ITV announces end of Endeavour after a decade on screens

Hit detective drama Endeavour is coming to an end after 10 years on screen, ITV has announced.

The forthcoming ninth series of the Inspector Morse prequel, which is being filmed in Oxford, will be its last.

ITV announced the news with a teaser video featuring a reading of the poem How Clear, How Lovely Bright by AE Housman concluding with the words “The end of the beginning”.

Screenwriters Russell Lewis, Shaun Evans and Roger Allam came to a mutual decision to end the series, which debuted in January 2012.

Executive producer Damien Timmer, on behalf of producers Mammoth Screen, said: “Endeavour has been a real labour of love for all of us, and we salute Russell Lewis for his extraordinary achievement in chronicling Endeavour Morse’s coming of age across 72 hours of TV.

“Russell always knew where he wanted the series to end, and that remorseful day is nearly upon us.

“Russell has many surprises up his sleeve for the final three films, with the return of some familiar faces and new challenges for Endeavour and Thursday to face before the final goodbye.”

Inspector Morse ran from 1987 to 2000, and Endeavour, which charts the early career of the young Endeavour Morse, started in 2012.

Shaun Evans plays the leading role as the sleuth rises from detective constable to detective sergeant, working within the Oxford City Police criminal investigation department.

The series began as a single film in 2012 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Morse.

The Inspector Morse novels, which served as the inspiration for the long-running main series, were written by author Colin Dexter.

He died aged 86 in March 2017, shortly before the cameras rolled on the fifth series of Endeavour.