Endeavour's finale delivers incredible tribute to John Thaw's Morse

The final film in the anticipated ninth season, Exeunt, was full of twists and emotional moments but the final scene produced a fitting end to the prequel series by giving a nod to the original Inspector Morse series.

As we see Endeavour (Shaun Evans) leave Blenheim Palace in his tuxedo, he gets into his iconic black Jaguar and drives off, sighing deeply as he does so. Approaching him in the opposite direction is a similar red Jaguar, which is of course the iconic car that John Thaw's Chief Inspector Morse drove in the original series.

We don't get to see who's driving the car as it passes by but as we see Endeavour's eyes in the rear-view mirror, we're then transported momentarily into the older Morse's Jaguar and John Thaw's eyes are captured similarly in his mirror.

Speaking previously about the final season, series star Evans said: “We always try to give a nod to Colin Dexter throughout, which viewers can try to discover. And especially to John Thaw in this final series. It feels like a handover.

“We spent days and days filming the very last scenes at Blenheim Palace and the shots we have used I find very satisfying. It’s perfect in its way. Hats off to the director Kate Saxon on that one. With nods and echoes in the final Endeavour episode to the very first Inspector Morse film - The Dead of Jericho - and the very last - The Remorseful Day."

Read more:

• Endeavour finally reveals why Morse never speaks about Thursday
• Endeavour's Abigail Thaw: 'My dad would have approved'

He added: “But it’s only the more discerning viewer who will realise what we have done. Those who have maybe watched all of the Inspector Morse episodes and all of the Endeavour series.

"We wanted to be fleet of foot about it. To do it with a sleight of hand and not to hit it on the head. It’s a subtle thing that fits perfectly into our story. It’s only there if you are really looking for it. And if you’re not you won’t even realise that you’ve missed it. And that’s OK too."

When speaking about filming this final scene at the Palace, Evans also revealed: "We had said goodbye to Roger [Allam] and to members of the Thursday family the day before. And then the last day of the whole shoot was just me driving in Endeavour’s black Jaguar. So for me, personally, that was a way to say goodbye to it and to let it go.

“I spent all afternoon driving around in the Jag to get the shots required on that final day and into the early evening. And there was one point where the sun was going down over Blenheim Palace. I was on my own in the Jag and it felt very right. I thought, ‘I’ve done this now and I have no sadness in saying goodbye and moving on.’”

Endeavour's season 9 finale and all episodes are available to stream on ITVX now. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.

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