Characters / Endeavour

DC (later DS) Endeavour Morse

Played by: Shaun Evans

• Bookworm: What could one expect of someone, who went to Oxford?
• Break the Cutie: As this series takes place before Morse was his older and more cynical self, we see the events that made him so.
• Embarrassing First Name: Thursday calls him by his first name in the pilot episode, grabbing his attention. Not many others seem to know it, most likely because he keeps it under wraps. Rather surprisingly, his stepmother refers to him by his surname, even though that's her surname as well and one would assume that, given their mutual dislike, she would happily address him by his first name as she knows he's uncomfortable with it.
• Encyclopaedic Knowledge: He seems to know something about everything. A particular and satisfying example is when he calmly wipes the floor with a college professor in "Trove".
• The Dulcinea Effect: There is a pretty girl around? You bet Morse already feels protective of her.
• Drowning My Sorrows: After being introduced to alcohol, Morse has developed an unlucky tendency to hit the booze sometimes.
• Enraged by Idiocy: Morse will not stand for shoddy policework, something easily observed during season 5.
• No Social Skills: At many times, Morse has an unlucky tendency to not being able to recognise when it would be wiser to say nothing at all.
• Secret-Keeper: Despite his occasional tendency towards No Social Skills, if anyone tells him something in confidence, he won’t tell.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: While Morse comes off as being rude at times, to most he stays pretty civil and some (mainly his girlfriends and the Thursdays) see his warmer side.
• The One That Got Away: It is implied that Morse still has feelings for his ex-fiancée during the first season. He gets better, though.
• Undying Loyalty: Has this sentiment towards Thursday. Especially visible during the finale of season 3, where he very willingly remains in danger to help out.

DCI Fred Thursday

Played by: Roger Allam

• A Father to His Men: Treats his colleagues with respect and maintains a mentor-like role.
• Broken Pedestal: Visibly to Morse in the finale who figures out that Thursday had murdered a drug dealer to protect his son.
• Berserk Button: Hurting his family is a generally bad idea.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's this show's King of Snark, as this response to Bright's anecdote about meeting Princess Margaret shows.
  Thursday: One for the memoirs, sir.
• Determinator: If Fred Thursday sets out to do something, it will be done. Even if it includes bank robbers, corrupt police officers or gangsters.
• Old-Fashioned Copper: While he stays on the right side of the law, he is not afraid to sometimes use a little force when handling criminals. This can at times clash with Morse's by-the-book methods.
• Papa Wolf:
  • Thursday is violently protective of his family, and his paternal instincts extent to Morse as well. Take this example from "Trove", when he meets two low-level baddies who've just given Morse a brutal beating.
  Thursday: You and your pal had a rare old time at the expense of one of mine. Suppose you could tell me what that was all about.

  Baddie: Suppose we don't.

  Thursday: Then I'll have to take off my hat.

  [Gilligan Cut]

  [loud battle cry as Thursday takes on and beats both of them]
  • Ultimately his downfall, to protect his son, Sam, he murders a rival drug dealer the fallout for this leads him to move far away and is the reason he's never spoken of in Inspector Morse.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He is willing to listen to Morse's ideas, something Bright is less keen on.
  Bright: I don't want him getting ideas.
  Thursday: That's kind of what I'm counting on.

PC (later DC, later DS) Jim Strange

Played by: Sean Rigby

• Beware the Nice Ones: Strange is quite a nice guy, however, plenty of criminals have seen the tougher side of him.
• Social Climber: Forges masonic relations that helps him advance in the hierarchy. It is not exactly portrayed as positive, but it seems to work for him.

Spt. Reginald Bright

Played by: Anton Lesser

• Morality Pet: He can be unpleasant when he wants to be, but you do not make life difficult for Trewlove when he is around. When she leaves at the end of series five, he seems close to tears as he bids her farewell.
• Pointy-Haired Boss: At his worst.
• Suddenly Shouting: He is almost always very soft spoken, so when he raises his voice it seems to come from nowhere, such as when an officer from drugs squad insinuates he is behaving improperly towards Trewlove.
• Took a Level in Kindness: As the series goes on, he loses some of his more unpleasant qualities.
• Values Resonance: Whilst there is a lot of scepticism over having a female police officer who does anything more than parking duties and similar, Bright, despite being an old-school traditionalist, is very supportive of Trewlove. The fact that he and his wife had a daughter who died young is probably not coincidental as far as his paternal attitude towards the young WPC is concerned.

Dr. Max DeBryn

Played by: James Bradshaw

• Deadpan Snarker: Especially towards Book Dumb cops like Strange and Fancy.
• Gallows Humour: Given the high body-count on a show where it's almost Always Murder, he needs it.