NikkoFranco If you're a Morse fan, this is a must watch for you. Elegantly shot and the 60s recreated in Oxfordshire, never have I seen coppers ( separate from their competence) looking so well put together. The actors have also chemistry, whether it's the superiors-reportee-trainee or father-daughter, lover-colleague's daughter entanglement, this series is just beautiful. Also it showed the evolving morals in those times and that there is an impeccable manner of the young Morse. It is also of note that each episode is not dragging, and the reveal is only until each ending. No spoiler, no predictability, just a good pace of timing and evolving characters in a picturesque backdrop. Definitely a favorite .

kennprop Excellent in most ways. The characters have depth. You get to see why Morse was Morse. That was missing in the Thaw series. Excellent characters developed by Lesser,Allam , Strange,? and DeBryn. The settings are period and you are not limited to Oxford crime. That facet of Morse was limiting and unrealistic. My only gripe with this is the plots can be too complicated. Even when Morse explains them you dont think they are feasible, possible, or likely. They strain to wrap things up. Most of the scripts are good ones. Much better than the old series.

ghird I love the nostalgia of Endeavour and tonights episode was no exception. I loved the references to the ITV series 'Crossroads' which, I think, aired in the 60s/70s - the motel itself, Mrs T & Kings Oak. Brilliant!

blom0344 The original Morse series was lauded as the pinnacle of British police-series on TV, though it was very much about style over substance. Superb acting and cinematography almost made up for the rather contrived and stilted plots of many episodes. But with some it generated stellar TV. The series was all about John Thaw as Endeavour Morse , gritty, grumpy with major strokes of insight by association rather than traditional police-work. He shunned the use of his first name, just using Morse for all but one episode. So, how does one select a young Morse for a prequel? I don't mind that Shaun Evans does not look like a young John Thaw, but as personalities there is a massive gap, to hard to be breached. Evans looks and operates like a choir-boy , or as a newly appointed vicar to a parish. There is zero similarity with the rough and gritty personality of the eventual Morse of the eighties. Sorry, but this is a poor choice casting-wise. The second gripe is about the fact that Evans is totally overshadowed by Roger Allam as his DI boss. The DI reminds me of Maigret as played by Bruno Cremer with that deep rumbling voice, exact timing and a hint of some unspoken tragedy. This series could just as well have been : "Fred Thursday, DI" and would have been none the worse for it. Thirdly, plots seem to race down the glacier towards plain silliness. The last episode I viewed was about a Tiger kept in isolation, breaking free , killing randomly by applying a scent to a hankie, finally being killed in a maze by the Superintendent who happened to have killed a man-eater back in his days in India. This same episode also covers the strained relation between Strange and Morse with Strange almost begging to be still Morse's mate though the latter is left behind career-wise. The casting of the young Strange is equally baffling, there is not a hint of the larger-than-life portrayal by James Grout. Finally, an average rating of 8.6 on IMDb, really means that a major part of the audience is blissfully ignorant of the origins of the Morse canon. If the Lewis series made for a superior sequel, than this mediocre outing does not do a prequel justice.