'Endeavour's 8th Season Is Coming in June
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The further adventures of intrepid British detective Endeavour Morse may have been delayed by the pandemic, but for fans who are still hungry for more mystery, there's good news: the beloved British crime drama Endeavour, inspired by the novels of Colin Dexter, has been officially renewed for an eighth season. Here's everything that we know so far about the Inspector's next adventures.
Will there be a season 8?
Just as season 7 was starting filming back in the fall of 2019, it was announced that the show had already officially been renewed for an eighth outing. The new season was originally slated to air in the UK in 2021, but like so many other productions, filming was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On April 22, 2021, it was confirmed that filming had officially begun, with Shaun Evans, who also stars as Inspector Morse, directing the first episode of the season.
As of yet, no dates have been confirmed for the new season's debut in the UK or stateside, but if it follows the pattern of previous seasons, it seems unlikely that fans will be seeing more of Morse until 2022 at least.
What will season 8 be about?
Seasons of Endeavour have traditionally encompassed one year per season—the seventh took place during 1970, and we now know that, despite the pandemic-induced delay, the eighth will still pick up in 1971.
"Happily, it looks as if our timeline has endured the hiatus and that we will still be delivering our vision of 1971, albeit through an Endeavour glass darkly, exactly half a century on," the show's creator and writer Russell Lewis said in a statement. "It’s truly lovely to be back telling new stories with Oxford’s Finest. I hope the audience finds they’ve been worth the wait.”
So far, there are only limited details available about the plot of the new season, but an announcement did reveal that the first episode of season eight will delve into the world of sports and celebrity. Read the full synopsis below:
Opening the series in 1971, a death threat to Oxford Wanderers’ star striker Jack Swift places Endeavour (Shaun Evans) and his team at the heart of the glitz and glamour of 1970s football, exposing the true cost of success and celebrity, and with it, a deep-rooted division that is soon reflected much closer to home.
Is the cast returning?
The show's core cast, including Shaun Evans and Roger Allam who play Endeavour Morse and his mentor, Fred Thursday, respectively, will return for the eighth season.
Other returning cast members will include Anton Lesser as Reginald Bright, Sean Rigby as Jim Strange, James Bradshaw as Dr Max DeBryn, Abigail Thaw as Dorothea Frazil, and Caroline O’Neill as Win Thursday.
In exciting news for fans, Sara Vickers is also scheduled to reprise her role as Joan Thursday, Morse's on-again off-again love interest and the daughter of his mentor, after being absent from season seven.
What about future seasons?
So far, there haven't been any announcements about seasons beyond the eighth, but the core cast and Lewis have, in the past, indicated their willingness to continue making the series—though with a built-in time limit. Morse, the popular detective show that Endeavour is a prequel to, began in 1987, and Lewis and Evans have previously made it clear that they intend for the show to end before the character reaches that era so as to maintain continuity between the series.
"This is our story and we shouldn’t be staying at the party too long," Evans reportedly told the Radio Times. "It’s difficult because it’s like planning your own funeral. Why would I not want to be earning this money? Why would I not want to be hanging out with these people who I love? But you have to be strict. We shouldn’t be milking it. I want to make sure that everybody feels, within reason, that we’ve finished it in a satisfying way."
Whether that end will come in season eight or in future episodes down the line, we'll just have to wait and see.
Get caught up on the first seven seasons of Endeavour on Amazon Prime:
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