TV detective Endeavour Morse and DI Fred Thursday trial a more ‘hands-on’ style of policing in the latest series of the popular drama.

The sixth series of the Inspector Morse spin-off will be screened early next year after filming finished this week at a number of locations in Oxford, including at St Edmund Hall and Magdalen College.

Produced by Mammoth Screen, in a co-production with Masterpiece, each of the four new stories in the sixth series will be written by series creator Russell Lewis who has penned each of the 23 screenplays to date.

Whilst reprising his role as Endeavour Morse, actor Shaun Evans will also put his directorial mark on the show, heading behind the camera for the second feature-length film in the series. The move follows his success directing two episodes of continuing drama Casualty earlier this year.

Oxford Mail:

Evans’ character will also be trialling pastures new, with DS Morse having started a new role as a uniformed officer at the Woodstock police department and embracing the fashion of the period by growing a moustache.

Alongside Evans, the new series will see stage and screen actor Roger Allam return as DI Fred Thursday, alongside Anton Lesser as CS Reginald Bright, Sean Rigby as DS Jim Strange, James Bradshaw as Dr Max DeBryn, Sara Vickers as Joan Thursday, Abigail Thaw as Dorothea Frazil and Caroline O’Neill as Win Thursday.

Oxford Mail:

Producer Deanne Cunningham said Morse and Thursday will be shown getting used to a new, more robust style of policing in the new series as the 1960s comes to an end.

She added: “It’s more of a Flying Squad style, and that’s anathema to Morse and Fred.”

Following the dissolution of Oxford City Police and the merging with Thames Valley Constabulary at the end of the last series, the latest instalment is set in 1969 and picks up with the team dispersed as they find their feet in their various new roles.

Ms Cunningham added: “Over the course of the series they will be like magnets, drawn back together again.”

Filming began on the new series in Oxford in July and concluded this week.

Oxford Mail:

Endeavour and Lewis are both spin-offs of ITV’s Inspector Morse dramas featuring John Thaw, based on the acclaimed crime novels of Oxford author Colin Dexter, who died last year.

Other talent set to star in the upcoming series include Sophie Winkleman (Two and a Half Men), Blake Ritson (Indian Summers), Matthew Cottle (Unforgotten), Oliver Chris (Motherland), Sargon Yelda (Strike), Alice Orr-Ewing (A Very English Scandal) and Ross Boatman (Mum).

Receiving praise from critics and viewers alike, Endeavour has gone from strength to strength since its first outing as a one-off film in 2012 to mark the 25th anniversary of Inspector Morse on ITV. The fifth series launched with consolidated figures of 6.7m and 25% share, with the consolidated figures for the first four films the highest for three years.

Filmed in and around Oxford, the new films will be executive produced by Mammoth Screen’s Damien Timmer, alongside writer and creator Russell Lewis and Rebecca Eaton.