Endeavour is finally concluding with season nine, with the new episode airing on Sunday – and Shaun Evans has opened up about the heartbreaking conclusion for his character, Endeavour Morse.
Speaking to ITV ahead of the show's return, he explained: "I think Endeavour’s aloneness and isolation is cemented in this series. He has felt that way throughout but there has always been a tantalising option dangled right in front of him. If he only could reach out and grab it.
WATCH: The trailer for Endeavour's final season...
"What we discover in these final three films is that, for one reason or another, he cannot reach out. And so his isolation and lonesomeness is completely cemented. And that’s where I wanted to leave it. Because then it’s a good place to be picked up again 15 years later in 1987 when the Inspector Morse series with John Thaw started."
MORE: Did you spot this royal family member in Endeavour?
MORE: 7 things you didn't know about Endeavour
© Photo: ITVAre you excited for the show to be back?
Speaking about his potential romance with Joan Thursday, he added: "So when we come back and meet Endeavour at the beginning of this series there’s a scene where he reaches out to Joan. And as he is reaching out in what is new territory for him he realises it is too late. That ship has sailed."
What is Endeavour season nine's plot?
The final season will be set in the early 70s, and will see Fred Thursday's son Sam return from Northern Ireland following his service in the British Army. In the series, Endeavour and Fred must investigate two unexplained deaths linked to the Oxford Concert Orchestra, as well as the return to an old case.
© Photo: ITVShaun opened up about Endeavour's conclusion
Speaking about Sam's return, Shaun explained: "In this series Sam, Thursday’s real son, comes back. He is not in a great place and needs all of Thursday’s attention. That further isolates and pushes Endeavour outside of that particular family circle. Thursday is not his father and Morse is not Thursday’s son. He is on his own."
Like this story? Sign up to our What to Watch newsletter and get the heads-up on the shows and films everyone’s talking about.
