Endeavour writer reveals why filming delay "throws a spanner in the works"

Speaking to Radio Times, the screenwriter said: "The hiatus in production may throw a spanner in the works in terms of the rather happy timeline in which we've found ourselves across the past four series – with our story year being exactly 50 years distant from the year of broadcast – but we shall cross that frayed rope bridge over crocodile-infested waters when we reach it."

He continued: "There are some clear waypoints in '71, if that turns out to be the year we address. Everything is in the planning stage. We know the cards that remain in our hand, and it's very much a case of arranging the order in which they're played in order to bring about the desired 'grand slam.'"

The screenwriter, who has penned episodes of Agatha Christie's Marple, Taggart and Spooks, also hinted at what viewers can expect from Endeavour's next series.

"I'm glad to report that there is a fair bit of... mischief waiting in the wings," he said. "A little more sunshine across the board. Heaven knows we'll all be ready for it by then."

The hugely popular Oxford-based drama, which acts as a prequel to the long-running Inspector Morse, stars Whitechapel's Shaun Evans as a young Endeavour Morse at the start of his detective career and The Thick of It's Roger Allam as Detective Inspector Fred Thursday.

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