In this case, it seems our beloved Fred Thursday (Roger Allam), aka Best. Real talent and loyal service are sacrificed in the name of “streamlining,” as Chief Superintendent Bright (Anton Lesser) so delicately terms it. Can you detect the man he’ll become?Īnyone who’s been through a workforce consolidation knows the cream does not always rise to the top. It cut the number of existing police forces from 117 to 67 throughout England, Scotland, and Wales.
This “amalgamation” of local police forces into larger regional entities was a real initiative specified in the Police Act of 1964. In what is now November 1966 Endeavour time, Blenheim Vale is about to be turned into the new HQ for the consolidated police force we will come to know as the Thames Valley Constabulary. In this episode we learn that Blenheim Vale was replaced by another care home called Boxgrove, which figured into the “Fearful Symmetry” episode of Inspector Lewis back in 2012. You might recall that in last week’s episode, “Sway,” we were told Norman Parkis, the lovelorn department store porter, had spent time at Blenheim Vale. Then the prisoner escapes, a young boy runs away from home, and Thursday and Morse are off and running.Īs the episode title implies, we’re dealing here with Lost Boys of one sort or another, especially as all plot roads lead to a place called Blenheim Vale, a home for “wayward boys” that’s been closed for 11 years.
We begin, as we tend to do, with a montage of characters and situations: DI Thursday is in for his physical exam a young man, who bears a passing resemblance to Morse himself, is in prison an Oxford professor lectures on the Siege Perilous in the legend of the Knights of the Round Table a ventriloquist prepares for a Vaudeville-style show there’s a benefit for the Police Widows and Orphans and Morse is in the choir singing “as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.” There’s so much going on that Colin Dexter’s cameo flashes by within seconds of the episode’s start.
Then go back and watch it again, knowing what you know. We don’t do spoilers on Masterpiece Mystery programs, but I would suggest that you go and watch “Neverland” right now if you haven’t already.
The final episode of Endeavour Series 2 was a corker.