ONTD Original: 6 Endeavour Episodes to Get You Into Autumn
It may still be summer but mentally I've moved on to my favorite season, autumn. When this time of year comes around people often share tv shows which get them in the mood, like Gilmore Girls. Endeavour has become that show for me. It's not a cozy mystery or a gritty drama. I'd say it's somewhere inbetween but more than anything it's theatrical! And although it's not exactly cozy, I find it strangely comforting. Anyhoo, this post is me indulging my love for it for a minute by celebrating some autumn/spooky episodes, and hopefully it might intrigue you enough to check it out. :)
1. Fugue
Plot: In July 1965 a serial killer is on the loose in Oxford, seemingly choosing targets at random, but Morse soon notices the killer shares his passion for opera.
Fugue is one of the most iconic episodes of Endeavour. It's genuinely creepy and tense while having a slightly camp element of the clues all relating to opera. That's something I really appreciate about Endeavour - it's serious yet veers into eccentric areas you don't normally see in British detective shows and has fun doing it. The soundtrack always uses a mix of classical music and opera, and here they're emphasized in a way which melds perfectly with the mystery. It makes for ideal rainy day viewing!
The first couple seasons were filmed in the later part of the year which gives them that gloominess despite the month, and it is England so you know. lol
2. Rocket
Plot: During a royal visit in the autumn of 1965, an unpopular worker is murdered at a munitions factory owned by the Broom family, causing tensions to reemerge between them.
This episode could exist in the same universe as Mad Men. It's more slow-going and dialogue-heavy. The Brooms are well-written characters, I think it would appeal to anyone into period dramas, and it has strong autumnal vibes.
3. Nocturne
Plot: A geneologist is murdered at a museum in the summer of 1966, leading Morse and Thursday to a girls' boarding school haunted by a mystery from 100 years ago.
Although it's set in the summer, Nocturne is just the sort of spooky story you feel like watching on an October night, and if you're wondering, yes that is a young Anya Taylor-Joy. One of her first scream queen roles! Lucy Boynton is there too. Endeavour is great for catching actors who have since made a name for themselves.
I'd also say this is probably one of the best episodes to start with if you're brand new to the series. It's early enough that it stands on its own yet far enough that the characters and rythm have been established. As much as I'd like to say more, it's best to go into these episodes knowing as little as possible. I will say though that this episode has another quality I love about Endeavour in that it almost feels like reading an old mystery book.
4. Sway
Plot: Leading up to Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night in 1966, multiple women have been murdered by someone using silk stockings to strangle them. Morse and Thursday learn the only retail supplier of the stockings is the department store, Burridges, giving them a host of suspects and reuniting Thursday with a figure from his past.
Sway isn't horror so much as tragic in a noir kind of way. It has the atmosphere of crisp November nights contrasted with the warm glow of indoor light. This is another episode which works well as a period drama outside the main case. The staff in Burridges are enjoyable in their own right, and it touches on things like the wounds war leaves even decades later, misogyny, etc.
Annoyingly however, the music is different on the PBS/Prime version to the original which isn't a dealbreaker, but there's a piece of music used in this one as a motif which makes the story more effective. Music is a big part of Endeavour, so the fact some episodes are different for copyright reasons can change the feel of a scene or take you out of it because it's a fake version of the real music you're familiar with from the era.
5. Harvest
Plot: In September 1967 a body is found on an archaeological dig outside Oxford, bringing Morse to the strange village of Bramford where a botanist has been missing for five years and the villagers are preparing their pagan rituals for the autumn equinox.
This one is a personal fave purely because the atmosphere it has is so good. The cinematography highlights that weird time in late September where it's very golden. There's still sticky humidity in the air, but it's slowly getting chilly and the leaves are dying. Harvest leans into The Wicker Man in a way I find so fun (that's one of the eccentric aspects I was referring to earlier) though I wish it would've gone even further! It's exactly what I'm looking for when I'm getting impatient for autumn to kick in.
6. Icarus
Plot: In November 1968 Morse and Trewlove go undercover to investigate the disappearance of a teacher at a boys' boarding school.
The boarding school episodes are always unsettling because they make it very clear how toxic they are, but I think Icarus is the most disturbing for various reasons, and the students are particularly creepy. On a lighter note, there's a lot of Morse wearing cozy jumpers, and he's hot in the teachers' gown, lol. The whole undercover storyline with him and Trewlove is cute in an odd way. This one has the feel of it getting properly frosty at the end of autumn. Lots of blue tones. Btw, this is the type of episode you definitely don't want to watch out of order. That goes for Harvest too.
That's it! Are there any others you would add? If you haven't seen Endeavour feel free to mention other mystery shows/episodes you enjoy most at this time of year.
1. Fugue
Plot: In July 1965 a serial killer is on the loose in Oxford, seemingly choosing targets at random, but Morse soon notices the killer shares his passion for opera.
Fugue is one of the most iconic episodes of Endeavour. It's genuinely creepy and tense while having a slightly camp element of the clues all relating to opera. That's something I really appreciate about Endeavour - it's serious yet veers into eccentric areas you don't normally see in British detective shows and has fun doing it. The soundtrack always uses a mix of classical music and opera, and here they're emphasized in a way which melds perfectly with the mystery. It makes for ideal rainy day viewing!
The first couple seasons were filmed in the later part of the year which gives them that gloominess despite the month, and it is England so you know. lol
2. Rocket
Plot: During a royal visit in the autumn of 1965, an unpopular worker is murdered at a munitions factory owned by the Broom family, causing tensions to reemerge between them.
This episode could exist in the same universe as Mad Men. It's more slow-going and dialogue-heavy. The Brooms are well-written characters, I think it would appeal to anyone into period dramas, and it has strong autumnal vibes.
3. Nocturne
Plot: A geneologist is murdered at a museum in the summer of 1966, leading Morse and Thursday to a girls' boarding school haunted by a mystery from 100 years ago.
Although it's set in the summer, Nocturne is just the sort of spooky story you feel like watching on an October night, and if you're wondering, yes that is a young Anya Taylor-Joy. One of her first scream queen roles! Lucy Boynton is there too. Endeavour is great for catching actors who have since made a name for themselves.
I'd also say this is probably one of the best episodes to start with if you're brand new to the series. It's early enough that it stands on its own yet far enough that the characters and rythm have been established. As much as I'd like to say more, it's best to go into these episodes knowing as little as possible. I will say though that this episode has another quality I love about Endeavour in that it almost feels like reading an old mystery book.
4. Sway
Plot: Leading up to Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night in 1966, multiple women have been murdered by someone using silk stockings to strangle them. Morse and Thursday learn the only retail supplier of the stockings is the department store, Burridges, giving them a host of suspects and reuniting Thursday with a figure from his past.
Sway isn't horror so much as tragic in a noir kind of way. It has the atmosphere of crisp November nights contrasted with the warm glow of indoor light. This is another episode which works well as a period drama outside the main case. The staff in Burridges are enjoyable in their own right, and it touches on things like the wounds war leaves even decades later, misogyny, etc.
Annoyingly however, the music is different on the PBS/Prime version to the original which isn't a dealbreaker, but there's a piece of music used in this one as a motif which makes the story more effective. Music is a big part of Endeavour, so the fact some episodes are different for copyright reasons can change the feel of a scene or take you out of it because it's a fake version of the real music you're familiar with from the era.
5. Harvest
Plot: In September 1967 a body is found on an archaeological dig outside Oxford, bringing Morse to the strange village of Bramford where a botanist has been missing for five years and the villagers are preparing their pagan rituals for the autumn equinox.
This one is a personal fave purely because the atmosphere it has is so good. The cinematography highlights that weird time in late September where it's very golden. There's still sticky humidity in the air, but it's slowly getting chilly and the leaves are dying. Harvest leans into The Wicker Man in a way I find so fun (that's one of the eccentric aspects I was referring to earlier) though I wish it would've gone even further! It's exactly what I'm looking for when I'm getting impatient for autumn to kick in.
6. Icarus
Plot: In November 1968 Morse and Trewlove go undercover to investigate the disappearance of a teacher at a boys' boarding school.
The boarding school episodes are always unsettling because they make it very clear how toxic they are, but I think Icarus is the most disturbing for various reasons, and the students are particularly creepy. On a lighter note, there's a lot of Morse wearing cozy jumpers, and he's hot in the teachers' gown, lol. The whole undercover storyline with him and Trewlove is cute in an odd way. This one has the feel of it getting properly frosty at the end of autumn. Lots of blue tones. Btw, this is the type of episode you definitely don't want to watch out of order. That goes for Harvest too.
That's it! Are there any others you would add? If you haven't seen Endeavour feel free to mention other mystery shows/episodes you enjoy most at this time of year.