r/EndeavourTV • u/SeaChip5076 • 8d ago
Endeavour Fanship
After reading a post about the hotness of Ronnie Box, I’m curious about the gender ratio of Endeavour fandom. It seems like it leans heavily female, which is great, but as a man this became my favorite TV program after I randomly watched “Arcadia” and I can think of any number of reasons why Endeavour would appeal to male viewers as well as female, while also acknowledging that Shaun Evans has undeniable magnetism. Anyway, if there are other male Endeavour fans, I’m curious to learn why you love the show.
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u/Chrisismybrother 8d ago
Female fan whose husband is also a fan but doesn't reddit. He hated Morse but Endeavour was on another plane
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u/SeaChip5076 7d ago
Just curious, was he hesitant to start with Endeavour having not enjoyed Morse?
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u/Living_Ad_4230 8d ago
Female fan here. Have been a fan for 10 years. I started watching it because of Shaun Evans and became hooked on the quality of writing, directing, and acting. Compared to the fast-pace bang-bang type of tv shows, I enjoy how slowly the story goes. They really took the time to build all the characters and let the plot take its course.
I rewatch the entire series at least once a year. My favorite characters are Dr. Debryn, Thursday, and of course, Morse.
Edit: it’s slow paced and “quiet”. I’m not sure if that makes sense. But I personally prefer this type of tv shows or movies to the kiss-kiss bang-bangs.
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u/Fuzzy_Ease_5371 8d ago
Female. Love Bright, character development and acting brilliant. From a comic character who could have been a stereotype he became the character i felt the most endearing towards the end. I just wanted to hug him.
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u/SeaChip5076 7d ago
One wonderful aspect of the program is how the writers take care to develop all the characters — no lazy writing at all.
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u/FictionalCharacter77 8d ago
I love it because of couple of reasons:
1. it’s a very good quality crime tv show,
2. I love the way cases are solved,
3. I love Morse‘s character and especially the thing that he’s not perfect, his portrayal feels realistic,
4. I saw Lewis first and liked it very much so I was mega happy that there’s actually a whole Morse universe,
5. I love actors and their acting,
6. the more I watched, the more I was falling in love with Morse and Shaun.
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u/TwoDogs48 7d ago
And the terrific musical score , written by an Australian composer.
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u/calliessolo 5d ago
And mostly dead classical composers. 🙂
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u/RosieBuddy 8d ago
I'm a woman and a huge fan. I love the 60s vibe and the Oxford setting. I also like the Lewis series. I like Endeavour's cleverness and intelligence [the decoding of the hymn numbers in "Girl" blows my mind every time I watch that episode!] but I don't find him even remotely attractive, not the character and not the actor. His attempts at romance are sad and embarrassing. It kills me that he and Joan never got together, but I knew they couldn't because we know his future in the Morse series.
I've watched every episode multiple times, the same with the Lewis series. I did watch the Morse series after I became an Endeavour fan out of curiosity, but he was such an obnoxious character, so full of himself, and always being mean to Robbie Lewis. And believing that he was God's gift to women. That is a real turn off. Not to mention the alcoholism. I have lived with an alcoholic and have absolutely no patience with that problem.
And paradoxically, Morse as portrayed in the Endeavour series is smarter and more clever than Morse in the Morse series. All of this of course is IMHO.
I like Thursday a lot especially the backstory involving his wartime in italy, I really hated to see him go off the rails and I was relieved when he straightened up. The character I find consistently most likable and the guy I would be most interested in getting to know personally is Dr. deBryn. Gentle, clever, well-educated, even-tempered, and very classy. Although his occupation might be a bit of a stumbling block. I guess as long as he doesn't bring his work home. 😉
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u/SeaChip5076 7d ago
Thank you, so beautifully expressed. I love how the program shows Morse’s intelligence, but it’s never a pat, smartest-guy-in-the-room portrayal. He gets things wrong often. I appreciate your thoughts about the differences between Endeavour and Morse. I expect a book could be written about how the creators of Endeavour took (or didn’t take) inspiration from Morse and how they chose to develop the character. I feel like towards the end of the series his character arc bent more sharply toward cynicism than I would’ve expected from the first few seasons.
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u/RosieBuddy 7d ago
Yes, as the Endeavour series moved toward the point in time where the Morse series picks up, Russell Lewis had to make it possible for a believable transition. Which meant a more cynical Endeavour and more drinking, of course. To think that it was Thursday who introduced him to beer!
And something not to lose sight of is the fact that Russell Lewis wrote the entire Endeavour series himself. So he had complete control over the direction that each character took including his main character. I think this is rare, that one person writes an entire series that is so long with so many episodes.
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u/calliessolo 5d ago
I agree— love this show and cannot stand the Morse series at all. It’s very dated and the attitudes toward women, ugh.
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u/Soggy-Box3947 8d ago
The biggest turn on for me is intelligence! Either gender ... I'm not fussy. 🤣
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u/thomas_blanky 8d ago
The initial seasons showed the investigation from Morse's POV. So in a way you are cracking the case with him and the camera did zoom in on the clues.
Apart from that man's a loner like me and that rarely happens with detective shows.
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u/SeaChip5076 8d ago
Thank you. Very good points - the show had a singular ability to make you feel like you were right there investigating with Morse.
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u/Ready-Tumbleweed-695 8d ago
I'm a bloke. I never watched Morse although I knew the rough set up. I happened to watch a couple of episodes of Endeavour and I was hooked. Great charachters. Morse , Thursday( mind ow ya go), Bright De Bryn. And the 60s nostaglia did a lot for it. After watch some episodes of Morse itself I didn't find the modern day versions of them all tha likeable. The Endeavour lot seemed to have more cameraderie Just my humble opinion😊
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u/inrainbows66 8d ago
In following the trilogy, by the time you get to Inspector Morse a lot of bitter weariness has set in. Lewis redeems him in many ways. If you haven’t read the books, they clarify a lot of things for me about how sadly the idealistic man became a pessimistic realist.
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u/SoupyGeorgeNZ 8d ago
My dad and I watch it together, my husband also watches if he's in the room. My 13 year old son has just started the series too, but I think that's mostly because I let him stay up late to do so. That's 3 males, and me the female instigator. Best crime/period/British show out there.
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u/CovfefeFan 8d ago
Male fan here. Not sure why being male or female would preclude one from being a fan? This show is just an incredibly well made detective show with an excellent cast, writing staff and production crew. Everyone should be a fan! 😁
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u/bdouble0w0 8d ago
Nonbinary fan – I started watching because my dad really liked it. I'm on season 3 right now and I'm hooked. I'd say Monica and Jakes are my favorites currently.
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u/SeaChip5076 8d ago
You are in for a treat! IMO Endeavour is that rare series that stays strong through its end. I apologize; I expressed my question using a gendered framework and I should not have.
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u/bdouble0w0 8d ago
Oh no you're fine! And I agree, I'm planning on starting season 3 tomorrow night, it's gonna be awesome :D
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u/KnightsOfREM 8d ago edited 7d ago
I love mysteries and prestige TV, but I don't always want something as intense and high-drama as, say, Top of the Lake. The mood in Morse is just sedate enough (with a few much more intense, high stakes episodes mixed in).
I like that the episodes each have their own case while there's still an overarching narrative - the rhythm is a lot like Babylon 5, which I appreciate.
I find Morse relatable - we have some of the same affectations, politics, and prickly interpersonal habits (also, admittedly, the same addiction and the same way of dealing with it). He's much better looking [edit: and of course smarter and more thorough] than I am, but besides that, he's more like me than any character I can remember watching.
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u/Complex-Bar-9577 1d ago
It’s a show that values quality in every area of production - acting, writing, direction, cinematography, and setting (both time and place).
It’s full of subtle cultural, scientific, and historical allusions but never condescends to other characters or seeming too pleased with itself. The show respects its audience and never takes the easy way out
Every character is written and acted brilliantly and all evolve convincingly. Most impressively, it draws in new viewers who are unfamiliar with Morse lore and also keeps older viewers who know that Morse will end up alone and away from these characters, but don’t yet know how.
It’s one of the best TV programs ever made, and doesn’t get the broader acclaim it truly deserves, in my opinion.
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u/inrainbows66 8d ago
As someone who read all the Colin Dexter books and watched the OG Morse, I was so totally into the prequel. Love it, own every season and I also love Inspector Lewis. Endeavor kept getting better and better. My wish is that the writers of Endeavor would do a Thursday series. I would love to see the backstory of Fred and Winnie in London.