CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night’s television: a puzzle to test even the mind of Inspector Morse…

Endeavor

Rating: *****

call the midwife

Classification:****

What comes after Thursday? As a clue in one of Morse’s crossword puzzles, the answer is cryptic, and the answer is not Friday.

The character of Chief Inspector Fred Thursday, played by Roger Allam in Endeavor (ITV), poses an enigma. He is never mentioned in the original series starring John Thaw, Inspector Morse, nor in its sequel, Lewis.

But the fearsome old copper and war veteran is a commanding presence to young Morse, both mentor and father figure. What catastrophe occurs to definitively exclude him from the future of our detective hero?

When the show returned, Thursday was toying with the idea of ​​accepting a promotion to Chief Super, a job that involved being a sinecure of sorts. (Any readers who happen to be a Police Superintendent offended or provoked by this slur please complain to ITV, not me.)

But fear not: even though Trixie (Helen George) has married her stylish boyfriend Matthew (Olly Rix), she’s still going to give birth.

Surely that extra touch in Fred’s uniform couldn’t make his protégé despise him. It always seemed more likely that Thursday would be murdered, but then wouldn’t that give an extra layer of shine to the old man’s legend?

Clearly writer Russell Lewis, who has come up with the scripts for every episode of Endeavor since its release in 2013, has something devious and brilliant in mind. I am baffled, as I usually am before the solution is revealed.

The series finale opened with a beautifully crafted musical mystery, set between performers in a symphony orchestra. In the middle of a performance, the lead violinist collapsed from anaphylactic shock, killed by crushed peanut particles on her strings.

First it seemed to be the driver who had made the mistake, and then the tea lady. But the plot took one last cunning twist and… . . well, if you haven’t seen the ending yet, I won’t spoil it for you, but it gave a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘play second fiddle’.

If Trixie ever leaves, that would really be the end of it, like the Tower of London losing its ravens.

As always, asides and inside jokes were scattered like grace notes throughout the script. When Morse (Shaun Evans), returning from extended leave, remarked that he had been exploring the West Country ‘in Hardy’s footsteps’, Sergeant Jim Strange (Sean Rigby) innocently replied: ‘Another good mess, then.’

And when an informant named Mickey Flood was found crucified, tongue torn out, Thursday muttered a world-weary lament over the body: “If it was raining luck, Mickey couldn’t get wet to save his life.”

Shaun Evans directed the episode, highlighting how deeply attached he has become to the character. When Morse’s creator, Colin Dexter, died in 2017, he left instructions in his will that no other actor would play him.

But he didn’t specify that there should never be a new version of Inspector Morse. If there ever is, it would have to star Evans. Now there is a tempting thought.

Like Fred Thursday, the nuns and nurses in Call The Midwife (BBC1) are almost never mentioned again.

Sister Frances and newlywed Lucille (Ella Bruccoleri and Leonie Elliott) have already disappeared and been forgotten this year. Now nurse Nancy (Megan Cusack) is disappearing from the show. But fear not: even though Trixie (Helen George) has married her stylish boyfriend Matthew (Olly Rix), she will still give birth.

If Trixie ever leaves, that would really be the end of it, like the Tower of London losing its ravens.

Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) hasn’t lost a Trixie; instead, she’s gained a camp osteopath, in the form of the bride’s brother, Geoffrey (Christopher Harper), who arrives for the wedding, which is a suitably sentimental affair.

The last field osteopath seen in a period television drama was Stephen Ward, the sleazy villain of the Christine Keeler case. Sister Julienne couldn’t afford anything so vulgar.

EXPLOSION of the weekend: At Hinkley Point C, on his Great British Power Trip (C4), Guy Martin has learned what will happen if, “for some horrible reason”, the nuclear reactor melts down. A hatch opens, spewing the radioactive core into the water. Fingers crossed, Guy said. Quite.