Endeavour: Prelude (2023 Shaun Evans; writer Russell Lewis)

Morse is sober (well, for much of the film). Q was right - Joan and Strange are to marry. (And in fact it's learning this that sends Morse back onto the beer.) Bright is thinking of retiring. Sam is home, but he's a deserter. Oh yes, there's a murder or two, but let's not let that get in the way of the story.

On Morse's West Country vacation:
Morse: "I was mainly following in Hardy's footsteps."
Strange: "Were you? 'That's another fine mess' eh?"

Plot mainly involves rivalry and murder in Oxford Concert Orchestra (the sub-text here suggests kids internet bullying is not new). But there's two other sneaky coils here. One is a murdered man, who's missing mother was last seen working at the dodgy construction company that was involved in the terrible Blenheim Vale children's home scandal (jump back to Season 2's Neverland, the darkest film of them all). And, some past secret's come back to haunt Thursday from the 'smoke' and his 'Cable Street days' involving tortured and crucified Micky Flood.

Apparently (according to IMDB) Max's line to Endeavour "I perceive you've been in Lyme Regis" is a paraphrase of the first line Sherlock says to Watson "You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive" in 'A Study in Scarlet'. The difference there is Holmes explains his deduction. Here the line is left wandering, but I guess that's Lewis challenging the audience - either 'I know this' or 'What's this refer to?'

With Nicholas Farrell (yes did get 'Lermontov' Red Shoes reference), Imogen Daines, Jane Lapotaire, Kirstin Louie (guest violinist), Tamsin Newlands, Leaphia Darko, Simon Harrison (Ronnie Box neatly worked back into things).

Good music from Matthew Slater, photographed by James Moss, edited by Naomi Smallwood.

That last lingering look of Thursday's: we know he's thinking 'Don't go down that slippery slope again' and 'Will he be OK without me?' and 'I've been telling people all day he's all right now, but is he?'; but we're also looking at him and thinking 'What is this stuff from the past?' and - more pertinently - 'Are you going to survive?'