Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. On television he was portrayed by John Thaw in a 33-episode drama series, '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), and by Shaun Evans in the (2012–2023) prequel series '' Endeavour''. The older Morse is a senior

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes criminal investigation, detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is disti ...

(CID) officer, while the younger is a detective constable rising through the ranks with the Oxford City Police and, in later seasons, the Thames Valley Police. Morse presents, to some, a reasonably sympathetic personality, despite his sullen and snobbish temperament. He is known for his classic Jaguar Mark 2 (a

Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe, which is the European subsidiary of Stellantis. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganise ...

in the early novels), thirst for English real ale, and love of classical music (especially opera and Wagner), poetry, art and cryptic crossword puzzles. In his later career he is usually assisted by Sergeant Robbie Lewis, a partnership and formal friendship which is fundamental to the series. Morse uses Lewis’ first name, Robbie for the first time in S5, E5 “Promised Land” before going to face a kidnapper and potential killer.

Biography

Family

Morse's father was a taxi driver. In the episode of the television adaptation '' Cherubim and Seraphim'', it is revealed that Morse's parents divorced when he was 12. He remained with his mother until her death three years later, upon which he had to return to his father. Morse had a dreadful relationship with his stepmother Gwen. He claims that he only read poetry to annoy her, and that her petty bullying almost drove him to suicide. He has a half-sister named Joyce with whom he is on better terms. Morse was devastated when Joyce's daughter Marilyn took her own life. Morse prefers to use only his surname, and is generally evasive when asked about his first name, sometimes joking that it is ''Inspector''. “Everyone just calls me Morse. I do have a first name.” In ''The Dead of Jericho'' and ''The Wench Is Dead'' it is noted that his initial is E. At the end of '' Death Is Now My Neighbour'', his name is revealed to be Endeavour. Two-thirds of the way through the television episode based on the book, he gives the cryptic clue "My whole life's effort has revolved around Eve, nine letters". In the series, it is noted that Morse's reluctance to use his Christian name led to his receiving the nickname ''Pagan'' (Deceived by Flight) while at Stamford School (which Colin Dexter, the author of the Morse novels, attended). In the novels, Morse's first name came from the vessel HMS ''Endeavour''; his mother was a member of the Religious Society of Friends (

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

) who have a tradition of " virtue names", and his father admired Captain James Cook. Dexter was a fan of cryptic crosswords and named Morse after champion setter Jeremy Morse, one of Dexter's arch-rivals in writing crossword clues. Dexter used to walk along the bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

at Oxford, opposite the boathouse belonging to 22nd Oxford Sea Scout Group; the building is named '' T.S. Endeavour''.

Education

Although details of Morse's education are kept vague, it is hinted that he won a scholarship to study at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

. He lost the scholarship as the result of poor academic performance stemming from a failed love affair, which is mentioned in the second episode of the third series, "The Last Enemy", and recounted in detail in the novel '' The Riddle of the Third Mile'', Chapter 7. Further details are revealed piece-by-piece in the prequel series. He often reflects on such renowned scholars as A. E. Housman who, like himself, failed to get an academic degree from Oxford.

Career

After university, he entered the army on National Service. This included serving in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

with the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

as a

cipher In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode i ...

clerk. Upon leaving, he joined the police at Carshall-Newtown, before being posted to Oxford with the Oxford City Police. He was awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically ...

in the last episode of '' Endeavour'' Series 4, which he refrains from wearing on his uniform. He is assigned to a uniformed position in Series 6 despite having his opinions and observations disregarded by CID.

Habits and personality

Morse is the embodiment of middle-class Englishness, with a set of prejudices and assumptions to match, although his background, being the son of a taxi driver, might be considered working class. He claims to have a private income from his father driving for the

Aga Khan Aga Khan (; ; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Imām of the Nizari Isma'ilism, Nizari Isma'ilism, Ismāʿīli Shia Islam, Shias. The current holder of the title is the ...

, but this may be a joke. Due to his manners and bearing, he is sometimes considered gentleman detective, the staple of British

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

, in contrast to the working-class lifestyle of his assistant Lewis. In the novels, Lewis is Welsh, but in the TV series this is altered to a

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

( Geordie) background, appropriately for the actor Kevin Whately. Morse is in his forties at the start of the books (''Service of all the Dead'', Chapter Six: "… a bachelor still, forty-seven years old …"), and Lewis slightly younger (e.g. ''The Secret of Annexe 3'', Chapter Twenty-Six: "a slightly younger man – another policeman, and one also in plain clothes"). John Thaw was 45 at the beginning of shooting the TV series and Kevin Whately was 36. Morse's relationships with authority, the establishment, bastions of power and the status quo, are markedly ambiguous, as are some of his relations with women. He is frequently portrayed as patronising female characters, and once stereotyped the female sex as not naturally prone to crime, being caring and non-violent, but also often empathises with women. He is not shy to show his liking for attractive women and often dates those involved in cases. Indeed, a woman he falls in love with sometimes turns out to be the culprit. Morse is highly intelligent. He is a crossword addict and dislikes grammatical and spelling errors; in every personal or private document that he receives, he manages to point out at least one mistake. He claims that his approach to crime-solving is deductive, and one of his key tenets is that "there is a 50 per cent chance that the person who finds the body is the murderer". Morse uses immense intuition and his fantastic memory to apprehend the perpetrator. Among Morse's conservative tastes are that he likes to drink real ale and

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

, (which he calls “brain food”) and likes to drink while thinking about cases despite doctors’ advice on cutting down. In the early novels, Morse drives a

. In the television and radio productions (and reprints of the novels), this is altered to a Jaguar Mark 2. His favourite music is opera, which is echoed in the soundtracks to the television series. The original music is by Barrington Pheloung. Which has been made into Morse Code and spells out Inspector Morse. His dying words, said to Jim Strange, (who liked calling Morse, “matey” due to their long working relationship together), are "Thank Lewis for me." Morse is portrayed as being an atheist. However, in some scenes, he does entertain the possibility of God and/or quote the Bible from memory, agreeing with the phrases, as he does with lines from various literary books/texts.

Novels

The novels in the series are: * ''

Last Bus to Woodstock ''Last Bus to Woodstock'' is a Crime fiction, crime novel by Colin Dexter, the first of 13 novels in his ''Inspector Morse'' series. Plot summary Two young women are waiting in Oxford for a bus to the nearby town of Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Woo ...

'' (1975) * '' Last Seen Wearing'' (1976) * '' The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn'' (1977) * '' Service of All the Dead'' (1979) * '' The Dead of Jericho'' (1981) * '' The Riddle of the Third Mile'' (1983) * '' The Secret of Annexe 3'' (1986) * '' The Wench is Dead'' (1989) * '' The Jewel That Was Ours'' (1991) * '' The Way Through the Woods'' (1992) * '' The Daughters of Cain'' (1994) * '' Death Is Now My Neighbour'' (1996) * '' The Remorseful Day'' (1999) Inspector Morse also appears in several stories in Dexter's short story collection, '' Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories'' (1993, expanded edition 1994).

In other media

Television

''Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000)

The Inspector Morse novels were made into a

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

(also called ''Inspector Morse'') for the British commercial TV network ITV. The series was made by

Zenith Productions Zenith Productions (later Zenith Entertainment) was a British independent film and television production company. Zenith created content for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and UKTV, including a number of series such as '' Inspector Morse'' for ...

for Central (a company later acquired by Carlton) and comprised 33 two-hour episodes (100 minutes excluding commercials)—20 more episodes than there are novels—produced between 6 January 1987 and 15 November 2000. The last episode was adapted from the final novel ''The Remorseful Day'', in which Morse dies from a heart attack. Morse was played by John Thaw and Lewis by Kevin Whateley.

''Lewis'' (2006–2015)

A spin-off series, similarly comprising 33 two-hour episodes and based on the television incarnation of Lewis, was titled '' Lewis''; it first aired on 29 January 2006 and last showed on 10 November 2015. The spin-off consisted the following cast members: Kevin Whately as DI Robbie Lewis, Laurence Fox as DS James Hathaway, Clare Holman as Dr Laura Hobson and Rebecca Front as CS Jean Innocent.

''Endeavour'' (2012–2023)

In August 2011, ITV announced plans to film a prequel drama called '' Endeavour'', with author Colin Dexter's participation. English actor Shaun Evans was cast as a young Morse in his early career. The pilot episode was broadcast on 2 January 2012 on ITV. The prequel was made by Mammoth Screen. Four new episodes were televised from 14 April 2013, showing Morse's early cases working for DI Fred Thursday ( Roger Allam) and with Jim Strange ( Sean Rigby), initially as PC Jim Strange, later DS Jim Strange, and pathologist Max De Bryn ( James Bradshaw), plus Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright ( Anton Lesser), DS Peter Jakes ( Jack Laskey), WPC Shirley Trewlove ( Dakota Blue Richards), DC George Fancy (Lewis Peek), DI Ronnie Box (Simon Harrison) and DS Alan Jago (Richard Riddell). Alongside the police department, the prequel also consisted of Fred Thursday’s family members: Win Thursday, (Caroline O’Neill), Sam Thursday ( Jack Bannon), Joan Thursday ( Sara Vickers) and the newspaper editor Dorothea Frazil ( Abigail Thaw). A second series of four episodes followed, screening between 30 March 2014 and 20 April 2014. On 3 January 2016, the third series aired, also containing four episodes. A fourth series was aired, once again with four episodes, on 8 January 2017. Filming of a fifth series of six episodes began in early 2017 with the first episode of the fifth series aired on 4 February 2018. On 10 February 2019 the sixth series aired, which comprises four 1-hour-30-minute episodes. A seventh series of three episodes was filmed in late 2019, aired on 9 February 2020 and in August 2019 ITV announced that the series has been recommissioned for an eighth series, screened on 12 September 2021, also containing three episodes. Morse was voted number two on the top 25 list in ITV's Britain's Favourite Detective first broadcast on 30 August 2020. On 23 May 2022, a day after filming began for the ninth series, ITV announced that ''Endeavour'' would end production after a decade on air at the conclusion of the ninth series, bringing the total number of ''Endeavour'' episodes to 36. The ninth and final series comprised the final three episodes, which aired from 26 February 2023 to 12 March 2023.

Radio

An adaptation by Melville Jones of ''

'' featured in

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's '' Saturday Night Theatre'' series in June 1985, with Andrew Burt as Morse and Christopher Douglas as Lewis. In the 1990s, an occasional BBC Radio 4 series (for ''The Saturday Play'') was made starring the voices of John Shrapnel as Morse and Robert Glenister as Lewis. The series was written by Guy Meredith and directed by

Ned Chaillet Edward William Chaillet, III ( ; born 29 November 1944) is a radio drama Producer (radio), producer and director, writer and journalist. Chaillet, American by birth, was born in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, but is a "native of Washington" acco ...

. Episodes included: '' The Wench is Dead'' (23 March 1992); '' Last Seen Wearing'' (28 May 1994); and '' The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn'' (10 February 1996). In 2017, Alma Cullen dramatised her 2010 Morse stage play ''House of Ghosts'' as a Radio 4 production starring Neil Pearson as Morse, and Lee Ingleby as Lewis. A year later, Cullen penned an original drama entitled ''Morse: In The Shallows'', with Pearson and Ingleby reprising their roles.

Theatre

An Inspector Morse stage play appeared in 2010, written by Alma Cullen (writer of four Morse screenplays for ITV). The part of Morse was played by Colin Baker. The play, entitled ''Morse—House of Ghosts'', saw DCI Morse looking to his past, when an old acquaintance becomes the lead suspect in a murder case that involves the on-stage death of a young actress. The play toured the UK from August to December 2010. Subsequent stagings include

Weymouth, Dorset Weymouth ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the Dorset (district), Dorset district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. Situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey, Dorset, River Wey, south of the county town of ...

in 2015 with Nigel Fairs, and an upcoming touring production starring Tom Chambers.