Endeavour Series 5 U.K. Air Date Revealed + First Look

We've finally gotten confirmation of when the fifth series of Endeavour will air in the U.K.

Upcoming Detective Shows in 2018 - Vera, Endeavour, Luther...

Coming soon (Vera, Endeavour):

It's been a while, but I've finally found the time to write up another of these updates. I've managed to miss a few series (Brokenwood 4 has come and gone, and Father Brown 6 is airing now), so the list is a bit more spare than usual, but here goes.

Endeavour Series 4 - Canticle - Episode Review

My review of the previous episode: Game.

Mrs. Joy Pettybon is on a crusade to Keep Britain Decent. An elderly widow, Mrs. Pettybon is quick to denounce anything to do with sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, and - it seems - fun. She's accompanied by her timid daughter, Bettina, and happy-go-lucky colleague, the Reverend Mervyn Golightly.

Endeavour Series 4 - Game - Episode Review

My review of last season's finale: Coda.

Chess, swimming pools, creepy dolls, fishing, computers, Oxford - you'd be hard pressed to figure out what these things have in common, but happily, Endeavour Morse is here to do that for us.

Series 4 of Endeavour picks up two weeks after we saw Joan Thursday pack her bags and hit the road. A lovelorn Morse and a befuddled Thursday are still working through the implications of her decision. Thursday retreats into surly irascibility. Morse, meanwhile, is resentful and thin-skinned, snobbish and sarcastic.

Detective News - 2016/2017 - Sherlock, Endeavour, Grantchester, and more...

This is older news, for the latest, check this feed.

Coming soon (Endeavour, Inspector Lewis):

Endeavour's belated third season will finally be coming to the United States, with the first episode - Ride - airing on June 19, and the three successive episodes on June 26, July 3, and July 10. The series will see Morse coping with the dramatic aftereffects of the second season's finale, as well as trying to figure out what course his future will take. I watched the show when it came out it England, and you're in for a treat.

What's Up With Me - 2015/2016

I've been so busy that the only time I update this blog is usually for whatever British detective show I'm reviewing at the moment. I'm hoping to change that with a few non-detection-related posts coming down the pipe. These last four or five months have been absolutely crazy. Among the things that have happened:

• I had an article on Twin Peaks and The X-Files published in The Weekly Standard. You know, published. Like, in an actual magazine. A magazine I read when I was a kid. I still can't quite believe that it happened.

• Since November, I've been writing on a semi-weekly basis for Summit Ministries. Among the things I've written about: China's two-child policy, Henry V and Agincourt, the terror attacks in Paris, Advent, Pearl Harbor, prayer, civil disobedience, and The X-Files. 

• On the first of the year, I was, through no virtue of my own, in an award-winning photograph, taken by my incredible sister, Sarah.

• I wrote an article on The Lord of the Rings for the good folks over at Torrey Gazette. It's probably the closest thing I have to a spiritual testimony.

• We've been keeping up with the podcast, and have added a new guest star to a vlog series, Mamaw Reviews: June Long. We've covered The Return of the King and Star Wars: A New Hope, so far, and as soon as sickness and snow abate, we'll be moving on to the rest of a galaxy far, far away.

• I've been watching a lot of The X-Files (and contemplating a Best Of list, though this would probably be of interest only to myself) as my various social media timelines will attest, but an even better show (if, like me, you love British TV, Brenda Blethyn, and murder mysteries) that I've kept quiet about: Vera. I've been reviewing it, and you can watch the first three seasons here for free.

• As usual, my reviews of Endeavour are my top-performing posts, shooting this blog's usual three or four thousand pageviews per month up to around sixteen thousand. The season was a bit uneven, but still very entertaining. Read my reviews here, but first, watch Inspector Morse.

• Bonus: we've been discovering the wonderfulness of silent movies. Here's one to watch. And you should. Because it's great, and funny, and there are awesome stunts.

Longish

Endeavour Season 3 - Coda - Episode Review

 My review of last week's episode: Prey

After last week's hijinks, Coda returns to more familiar territory. In many ways, this has been a wildly different series of Endeavour - so much so that it's been difficult to establish a status quo. Coda suffers from this, but in all the chaos, there are moments of pathos.

Endeavour Season 3 - Prey - Episode Review

 My review of last week's episode: Arcadia

The first Inspector Morse episode aired in 1987. Over the last twenty-nine years, we've seen death in many shapes and forms, from run-of-the-mill stranglings to murder as performance art in a recent Lewis. But don't expect anything like that in Prey: this episode, Morse goes on Safari.

Endeavour Season 3 - Arcadia - Episode Review

My review of last week's episode: Ride

I don't suppose we could have plausibly continued the Morse-as-tourist-in-great-literature trend into the rest of the series, but I'm a little sad that this week doesn't find Morse as the mild-mannered Charles Ryder in Brideshead Revisited (I had my hopes: after all, this episode is called Arcadia) or snobbish Pip in Great Expectations, or any number of other literary middle-class hangers-on observing the enchanting world of the upper classes.

Of course, I kid. Morse in The Great Gatsby was a neat gimmick episode, but not a sustainable conceit. Even so, Morse as a character has always found himself an interloper in the world of others, and never more so than in Arcadia, an overstuffed episode which rather clumsily tries to get back into its usual groove.

Endeavour Season 3 - Ride - Episode Review

My review of last season's finale: Neverland

Well, that was unexpected.

After a few seasons, TV shows tend to sink into a comfortable rut, doing what they do best, refusing to stretch their limits. Endeavour did the impossible by pleasing fans of Inspector Morse with a nostalgic but courageously new pilot and first season. In season two, they tried to deepen the story a bit by hinting at the darkness creeping into Morse's life, and while the finale was gripping, the season as a whole lacked the freshness and verve of the early episodes. But Ride, the first episode of season three, gives the entire show a rehaul, both thematically and aesthetically. Endeavour is back, and it's better than ever.

[SPOILERS]

British Detective News - Autumn/Winter 2015/16

This is older news - check out this link for the latest.

Coming soon (Inspector Lewis, Luther, Sherlock, Endeavour, Father Brown):

The start of the year saw the finale of two major series: Foyle’s War and Agatha Christie’s Poirot (and effectively confirmed that Broadchurch might as well be over.)

Inspector Lewis has been lumbering along his merry way for eight series, and many are beginning to suspect the end is nigh. The first episode airs in the U.K. on October 6th, at 9:00 PM, with the subsequent five (there are three episodes, split into two parts) airing each Tuesday thereafter, presumably. No trailer yet, but in my opinion, this is far more fun:

What a privilege and treat to work with each and everyone of the fantastic Lewis crew. With HUGE apologies to John Denver. Thankyou for supporting us. See you on the other side. X
Posted by Laurence Fox on Tuesday, August 25, 2015

My reviews: Season 8 -     
Episode 1 - Entry Wounds     
Episode 2 - Lions of Nemea
Episode 3 - Beyond Good and Evil

British Detective News - Latest for 2015/2016

This is older news, for the latest, check this feed.

Coming soon (Mr. Holmes, Partners in Crime, New Tricks, Luther, Sherlock):

There's been a great deal of excitement in the British detective world lately. Across the pond, Mr. Holmes has opened to great critical acclaim, maintaining a staggering 91% positive at Rotten Tomatoes. It opens in the U.S. on July 17th.

Yet More British Detectives, 2015, 2016

This is older news, for the latest check this feed.

Wrapped, upcoming:

The seventh series of Inspector George Gently now has a U.K. air date of Wednesday, April 29, at 8:00 PM.

Upcoming British Detective Shows, 2015, 2016

This is older information - check out the latest here.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that if one is a British actor of mature years, it is pretty much inevitable that one will play a detective on the telly. This is the case for Martin Clunes, who is best known for playing the irascible title character in Doc Martin, and who is now, at last, taking up the magnifying glass to do a bit of investigating.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Clunes) is best-known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, but he was also quite a sleuth himself. In 1903, Anglo-Indian solicitor George Edalji was arrested and jailed for a series of brutal attacks on animals. Three years later he was released, but the taint of the crime remained. He enlisted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who, after Kipling, was Britain's most famous author - to help clear his name. Along with his loyal secretary, Alfred Wood, Sir Arthur traipsed around the countryside, using his powers of deduction to track down the truth.

Upcoming British Detectives, 2015

This is an older post - for the most up to date news, check here.

2015 will get off to a great start with the U.K. premiere of a second season of Broadchurch. The first season (my review) was, by a long stretch, the best TV show I’ve viewed this year. The plot centered on the murder of a young boy, Danny Latimer. As the whodunit played out, we witnessed the town disintegrate into suspicion and betrayal. The media’s arrival, accompanied by incendiary headlines and invasive paparazzi, only exacerbated problems caused by a lengthy investigation. But while the conclusion was devastating, it was not untempered by hope from an unexpected (but appropriate) corner.

Inspector Lewis - The Lions of Nemea - Episode Review

My review of last week's episode: Entry Wounds

Murder in Oxford! Panic in the streets!

Well, British panic—which means we’re suitably upset about the whole thing but couldn’t we hush it up quietly?

This Lewis episode brings us back to the heart of England’s deadliest city when Rose Anderson, a graduate in classics, is found stabbed to death alongside a canal.

Inspector Lewis - Entry Wounds - Episode Review

Sidekick promotion has always proved somewhat of a stickler for long-running detective shows. There’s some reshuffling of authority, which can often produce manufactured drama. In Morse the transition was rocky, as an ailing Morse had so little confidence in his sergeant’s abilities that he shadowed him incognito, much to Lewis’s dismay.

This time around, Superintendent Innocent has recruited a retired Robbie Lewis as back-up for newly promoted D.I. Hathaway. Hathaway is not too hip on this idea, and does his usual Brooding number. Unsurprisingly, we only get half a glimpse of his motivations, something involving doubts and faith and insecurity, probably, and also some trip to a church in Spain, and now he’s in a bad mood and nobody knows why, even him. Is this just me? It’s what makes the character interesting, but also frustrating—he is just sort of a vague intelligence without reality. Morse, on the other hand, was constantly displaying tangible flaws, and his existential ponderings had real weight because of it.

British Mystery Coming 2014, 2015

This is older information - for the latest, follow this link.

Starting Thursday, October 2, Gracepoint will hit the small screen in America. Folk have been quick to assure us that it will not be a point-by-point remake (at least, after the first two episodes) of the original, superb series Broadchurch - but I'm not entirely convinced. (Update: my review of the first episode.)

Since my last update list, I've seen a few more things turn up.

Besides more seasons of Foyle's War (complete - here's a brief interview from the elusive Mr. Kitchen), Broadchurch (filming), Father Brown (filming), and Sherlock (being written) we have...

Upcoming BBC Mystery - 2014, 2015

This is older information - for the latest, follow this link. 

Endeavour - 2nd season. Americans can catch this excellent Inspector Morse prequel every Sunday on PBS, from July 6 to July 20. Bringing back Shaun Evans as Endeavour Morse, and the lovely Roger Allam as his ursine mentor, Inspector Fred Thursday, the show follows the pair as they investigate a series of murders among Oxford's evocative spires. Needless to say, there shall be opera, ale, romance, and old cars. For those of you who can't wait, check out my reviews: Trove, Nocturne, Sway, and Neverland.

Agatha Christie's Poirot - 13th and final season. At last, we on this side of the pond are going to see the conclusion to the long-running series starring David Suchet as the eponymous Belgian. The old cast members, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson, and Pauline Moran, will reprise their roles as, respectively, Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp, and Miss Lemon. Two episodes will air on the PBS Sundays after Endeavour, July 27 and August 3 - these two, and the last three will be exclusively online at Acorn.tv every Monday from July 28 to August 25. Update - Reviews thus far: The Big Four, Dead Man's Folly, Elephants Can Remember, The Labours of Hercules.

Gracepoint - 1st season. Already filmed, and also starring David Tennant, this American remake of the superb British miniseries Broadchurch will air this fall on Fox. Frankly, I'm skeptical. The trailer seems a point-for-point copy of the original - nothing unique. Another thing: will they keep the religious element? It was essential. My review of the original.

Inspector Morse - The Transcendence of Art

[The second of a series of posts which bind my twin loves - philosophy/theology and TV detectives - for no reason whatsoever. Previously: Broadchurch - By Grace Ye Have Been Saved. Up next: Sherlock Holmes - The Aragorn Complex. Upcoming: Foyle's War and moral absolutes.]

“Your aesthetic sense seems to be causing you no end of trouble, Chief Inspector,” says one suspect in the enormous body of Oxford-dwellers under investigation by Inspector Morse.

Anybody that has known me more than a week or two will probably tell you that one of my nerd obsessions is British detective shows. But my standards are high. While your average chalk-and-cheese buddy-cop mystery show is fun, I get bored unless it starts to take a stab at something deeper (see Midsomer Murders, Elementary).

Inspector Morse, at first glance, doesn’t seem to do this. Morse is a broody intellectual with odd habits. Sergeant Robbie Lewis, his partner, is a cheerful, ordinary family man. It’s the Formula. 

But Morse is more than the sum of his eccentricities (as, for instance, Hercule Poirot has become under the subtle grooming of David Suchet.) Morse doesn’t just like good things because they are commonly accepted as Good Things, but because they are genuinely excellent. And while the show has shot Oxford’s homicide rate into the stratosphere, its mystery doesn’t really center around death, but around life, and the longing for something transcendent.