Endeavour Complete Series Three   Starring: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Anton Lesser, Sean Rigby and Dakota Blue Richards Distributor: ITV Studios Global Entertainment RRP: £19.99 3711537003 Certificate: 12 Release Date: 01 February 2016

Last seen languishing in a prison cell and framed for a crime he didn't commit, Endeavour is impelled to return to duty when a young woman's baffling murder requires his singularly cerebral mind to solve. Set in the rapidly changing climate of early 1967, these four new cases set against the dreaming spires of Oxford test Endeavour and DI Fred Thursday's partnership in unexpected ways, as Colin Dexter's iconic detective is pushed to new extremes in his unrivalled commitment to truth and justice...

Series three of Endeavour picks up a few months after series two's cliffhanger. Endeavour has been released from prison, after he was wrongly arrested, but instead of going back to the police force, he has decided to quit (again - the third time in this show if memory serves me right) and rediscover himself. Of course that's not going to wash; as an audience we already know that he will return to the force and finally become John Thaw's Inspector Morse that we all know and love.

This collection includes four tales, each focusing on a different crime/series of crimes.

Personally, by far and away the best episode was the third tale, Prey, where a wild animal appears to be on the loose and killing people. It's a great build to the closing act where CS Bright has his moment - and it's quite an interesting turn of events for the character who was a little stuffy in the previous season. In season three he has mellowed, realising that he should have spoken up when the events of last season unfolded.

This episode also seems humorous nod and a wink to Jaws (which obviously wouldn't have been released at the time this story is set). When examining one of the bodies that have been savaged, Dr. Max DeBryn tells Endeavour that: "This was no punting accident".

Sadly this series also sees two recurring cast members leaving the show. Also making a guest appearance is Mark Heap - who just plays Mark Heap as he always does. While I'm a huge fan of his, I couldn't help thinking he'd been miscast slightly.

Extras include Making of Endeavour (9 min, 03 sec); as well as a number of cast interviews: Shaun Evans - DC Endeavour Morse (4 min, 20 sec); Roger Allam - DI Fred Thursday (4 min, 17 sec); Anton Lesser - CS Reginald Bright (4 min, 59 sec); Sean Rigby - DS Jim Strange (4 min, 35 sec); and Dakota Blue Richards - WPC Shirley Trewlove (5 min, 15 sec).

For fans of the show, this collection represents another four excellent episodes as well as giving you a peek into the characters lives outside of the workplace.

9

Darren Rea