If you are an American who loves British TV, a lot of great shows hit the airwaves on this side of the pond thanks to PBS and its Masterpiece programming. That’s how many of us have watched such gems as Sanditon (which does have Season 3 coming), Call the Midwife, and the heartwarming All Creatures Great and Small. However, my personal favorite Masterpiece series Endeavour, a prequel to Inspector Morse, just became the latest series to get cancellation news. I’m honestly gutted.
It’s true, gutted isn’t typically a word I’d personally use to describe feeling sad about a show calling it quits, but I’ve heard it used enough on The Great British Bakeoff to understand the context and it’s exactly how I’m feeling right now. To note, there’s actually some good news on the Endeavour front. For example, before it wraps its run, the show’s parent company ITV is putting together a ninth season before the cast finally says goodbye. In other “good” news, we as Americans get episodes later than in the U.K., so Season 8 (or Series 8) has yet to air here.
So, really, there should be six more episodes to go! (Still gutted.) I should be happy about this development. (Nope, still gutted.) But Endeavour has consistently put together solid detective programming with whodunnits of the variety that we just do not get in the U.S. with our procedural programming. Sure some episodes and some seasons are better than others, but it’s been a Masterpiece program I’ve consistently waited for year after year.
Part of this may have to do with the show’s structure, which has only produced 3-6 episodes per season during its run. That’s even fewer episodes than a streaming series, but it’s way, way fewer episodes than what we might expect from a network TV show. As such, it’s difficult to get tired of a series like Endeavour, which will conclude with only 72 hours of television.
In an announcement, executive producer Damien Timmer also shared there will be “surprises” yet to come. (Did I mention I’m still gutted?)
Endeavour has been a real labour of love for all of us, and we salute Russell Lewis for his extraordinary achievement in chronicling Endeavour Morse’s coming of age across 72 hours of TV. Russell always knew where he wanted the series to end, and that Remorseful Day is nearly upon us! We’d like to thank Shaun and Roger and all the other members of the Endeavour family on and off screen, and the show’s fans both in the U.K. and abroad. Russell has many surprises up his sleeve for the final three films, with the return of some familiar faces and new challenges for Endeavour and Thursday to face before the final goodbye!
(Editor Note: I’d normally Americanize “labour” here, but somehow that felt wrong.)
If you are planning to keep up with the Shaun Evans-led production over its last couple of seasons, the next edition of the series on Masterpiece is expected to hit the TV schedule on June 19th. Meanwhile, in a video released by Masterpiece, the PBS programmer mentioned that Season 9 is currently filming in Oxford. You can see the final season announcement below.
Endeavour is the third in a set of great British mystery shows. It follows the early career of Endeavour Morse, who is the main protagonist in a TV series Inspector Morse, which ran between 1987 and 2000. Another spinoff Lewis ran from 2006 to 2015. Endeavor kicked off at the tail end of Lewis’ run, with its first episode airing back in 2012. The episodes begin in the early 1960s and have continued into the seventies as the series has worn on. With time has come a ‘stache as well.