TV News: Endeavour returns on Sunday

The second series of Endeavour begins on Sunday 30 March at 8pm on ITV. The first of the four episodes, Trove, is directed by Kristoffer Nyholm, who directed The Killing.

From the ITV website:

May 1966. DC Endeavour Morse returns to Oxford City Police after a four-month absence from duty. Reunited with DI Fred Thursday, still reeling from the final moments of Series 1, the young detective's involuntary furlough has left him wounded - in mind, more than body.

Another dazzlingly complex mystery is set in motion during a Broad Street parade, celebrating the might of Britain's military accomplishments. The festivities, soured by a rash student stunt, are thrown into sharp relief when a John Doe plummets to his death from a nearby council building. A clutch of business cards bearing multiple identities suggest the death was more than just a routine suicide. Endeavour flexes his gumshoe muscles to uncover the corpse's identity - a solitary pursuit that builds to a trip to London with troubling consequences. Whilst a concerned Thursday looks on, the fractured pieces of the kaleidoscope mirror the young detective's state of mind, as he pulls two seemingly unrelated cases into the fray - an anguished father searching for a missing daughter, and a smash-and-grab robbery of medieval artifacts at Oxford's Beaufort College.

All strands coalesce around the victim's final message, scrawled on a motel notepad: D-DAY, FRIDAY, 98018. As Oxonians go to the polls in a closely fought by-election and a beauty contest builds to its conclusion, Endeavour must navigate the choppy waters of both worlds, as his investigation shakes the highest pillars of Oxford society. With the body count rising and his fierce intellect slowly drawing back into focus, the young detective risks all to bring those responsible to justice. It is a decision that will send shockwaves across the course of the series.

Inspector Morse Prequel (tv show)

From BBC News:

Inspector Morse is to return to TV screens in a one-off show about the detective's early career.

Endeavour, which will be filmed in Oxford, will feature The Take star Shaun Evans in the role made famous by John Thaw.

Set in 1965, the story revolves around a hunt for a missing schoolgirl and will give viewers the chance to see where the detective's love for crosswords and classic cars came from.

It is expected to air on ITV next year.

"Morse as a young man is a wonderful character that I'm very excited to be playing," said Evans.

"My hope is that we can complement what's come before, by telling a great story and telling it well."

ITV drama commissioner Laura Mackie said the drama, titled after Morse's first name, was "a beautifully written story".

In the Daily Mail's article, it states that "The programme has been written by Russell Lewis, but Colin Dexter, the creator of Inspector Morse, has been involved as an adviser."

Inspector Morse takes to the Stage

I've just received my Malvern Theatre Autumn brochure and what do I find? That there is an Inspector Morse play - House of Ghosts with Morse played by the former Doctor Colin Baker.

Exactly 35 years after a certain grumpy super-sleuth with an eye for the ladies and a thirst for beer made his first appearance in Colin Dexter's novel Last Bus to Woodstock, he's back…

Inspector Morse takes to the stage in Autumn 2010 in an all-new murder mystery, House of Ghosts. By special arrangement with Colin Dexter and starring Colin Baker (Dr Who) as Morse, Alma Cullen – the writer behind four of the hugely successful ITV episodes and Director Robin Herford (Woman in Black) – bring the inscrutable detective to audiences across the UK in what promises to be one of the theatrical events of the year.

Since Oxford undergraduate days, Morse has regarded theatre director Laurence Baxter as the only truly evil man he has ever met. So what happens when, twenty-odd years later, Morse finds Baxter at the centre of a murder case that involves the on-stage death of a young actress?

A list of tour dates can be found on this Colin Baker website (scroll down to 7.05). The production runs from late August to early December and the venues include (but are not limited to) Richmond, Oxford, Cardiff, Coventry, Malvern, Wolverhampton.

News from Crime Fest - quiz, Colin Dexter

If you read the Friend Feed Crime and Mystery fiction room then you'll already know that several familiar bloggers and euro crime reviewers were part of the winning quiz team on Thursday night. The "euromonkeys" were: Authors - Ann Cleeves, Martin Edwards and Rafe McGregor, Bloggers - Maxine (Petrona), Me and Euro Crime reviewers - Rik and Carol. Photos to follow.

Also, overheard at Crime Fest is the good news that the next volume of the anthology, Best British Mysteries, edited by Maxim Jakubowski and due for publication in 2010 will contain a new short story by Colin Dexter featuring Inspector Morse. Other contributors include P D James and John Harvey.

Colin Dexter & Cryptic Crosswords

A BBC programme on cryptic crosswords which is available now on iplayer and repeated on the tv on Sunday:

A look at the world of cryptic crosswords, offering up the secrets of these seemingly impenetrable puzzles.

Crossword setter Don Manley, AKA Quixote, reveals the tricks that compilers use to bamboozle and entertain solvers using a crossword he created especially for the programme.

We also find out why Britain became home to the cryptic crossword, how a crossword nearly put paid to the D-Day invasion and why London Underground is elevating the crossword to an art form.

Author Colin Dexter explains why Inspector Morse loved his crossword, Martin Bell reveals how his father became the first crossword setter of the Times without ever having solved one and the crossword editor of the Daily Telegraph opens up her postbag.

Also sharing their enthusiasm for cryptic crosswords are actors Prunella Scales and Simon Russell Beale, Val Gilbert of the Daily Telegraph and Jonathan Crowther, AKA Azed of the Times.