‘Endeavour’ Renewed Through 2021, Could Surpass Original Series ‘Inspector Morse’

PBS crime drama Endeavour has been picked up for an eighth season, according to its British broadcaster, ITV.

With Season 7 of the Inspector Morse prequel currently filming in the United Kingdom and scheduled to air next year, the announcement means the series will air through at least 2021 and could tie or even surpass the mothership in number of episodes. All have been written by Russell Lewis.

Inspector Morse produced 33 feature-length installments from 1987 to 2000. If Season 8 of Endeavour consists of at least three episodes, it will tie that number.

Although most seasons of Endeavour have had four 90-minute episodes, Season 7 will be only 3. Series star Shaun Evans, who plays Detective Sergeant Endeavour Morse, is also directing the first installment, which begins on New Year’s Eve at the dawn of the 1970s. A body is discovered in Oxford on January 1, and the only clue is a witness who heard whistling.

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Why You Should Watch the Gripping, Character-Rich Stories of 'Endeavour'

“Though each film can be enjoyed as a standalone, we have approached Endeavour 1970 as three panels of a triptych, or — in musical terms — a grand opera that unfolds across three acts,” Lewis said. “Whether it wears the mask of comedy or tragedy remains to be seen…”

Mammoth for ITV and MASTERPIECE

Returning to the series are cast members Roger Allam (Detective Chief Inspector Fred Thursday), Anton Lesser (Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright), Sean Rigby (Detective Sergeant Jim Strange), James Bradshaw (Dr. Max DeBryn), Abigail Thaw (Dorothea Frazil), Caroline O’Neill (Win Thursday) and Sara Vickers (Joan Thursday).

PBS has been airing Endeavour a few months after the U.K. broadcasts.