the one worn by the missing Laxman & his car is discovered in a barn, secreted under a cover.

Fred, meanwhile is doing some sleuthing of his own, boyed, no doubt, by Win’s cutting jibe, he finds Joan. His observations are

‘Nice Place’ Why are you at home in the afternoon?

Joan replies that she works in a boutique & it’s half day closing.

‘Who is he?…’Some blokes fancy piece? Married?, Kids?’

Joan knows he’s married….

‘Come home’

‘How’s mum?

Joan’s boyfriend returns & tells Fred to leave…

‘Alright, You’ve made your bed…’

Fred leaves…. & waits outside the flats for ‘Ray’ to leave & pins him up against a wall & tells him to ‘Do One!’

( #Cheering), whilst Ray intimates he’ll call the police ~ Oh, the irony….

‘Hello Ray, D I Fred Thursday, 589 LFT

 I’ll fit you up for a nonce, I’ll have you in chokey so fast, you’ll wonder what hit yer’

Cut to Donald Bagley who is apparently going away for the weekend  and wants to leave some stuff with a friend. Where’s he off to?

Dorothea & Endeavour set off for the Bramford B visit & Endeavour mentions there’s a job going in London..

‘Girl Trouble?’

‘I have n’t got a girl’.

‘Maybe that’s the trouble’.

Endeavour ends back at Dowsable Chattox’s home, where she offers Endeavour a Reading of the Cards…The Fool for Change, Lovers Inverted, questioning judgement & a Journey

Meanwhile, we return to the subject of Joan & the Thursday household. Fred’s returned home & there’s a notable change in Win’s demeanour..

‘Joan’s rang~ She’s alright….’

Fred is non committal & nods, saying nothing to Win of his meeting with both Joan & Ray.

Joan, meanwhile is waiting for Endeavour at his flat. He invites her in and on closer inspection sees the ‘blackeye’ she has..

‘Where is he?’

Endeavour, overcome with emotion & anger utters those two little words,

‘Marry Me’

Joan immediately says she does n’t want his pity & that she’s been stupid. Endeavour tells her about his job offer in London with quick promotion prospects &  then proceeds to empty his wallet & gives her all the money he has on him, which Joan insists she will pay back. Mid conversation, they are interrupted by a phonecall which temporarily distracts Endeavours attention and Joan slips out of the flat.

Moving forward the police have found a Geiger Meter in Laxman’s car & are scouring the landscape for a likely burial ground from the radioactivity.

 Endeavour & Thursday meanwhile, have teamed up to get into Bramford B as it is suspected that Desmond Bagley is about to blow the whole power station to smithereens as the emergency hooter is sounded. With no time to lose, Thursday jumps out of his car at the check in point & is masterful in his control of the situation, on gaining entry with the control sergeant.

‘Give me your side arm…Good work Sergeant’ & the gates are opened.

What ensues is a stand off between Thursday, Endeavour & Desmond Bagley & the hitch hiker who has a grenade. Thursday eventually talks him down, giving up his own weapon & Endeavour retrieves the grenade which has been thrown by immersing it , which ends in a small explosion.

Endeavour & Thursday go to arrest Seth Chattox, whom,  it seems, inadvertently, went to help Laxman , when his car was broken down, which ended in an altercation , hitting him with one punch & thinking he’d killed him proceeded to bury him & he gained  consciousness & a spade did the rest….

Before the Police Team can carry out their task, a gunshot is fired & it is by none other, than Dowsable Chattox, killing him, muttering  something akin to

‘Walls have no place for him…’

Where did she pop up? We’re in a huge field & yet, Thursday & Endeavour failed to see any approach. OK, she may be cunning but ‘Invisible?’~ No,. Stretching credibility, perhaps….

In the aftermath,  Endeavour receives a phone call from the hospital, where Joan lies sleeping~ It becomes apparent that she has had a miscarriage, a fall, the doctor said  &  as Endeavour tries to make sense of it, he bends down to kiss her sleeping forehead.

Harvest ends on an upbeat note, with photographs of Fred & Win @ the Palace receiving the George Medal &  we now know Fred’s middle name is Albert…

 We see  Endeavour holding his medal in his hand & the fact that both men have been further promoted, Fred is now a DCI & Endeavour a Sergeant… AT LAST…

As if we ever doubted it….

 

Endeavour Episode 4 http://www.itv.com/presscentre/ep4week5/endeavour via @itvpresscentre

Thanks to Russ Lewis, Roger, Shaun, Anton, Abigail, Dakota, James, Sean, Sheila  & the whole Endeavour Team

Endeavour Series 4, Episode 3 Lazaretto Musings…

 

Another teasing episode title….

A lazaretto /ˌlæzəˈrɛtoʊ/ or lazaret (from Italian: lazzaretto [laddzaˈretto]) is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings.

How does this relate?

This episode is set largely around Cowley hospital, where many people pass through, or indeed, in this case just ‘Pass’ on Fosdick Ward, in bed 10, in particular, where the mortality rate is soaring

Endeavour opens with Mrs Zacharides, face down on the floor at home, a pet parrot chirping in the background to the melodic sounds of Mantovani’s Charmaine

The song was originally composed for the 1926 silent movie, What Price Glory? and most notably, the best-selling version, recorded by Guy Lombardo & his Orchestra, spent seven weeks at the #1 position in 1927. It was also featured in the movie Two Girls & A Sailor. It was recorded by the Harry James orchestra in 1944.

Charmaine is one of many popular songs whose lyrics use a ‘Bluebird of Happiness’ as a symbol of cheer: ‘I wonder, when bluebirds are mating, will you come back again?’ Poignant, as we later learn that Mrs Zacharide’s husband died in Bed 10, some months earlier & that she suspected  a thief in the midst, as some of her husband’s personal items were missing & that she was making enquiries…Was she getting too close to the truth & ends paying for it with her life.

The plot develops with further deaths in Bed 10~ the logical explanation from Matron MacMahon is that the sickest patients are usually put in bed 10 & the mortality rate is not unusual. Running contrary to this is the testimony of Fosdick Ward patients, & the Surgeon,Sir Merlyn Chubb (aka Sir Lancelot Spratt), stating these patients were making good recoveries. ‘The Game’s a foot, Watson’ & something more sinister is happening on Fosdick Ward. Dean Powell, the up and coming surgeon with an eye for the ‘gels’ is also coming under suspicion & 3 young nurses are prevalent on the ward, Daisy, Flora & Jo, but amisdst the ‘Carry On’, a more sinster Angel is plotting to bring down certain people &  it seems anyone will do. The placement of white flowers is also significant, as we discover within the storyline. The very phlegmatic ‘odd’ Porter talking to the corpses in the motuary & the relaying of certain customs when a child dies, with the laying of flowers. The DJ Oddball is thrown in as a red herring & plays his part extremely well.

In the midst of this mayhem, a convicted prisoner is brought into the ward, handcuffed to the bed (of course) for treatment & placed, you’ve guessed it, in bed 10. Subsequently, Endeavour is instructed to keep guard as the prisoner is witness to the Matthews Gang who pulled off the bank job in ‘Coda ‘.

An assasination attempt is made on the prisoner, but Young Endeavour stops it in its’ tracks, on instinct, which results in a high speed chase through the bowels of the hospital with Endeavour & Thursday in hot pursuit. Roger Allam stated in an interview that he was severely challenged by the physicality of the chase!

Roger Allam shows his ‘teeth’ when chasing an informant to elicit information. reminiscent of Jack Regan (John Thaw) in The Sweeney, ‘Don’t mess with me, I have n’t ‘ad me breakfast’ Who can forget ‘Get yer clothes on..You’re Nicked’ ‘We’re the Sweeney & we haven’t ‘ad our breakfast’. Classic…Thanks Russ Lewis….A fitting nod to John.

Running alongside this plot Endeavour has booked a day off ~ Fred’s curious  & elicits ‘Family, is it? to Strange

The phone call from the last episode has prompted our young Sleuth to do a bit of personal sleuthing of his own & ultimately he tracks the call to a phone box & a block of flats nearby in pursuit of Miss Thursday. whom he finds in a well presented flat.

An awkward meeting ensues with both face to face with each other & neither being quite able to make the ‘Leap of Faith’ toward each other, although goodness knows, Joan lays it on the line for him…’All those times you walked with me…’ & he makes a stab at telling her of how much she matters but yet. the coming ‘together’ never comes~ A bit like ‘Waiting For Godot’ really…’ Why are we waiting?… No one ever comes…. & both are caught up in this unconsummated dance. Endeavour asks her to get in touch with  Fred & Win, but Joan is reluctant to do so ~ ‘I’m not going back…’ Are Joan & Endeavour  permently at anchor, isolated islands? The allusion is there to be made. How many opportunities has Endeavour let slip, not just with Joan, but with Monica, whom he meets at the hospital, who chides him for his ill treatment of their relationship & states ‘Treat the next one better’.I do have some sympathy with Endeavour as he felt that he was protecting Monica by leaving her after the debacle of Neverland & his head was all over the place. She did, however, deserve better….

We also have the added coincidence of Susan Fallon’s mother at the hospital, where her husband is being treated, where she takes the opportunity to belittle Endeavour at every turn, as Susan~ Morse’s true love, married another very successful man. (Hateful Cow). Please may I say that every female watching this just wanted to give her a #Smack. Just leave the darling boy alone. He’s worth a hunded of every other….

#Kudos too, to Shaun Evans for a stonking performance ~ the viewer could physically & emotionally see the hurt in his mannerisms & tone & the clear indignation of it all. I felt for you, young Morse…..

As Endeavour leaves, in the hallway, He sees a man, with a key at the door of Joan’s flat & before he goes in, he hastily slips off a wedding ring…..Suspending disbelief…’What has Joan got herself embroiled in & is she a kept woman? I can’t believe it. More likely, she has formed a relationship with a man she assumes is single. Endeavour is perturbed by this & yet, seemingly, helpless to act at this point. Should he tell Fred? Joan would never forgive him betraying her whereabouts & Win is suffering abject depression & her relationship with Fred is at rock bottom. No sandwiches, not leaving the house, on anti depressants. A cold wind of despair is blowing through the Thursday household.

Meanwhile, back at Emergency Ward 10, the prisoner is fearful for his life & asks Thursday to look out for his daughter, which Thursday obliges with his usual steadfastness. Shortly afterwards, the prisoner dies in bed 10 & Max De Bryn discovers a cause, post mortem, a needle prick, barely noticable on the prisoner’s buttock, discovered to be an insulin overdose. A recovery of previous bodies from past demises is then sought to bolster evidence.

Dramatically,  C.S. Bright is similtaneously rushed into hospital with collapse, discovered to be caused by a perforated peptic ulcer & you’ve guessed it, is moved into bed 10. Will he survive the night? Unfortunately, an intruder in the night manages to alter Bright’s drip & he is in mortal danger..It is none other than Matron MacMahon who suspects the killer & hot foots it after, where an altercation occurs, which is pursued by Thursday & Endeavour, resulting in Thursday, getting to the drip in the nick of time to save Bright. I think Bright could have been utilised a little more~ I was half expecting him to make an arrest from his hospital bed…. So many strands converging upon each other in this episode & further intrigue at the close. A further tarot card is revealed….
Is Episode 4 , ‘Harvest’ about to implode or explode?….

Endeavour Series 4 Episode 2 Canticle. A Viewer’s Thoughts….

 

 

 

Intrigued by the episode name ‘Canticle’ What is this about?

The Dictionary definition is

a hymn or chant, typically with a biblical text, forming a regular part of a church service.another name for Song of Songs (especially in the Vulgate Bible). The expression ‘canticle’ is derived from a Latin word ‘canticulum’ meaning, literally, ‘little song’.  Liturgically, it denotes the texts derived from the Bible which are said or sung at Morning and Evening prayer – the Benedictus (Blessed be the Lord God of Israel) at Morning Prayer, and the Magnificat (My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord) and the Nunc Dimittis (Lord, now you let your servant go in peace) at Evening prayer. These three are sometimes called the ‘evangelical canticles’, as they come from the Gospel of Luke, and they refer to the Incarnation of Christ, in whose honour congregations are expected to stand while they are being said or sung.

So, whose ‘little song’ are we listening to….

The plot unfolds to a singing & dancing extravaganza filmed in New College Oxford Quad of dancers, led by Mimi played by Sharlette Henry. Yes, we are transported to 1967 ‘s Summer Of Love & Flower Power, so fashionably detailed within the Singer’s dress, a la Mary Quant. There are also some similarities with the cult 1960’s drama The Prisoner within the panoramic overview of the dancers in colourful costume & kitted out with umbrella’s within a psychedelic kaleidoscope of colour.

We are introduced to the band Wildwood,  an interesting name which prompts me to think that Russ Lewis may have been influenced by The Troggs  Wild Thing

“Wild Thing” is a song written by Chip Taylor. Originally recorded by American rock band The Wild Ones in 1965, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1966. The song peaked at No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. The Beatles  ‘Norwegian Wood’ may also have been inspiration for the band name.

Wildwood are also filming for a TV Show & an appearance on Julian Calendars’s  Almanac (a parody of Simon Dee) where controversy abounds betwixt the whiter than white Pettybon & the long haired progressive youths dabbling in drugs, sex & … rock n’roll…

 

Can’t say I was impressed with ‘Jennifer Sometime’….It sounded very ‘tinny’, very unpolished, but maybe that is how it was meant to be. Jennifer Juniper or Jennifer Eccles are a different story.

The  swinging sixties come under the radar, as Endeavour is delegated to provide protection to Joy Pettybon, (Sylvestra Le Touzela) after a series of threats, a self-appointed guardian of the nation’s morals, who is visiting Oxford to promote her ‘Keep Britain Decent’ campaign. Running parallel to this, a young man has been found dead & ultimately the strands collide in an out of body experience for Endeavour. Russ Lewis’s clever use of his character names is not lost on me. Petty/Bon signifies a fine line between trite & good & her character is based on Mary Whitehouse, the self proclaimed saviour of the human race?

PKT2532-173573 MARY WHITEHOUSE MRS WHITEHOUSE JOINS VIGIL Anti porn campaigners who started a week long vigil outside the Home Office today are joined by Mrs Mary Whitehouse (second right) offering support to their cause. Mrs Felicity Faulkner (right) of 12 Waverley Road, Enfield leads the vigil protesting against the proposed visit to Britain this month by Danish film director Jens Jorgen Thorsen who plans to make a film about the life of Christ. Mrs Faulkner’s group claim the film will be obscene and blasphemous.

1. 1. I’ll be generous and agree she presented a certain position, based to some extent upon her own Christian values. Concerns about the exposure of certain media to children, may have some substance and give some real weight to her arguments. Yet, she was not the arbiter of tastes & people took exception to her calls for censorship from Pinky & Perky, to Dr Who & the heinous Wednesday Play, which might come under the ‘Filth’ category…God forbid, that drama  might add a smattering of realism within its’ remit. No doubt, there was a proportion of the public who praised her crusades & saw her as their ‘Voice’….Not sure, I would count myself amongst that number. She made for some interesting debates though…

 

Some classic lines came forth…

‘The Permissive Society? Nobody asked my permission’

 You can keep your Baudelaire & I’ll stick to Bo Diddley’

’14 bloodies, six bleedings, two bleeders and a b*****’

‘What a lyrical child you must have been, Sergeant’

‘The woman would n’t know culture from a dog turd’ (Nice)

Character development continues as Trewlove mentions that the Kinks were banned from the USA because of work permits.. a not so shallow PC.

Thursday’s discussion with Endeavour regarding ‘Pot’ & how he tried it in the desert, called ‘Kiff’ was enlightening.

The endearing conversation between Endeavour &Thursday..’ What day is it… ‘Corn Beef’. No words needed to be uttered….

Endeavour leaves us on a cliffhanger with the tarot card of The Lovers, after a telephone call to Endeavour, identification uncertain, but Endeavour is heard to say ‘Miss Thursday…?’ before the line goes off. Can this be Joan’s recontact or has Russ Lewis planted a red herring here?

Episode 3 may see the return of Monica & Joan…..

The moral of the story is don’t take drinks from strangers, even well meaning ones & don’t pinch anyone else’s chocolates~ there may be repercussions….

Looking forward to Lazaretto….

 

 

Endeavour Series 3 Episode 1 Ride

 It was with a little trepidation and much excitement that I greeted the first episode #Ride of the 3rd Series of Endeavour. The marvellous writer, Russ Lewis, left the viewer on a cliff hanger, stuttering on the precipice at the end of Series 2, with #Neverland. Our beloved Fred Thursday had been shot by Deare and Endeavour framed, left languishing in a jail cell.

Russ Lewis in his foreword to Endeavour Series 111, Oxford, All Change states that it ”features both ‘a lucky man who made the grade’, and with its fairground associations, might just as easily have been titled ‘Being For the Benefit of Mr.Bright’ – for it is Easter, and the Bank Holiday funfair has pitched its tents on Cowley Green.  The Police investigate the disappearance from the Ghost Train attraction of a ‘clippie’ with the Town and District bus service”. That we are treated to allusions to The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Album, is no great hardship in my book!

Ride opens with a ‘Villain’ leaving jail, ‘Jeannie’ the clippie atop her bus, shouting ‘Oxford, All Change’ & cuts to the Funfair where Jeanie is given a stuffed monkey at the rifle range stall, despite her young man missing the targets & is last seen sitting on the Ghost Train, from which, she never exits…..

Running parallel to this and the subsequent police investigation, we cut to Fred Thursday’s abode where Fred is putting on his hat …(seasoned fans of Endeavour will know the significance of this) when Win exclaims ‘You’re not going back to work, it’s too early..’ Fred responds in tones ‘we’ know so well…

”It’s work I’m off to, not The Front!”

With a deft touching of the brim of his hat, he is out the door with Win’s sandwiches for succour.

It becomes quickly apparent that Thursday has not seen Endeavour since that fateful day at Bleinham Vale. Endeavour, meanwhile is now residing in a Log Cabin in the woods (Could I suspend my disbelief?).

He is also reunited with some old Oxford ‘Buddies’, one of whom takes him in his damaged car to Lord Belborough’s Pile and they are stopped by a police blockade as a body has been found in the woods. Endeavour is noticably ‘edgy’.as he sees the back of Thursday and stresses an urgency to get away as fast as he can from the police scene, saying he knows a shortcut.

Ride introduces us to some of Endeavour’s contemporaries, whilst he was an Undergraduate at Oxford. Lord ‘Bruce’ Belborough, refers to him as ‘Pagan’~ ‘One of the old ‘Gang’ and makes the incisive remark to Endeavour of ”Still falling for the wrong girl?’.

It seems that Endeavour had history with women and this was a facet of his character which developed into the Morse series with John Thaw.

Whilst at the House, Endeavour hears of a character called ‘Bixby’ whom he later meets and who is to prove pivotal to the storyline. On Endeavour’s departure, he walks back through the woods, as a police vehicle is leaving the crime scene and ever vigilant, Endeavour spots a piece of card on the ground, which on perusal is a golf club card~ He pockets it as possible evidence. A dead student is found in University rooms~ Is there a link?

Back at Cowley Nick, Fred is missing Endeavour..He stares long and hard at his empty desk. He goes to Endeavour’s flat, but elicits no reply and runs into Nurse Monica Hicks on his departure who tells Fred where he is. Fred asks ‘Any message if I find him?’ to which she replies ‘ He doesn’t want to be found…’

Endeavour attends Bixby’s Masked Ball where we are transported to the psychedelic 1960’s right down to the chain belts, mini dresses and white boots ( Think, Mary Quant/Twiggy ).

With the pulsating lights throwing a kaleidoscope of colours and shapes onto the walls, Endeavour walks through and is offered ‘Spliffs’ and he waves his hand at them . Significant to me, as in a Morse episode, Morse asks Lewis what drugs are like?, exclaiming that ‘The 60’s passed me by…’ It is evident that Endeavour made his own choices.

Fred turns up at the Ball and questions Bixby about Jeannie and the discovery of a token in her possession which links the Casino and Slot Machines.  As he leaves, he spots Endeavour and walks out, with Endeavour having spotted him also, following him outside. Sharp as ever, Fred says ”Poor company, you’re keeping these days…”

Interwoven with Jeannie’s disappearance is the investigation of the Show People~ Janus Creal & Conrad/The Great Zambezi who look ‘Edgy’at best, denying any knowledge of ever seeing Jeannie, despite the fact she went up on stage to assist the Act. A Flash Harry character working the rifle range who handed the soft toy over to Jeanie is in it up to his neck, just ‘filling in’ or so he says, as a break from the Slot Machines he usually manages.

Perhaps the most satisfying scenes are the exchanges between Endeavour  and Fred Thursday, who have developed a very close relationship throughout the Endeavour Serie(s). Fred waits for Endeavour inside his Log Cabin and Endeavour tentatively asks how he is?. It transpires that Endeavour has been there since leaving jail, because he can’t put anyone else at risk.. He knows too much. The findings of the Police Corruption Investigation were a whitewash on the murky goings on at Blenheim Vale.Thursday states, emphatically to Endeavour..

”We broke them and what’s left is scattered to the four winds….I need a Bagman..’They’ ~ Jakes,  Bright and Strange all spoke for you”.

On sensing Endeavour’s refusal to come to terms with what’s happened, Fred takes stock and gently says

”Well, fair enough…Mind how you go”.

As Fred leaves, he says ”There’s a town needs looking to ~ that does n’t change just because I dropped a Suit size..”

”Throw the towel in now, ‘It was all for nothing and the b*****d’s have won”.

Endeavour informs him he is still suspended and that he is not the same…

The Bench scene with Endeavour & Thursday demonstrated the strength of both as a Team.  Fred eating his cheese & pickle sandwiches whilst deliberating the possibilities of the suspects and it is only now, that Endeavour opens up to Fred.

He talks about the isolation of prison and how, in the first week, he hardly slept. He heard no noises, footsteps or keys.. no one came for a month.

”I did n’t know if you were alive or dead, that was the worst of it”

Fred tells hin ”You were there, at the end,  no one else….You stood…It’s not brains, It’s guts… I won’t forget it …ever”. Still, Endeavour says ‘I was too slow..’

Fred counters this with ”You have to use all you are, against all they’ve got…Don’t ever blame yourself…”.

Another notable scene was with Jim Strange at the Funfair,when Endeavour comes across him searching under a caravan and holding a handbag.Endeavour spots immediately that this is the missing handbag belonging to Jeannie Hearne. It’s somewhat ironic that Strange has leapfrogged Endeavour to Sergeant. No doubt, he is a good policeman but a poor detective whereas Endeavour is just the opposite.

Towards the resolution of the story, it is Endeavour who makes the link between Janus Creal & Conrad & The Great Zambezi. It is Endeavour’s intellect which enlightens Bixby to the Numbers quote scrawled on his car ”Be sure your sins will find you out”

It is testament to the accomplished acting skills of Roger Allam & Shaun Evans in the portrayal of their characters and the excellent writing that has made Endeavour the success it is…#BAFTA take note~ these two actors should be at the top of any shortlist.

A word of praise too, for Barrington Pheloung’s musical score and also to the musical director/Russ Lewis for choosing some excellent 60’s Pop. As Janice Nicolson  used to say on  Thank Your Lucky Stars …’I give it Foive!…..#Stars