Just when you thought television drama couldn’t possibly get any better, it does…and actually did with Monday’s announcement by ITV that Endeavour, the crime drama prequel to the Inspector Morse series, has begun production on series 2.

Shaun Evans returns in the lead role of young Morse, with Roger Allam (The Thick of It, Parade’s End) as his superior, Detective Inspector Fred Thursday. Also returning will be regulars Anton Lesser, James Bradshaw, Jack Laskey, Shaun Rigby and Abigail Thaw (John Thaw’s daughter).
 

The new series will again be written by acclaimed screenwriter and Morse contributor Russell Lewis. Colin Dexter, whose first Morse story was published in 1975, will continue his association with the drama, acting as a consultant.

The first film in the series, “Trove”, directed by Kristoffer Nyholm (The Killing), begins when an unknown man plummets to his death. The ensuing investigation brings Detective Constable Endeavour Morse back into action where he unearths secrets both in the deep recesses of the university and far beyond the city. Unfortunately, the body count continues to rise and doomsday beckons…

Faced with the challenge of creating a prequel to such an iconic series such as Morse, it was clear from the outset to ‘get it right’. Judging from the UK and U.S. audience figures, that’s exactly what they did.
 

 
Look for the new set of Endeavour programs to hit the small screen on ITV and PBS in 2014.