Roger Allam says his detective role is a happy endeavour

IT’S now 30 years since we first encountered John Thaw’s much-loved Inspector Morse.

We then enjoyed watching his trusty sidekick Lewis, in the dependable form of Kevin Whately, sleuthing for another few years.

Now, though, Endeavour, which is the story of Morse’s younger self, is the last show standing.

Roger Allam, who plays DI Fred Thursday, the father figure copper who keeps the 1960s Morse on the right track, says it doesn’t weigh heavy on the cast.

“We’re not really so aware of that when we’re making it,” says Roger, who’s 63.

“It’s only when you pause and think how long it’s been going that you realise the significance.

“It’s a great feeling that viewers have been attached to those stories all that time.

“But it’s also nice that there are newer people coming in who are starting with us and then going back to discover Lewis and Morse.”

The fourth series, which started last week, takes up events shortly after the end of the previous run.

Thursday’s daughter Joan has left home and, with not a word as to her whereabouts, the disappearance hangs heavy.

“It leaves Fred depressed and his wife trying to keep busy and not looking after him,” explains Roger.

“Endeavour learns where she is, but doesn’t tell Thursday — when he finds that out there’s quite a bit of scratchiness between the pair.”

While there may be tension on-screen, that’s far from the case in real life with Shaun Evans who plays the youthful, but still dour, Morse.

“I feel very comfortable with the role and it’s familiar in a good way,” says Roger.

“Shaun and myself work really well together and we can make suggestions about the script and sort out problems as they arise.

“Everyone works together in a very well-functioning team and that’s always a huge pleasure.

“I’ve always loved playing the character and the period is something I know so well. I was boy during that time.

“I find it both familiar and also surprising to be reminded of the objects that apparently make our lives easier that we just didn’t have then.

“In some ways, it was a simpler time because of that.”

Roger couldn’t have strayed further from inherently-decent Fred Thursday with his role in The Missing, which gripped the nation towards the end of last year.

He played military officer Adrian Stone whose present-day dementia wasn’t what it seemed and whose past was both shocking and disturbing.

It was an utterly convincing performance and Roger was thrilled by the reaction he got.

“It’s lovely to feel that you’ve been in something that grips people,” he adds.