Pylon

I remember thinking that Morse was one of the best written series I had ever watched all those years ago and thoroughly enjoying Lewis throughput it's run too. Endeavour surpasses both for me though. It's well written and superbly acted. Pylon is a brilliant story of child abduction and with all the main players now operating from different stations I was pleasantly surprised to see that no one was missing from this new series. The little twist at the end regarding Morse's transfer was a brilliant way to end the opening episode of series 6 and hint at a possible thread running through this series. As superb as ever matching the very high bar set by series 5.

After the closure of Cowley Police Station at the end of the last series things have changed for our protagonists; Morse is back in uniform as a sergeant with a rural beat; DI Thursday is still in CID but he is now the junior partner to new comer DCI Ronnie Cox; Strange has been transferred to Banbury CID and CS Bright is in charge of the traffic division. Events will bring most of them back together again. A young girl goes missing on the way home from school; her body is found under a pylon in a field by Morse. When CID turn up Cox is fairly dismissive of Morse but when the latter reports that there have been claims of a young drug user in the area he fixates on that one suspect... especially when it emerges that Thursday had helped convict his father of murdering his mother. Morse isn't convinced and continues to investigate; further suspects emerge and the urgency increases when a second girl goes missing.

I wasn't sure how the series would progress after the protagonists separated but this story effectively brought them back together without feeling overly forced. The dynamic had obviously changed somewhat but that worked in its favour as it enabled development for established characters. The story also provided a good introduction for new character DCI Cox. Having the death of a child as the central mystery naturally gave things a down beat feel that fitted but not excessively so. Things developed well with more suspects arising and possible links to other crimes, including a previous disappearance. The final resolution wasn't too obvious but was satisfying. The cast were on fine form; especially Shaun Evans, now sporting a moustache, as Morse and Roger Allam as Thursday; Simon Harrison was also solid as new character DCI Cox, a character who appeared to have attended the Gene Hunt (Life on Mars) school of policing. Overall a welcome return that managed to add plenty of development despite this being the sixth series as well as a good mystery.

The series is as wonderful as ever, but that mustache on Morse's face is hiding his very expressive mouth, it looks like a brush glued on his face. Please, shave him:) And I would like to see more of Dr. DeBryn - his remarks are always....remarcable, the character is played very well.

Liked the poster of Colin Dexter's retirement in this episode. Curious to know if this is done each time, a bit like Hitchcock appearing in his films

Endeavour Morse is now a police officer, having had his detective status taken from him. Thursday is angry with him but doesn't understand what went down. In this episode, a young girl is found dead in a field. The new chief, who is a shortsighted jerk, has his mind made up. There is a young man who has drug problems and was seen lurking about, therefore he is the only suspect. Morse sees through his pomposity, but has little power at first. There is going to be an interesting dynamic developing. Also, Thursday is conflicted because of a harsh decision he made years before. I wish there were more episode in this season.