History Recap / EndeavourS3E03Prey

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: The LP that Strange gives to Morse as a [[MyNewGiftIsLame house-warming present]], ''Classics up to Date'' by James Last, is real. It was released in 1966.

-->'''Max''': This was no punting accident! It wasn't a boat-propellor. And it wasn't Lizzie Borden!

-->'''Max''': This was no punting accident!

** A body is found with marks suggesting an attack by a tiger or similar big cat. Morse raises the possibility that a weapon specially made to leave such marks could have been used. The Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Veiled Lodger" [[note]] which can be found in ''The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes'' [[/note]] includes such a weapon, though in both cases the marks turn out to be from an actual animal attack.

* CryptidEpisode: This is ''Endeavour'''s one. The mysterious deaths that Morse and colleagues are investigating are eventually found to have been caused by ''an actual tiger'' that's on the loose in rural Oxfordshire; Bright has a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome when he shoots it.

* PoliceBrutality: Thursday beats up Hodges, who he suspects of having killed Ingrid. Seeking to explain away Hodge's bruises, Bright proposes that the usual excuse -- he fell down the steps on the way to his cell -- be given out.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: One of the Mortmaigne family's plans is to turn part of the grounds of Crevecour Hall into a safari park -- which is why one of their gamekeepers has been looking after the tiger. Longleat, Britain's first drive-through safari park (situated within the grounds of a stately home) had opened the previous year.

** A body is found with marks suggesting an attack by a tiger or similar big cat. Morse raises the possibility that a weapon specially made to leave such marks could have been used. The Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Veiled Lodger" includes such a weapon, though in both cases the marks turn out to be from an actual animal attack.

* CryptidEpisode: This is ''Endeavour'''s one. The mysterious deaths that Morse and colleagues are investigating are eventually found to have been caused by ''an actual tiger'' that's on the loose in rural Oxfordshire; [[spoiler: Bright has a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome when he shoots it.]]

* MyGreatestSecondChance: When he was in India before the war, Bright and a colleague had to hunt down a man-eating tiger; he killed the tiger, but couldn't save his colleague. [[spoiler: This time, he kills the tiger and saves Morse.]]

** Characters say "It's in the trees...." "It's coming" -- confirmed by WordOfGod as a reference to both Kate Bush's 'Hounds of Love', and the film 'Night of the Demon'.

** When Craven is hunting, the tiger pulls the [[Film/JurassicPark "clever girl" raptor trick]], which Craven acknowledges with "clever kit" [[spoiler: before the tiger kills him.]]

June 1967. Ingrid Hjort, Danish au pair to Dr Hector Lorenz, goes missing after her evening class. Thursday suspects a link with an earlier case in the same vicinity which left a girl in a coma. Ingrid's sometime boyfriend Philip Hathaway worked as groundsman for the wealthy Mortmaigne family, but has an alibi.

** When Craven is hunting, [[spoiler:the tiger pulls the [[Film/JurassicPark "clever girl" raptor trick]], which Craven acknowledges with "clever kit" before the tiger kills him.]]

** Given the presence of a tiger, it's worth noting that this episode is set in 1967 - the year ''[[WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967 The Jungle Book]]'' was released in cinemas.
* StressVomit: Morse throws up his socks after being saved just in the nick of time from a charging man-eating tiger. As he is shielding a woman and baby, this came very close to being a HeroicSacrifice.

June 1967. When Danish Ingrid Hjort, au pair to Dr Hector Lorenz, goes missing after her evening class, Thursday suspects a link with an earlier case in the same vicinity which left a girl in a coma. Ingrid's sometime boyfriend Philip Hathaway worked as groundsman for the wealthy Mortmaigne family but has an alibi.

Shortly afterwards, Ricky Parker is found dead with his hand severed. There is evidence that a big cat is on the loose, particularly after two grisly deaths on the Mortmaigne estate and the news that a family member hoped to open a safari park in the grounds. Morse and his colleagues must prevent further fatalities as they face danger in a maze.

** One of the victims of a tiger attack is named Ricky Parker. Richard Parker is the name of the tiger in ''Literature/TheLifeOfPi''. In turn, the name in the novel was taken from a couple of people (both real and fictional) with that name who were [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty victims of cannibalism]].

->''Our friends are in peril of their lives. They would not fail us. No more should we fail them.''

* WholePlotReference: The whole episode can be seen as a retelling of ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', albeit set in rural England, with a man-eating tiger instead of a man-eating shark.

When Danish Ingrid Hjort, au pair to Dr Hector Lorenz, goes missing after her evening class, Thursday suspects a link with an earlier case in the same vicinity which left a girl in a coma. Ingrid's sometime boyfriend Philip Hathaway worked as groundsman for the wealthy Mortmaigne family but has an alibi.

When Danish Ingrid Hjort, au pair to Dr Hector Lorenz, goes missing after her evening class Thursday suspects a link with an earlier case in the same vicinity which left a girl in a coma. Ingrid's sometime boyfriend Philip Hathaway worked as groundsman for the wealthy Mortmaigne family but has an alibi.