Radio might be the most intimate medium but TV is the most sociable; a convivial presence in every living room we’ve ever known, ready with gossip, information, comfort or distraction. In The Friend in the Corner we return to significant TV shows to find out what they did for us, and how they pulled it off.
Friend in the corner: Endeavour (ITV, 2013-2023)
It’s 1965, and Detective Constable Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans) is seconded to a murder investigation in Oxford, a town he hasn’t been back to since he dropped out of the University. Once there he falls under the grumpy wing of D.I. Fred Thursday (Roger Allam), who is impressed with Morse’s arcane knowledge, analytical intelligence and dogged pursuit of justice. Together they set about investigating a series of swinging mysteries among the screaming spires.
Endeavour is the prequel to the classic ‘80s/‘90s Oxford-set detective show Inspector Morse (ITV, 1987-2000). The grumpy old loner of the original series was so embarrassed about his first name that he refused to tell anyone what it was, but this prequel sticks it right there in the title. Finally, it promises, we’ll solve the mystery of Morse.
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