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One crime series begins, another concludes. New RIDLEY premieres, ENDEAVOUR ON MASTERPIECE final season begins – both Sunday, June 18
< < Back toUp first at 8:00 pm – Starting Sunday, June 18
New Crime Drama Series, RIDLEY, Premieres June 18 on PBS
Join the thrilling adventures of Alex Ridley, played by Adrian Dunbar, as he navigates the complexities of crime solving with his protégée. Launching across all PBS platforms this Summer
This June, the crime drama series RIDLEY premieres Sundays, June 18 – August 6, at 8:00 p.m. on PBS and across all PBS platforms in the US. This new series introduces viewers to the charismatic Detective Inspector (DI) Alex Ridley (Adrian Dunbar, “Line of Duty”, “Blood”), who has retired from the police force after a distinguished 20 year career. Now, in a consultancy role, Ridley resumes his partnership with former protégée, DI Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh, “Unforgotten”, “The Fall”), when she turns to him for help on a complex murder investigation.
RIDLEY will stream on all station-branded PBS platforms including PBS.org, and the PBS App, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. RIDLEY will also be available to stream on PBS Passport.
After more than 20 years of service, Ridley handed the reins over to his
protégée DI Carol Farman, a junior colleague, who he has formed a father/daughter-like bond with. Carol is now in charge of investigations, but when she begins tackling her first murder case, she turns to Ridley for support. With more intriguing cases to solve, Ridley revives his formidable and successful partnership with Carol.
RIDLEY also stars Terence Maynard (“Time”, “Coronation Street”), George Bukhari (“Years and Years”, “The A Word”), Georgie Glen (“The Crown”, “Call the Midwife”), Bhavna Limbachia (“Citizen Khan”, “Coronation Street”), Aidan McArdle (“The Holiday”, “The Trial of Christine Keeler”) and Julie Graham (“Shetland”, “Penance”).
Following at 9:00 pm – The End of an Era
Endeavour, The Final Season
Shaun Evans and Roger Allam star in the thrilling conclusion to the long-running Morse prequel
Sundays, June 18 – July 2, 2023 at 9:00 pm on PBS
The curtain drops on the acclaimed detective series, portraying the early years of brooding, gifted Sergeant Endeavour Morse of Thames Valley police in Oxford. Shaun Evans (Vigil) stars in the title role, with Roger Allam (Murder in Provence) as his streetwise superior, DCI Fred Thursday. Endeavour, The Final Season brings this hit series to a close in three suspenseful episodes on MASTERPIECE, Sundays, June 18 – July 2, 2023 on PBS.
Courtesy of Mammoth Screen and MASTERPIECE
“Final seasons are especially difficult,” says Susanne Simpson, Executive Producer of MASTERPIECE. “Our audience loves this series, as well as Inspector Morse and Lewis that preceded it. I can promise that these episodes are a beautiful and brilliant ending to this beloved show.”
Charlotte Webber, producer for Mammoth Screen says, ”It has been a real privilege, but ever so bittersweet, to bring this much loved series to a close. These final three films are testament to the complexity, the intricacy and the tenderness of Russell Lewis’s writing, and Shaun, Roger and all our magnificent cast have brought these concluding stories to life in full technicolour.”
Critics abroad praised Endeavour, with Mark Lawson of The Guardian UK describing this final series as “a perfect end to one of the classiest vehicles in TV crime drama.”
Giving the The Final Season five stars, The London Times, UK described the ending as “classy, poignant” while The Sydney Morning Herald said it is “a mesmeric masterwork”.
Inspired by MASTERPIECE’s 1987-2000 series Inspector Morse, starring John Thaw, and based on Colin Dexter’s bestselling mysteries, Endeavour turns back the clock to explore the making of this matchless detective, who spurns his first name to go by just “Morse.” Endeavour first aired in 2012 and has earned a devoted following for Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, and the other principal actors.
The ensemble cast includes Anton Lesser (Killing Eve) as CS Reginald Bright, the exacting head of Oxford’s Castle Gate Police Station; Sean Rigby (Gunpowder) as Morse’s friend, colleague, and romantic rival DS Jim Strange; James Bradshaw (Close to the Enemy) as the punctilious police pathologist, Dr. Max DeBryn; and Abigail Thaw (Miss Scarlet and The Duke) as Morse’s journalist confidante, Dorothea Frazil.
Courtesy of Mammoth Screen and MASTERPIECE
Also featured are Caroline O’Neill (The A Word) as Thursday’s devoted wife, Win; Sara Vickers (Watchmen) as his daughter, Joan, who is the secret object of Morse’s infatuation; and Jack Bannon (The Imitation Game) as Thursday’s troubled son, Sam.
The ninth and final season opens in spring 1972 with DS Morse rejoining the force after an extended leave to treat his drinking problem, brought on by overwork and personal troubles. His first case immerses him in a world he loves—orchestral music—where the
performances are divine, but the personnel can be petty, dictatorial, and even homicidal.
Also in episode 1, which is directed by Evans, Morse and Thursday investigate a gangland slaying targeting a police informant, known to Thursday. As viewers have learned to expect, the surprising amount of mayhem in Oxford is often connected. With growing dread, Morse and Thursday face the prospect that the unresolved Blenheim Vale child abuse scandal from season 2 has resurfaced. In that story, Thursday was shot, and Morse was framed for murder, ending up under arrest. Now the loose ends are starting to intertwine.
Episode 2 opens with some cases left hanging, followed by a confounding series of new deaths, centered on a group of rowdy aristocratic students and a popular TV crime series, currently in production in the area. Meanwhile, the romantic plot involving Joan Thursday is accelerating toward the altar, even as her ex-soldier brother, Sam, descends into drug abuse and despair.
In episode 3 it all comes together: the Blenheim Vale affair, Joan’s wedding, and the whole glorious nine seasons of one of the most beguiling and riveting prequels in television history.