Endeavour continued Sunday, 16 February 2020 with the second instalment in its seventh film series. Set in a general election year, 1970, the Zam Salim directed Raga shines a huge light on racial tensions within Oxford. An inevitable clash between rival gangs, one that had been brewing for quite some time, leads to tragedy.

It’s up to Detective Chief Inspector Fred Thursday (Roger Allam), Detective Sergeants Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans), and Jim Strange (Sean Rigby) to prevent matters from boiling over into a full-scale street war.

Retrospectively, if you were to take a look at the 1970 electoral map of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, you will see much of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland in Conservative Party blue. Whilst the Conservative Party saw a few successes in Wales, much of the Welsh principality had Labour Party victories. Oxford, as a parliamentary constituency, went to Conservative Party member Montague Woodhouse.

The Oxford incumbent, Labour Party MP Evan Luard, saw his seat taken away from him when 46.96 per cent of the vote went against him. You might be wondering, with this latest film set before the general election, whether detailing such political historical facts is necessary. It lends context to the series.

Image Credit: IMDb.com

Considering the way the previous episode ended, with it having been revealed Morse unknowingly slept with Ludo Talenti’s (Ryan Gage) wife, we were left wondering how the series title character would address his predicament. Even though Morse didn’t ask Violetta Talenti (Stephanie Leonidas) if she were married when they first met, that information wasn’t volunteered.

The case Morse had been working on with Thursday and Strange appeared closed. Even though most people believed that the Towpath Murderer had been detained and was safely locked away, with how the closing seconds of the episode unfolded, that doesn’t appear the case. The only person to think that they have the wrong man is Thursday. The detective chief inspector adamantly believes Morse is wrong. There’s a first time for everything, I guess.

It’s a general election year. Oxford is seeing tensions rise. There is a tangled web of lies and deceit which is permeating the college town. Far-right sentiment, agitated by member of parliament-hopeful Martin Gorman (Jason Merrells), significantly exasperates the situation. Gorman’s word, consistent in racial tone, spurs a gang toward violence. Rival gangs become an issue for the city.

Mr Aziz’s (Raj Awasti) disappearance is only the first of a series of strange happenings which draws the attention of the police. After Morse finds him dead, Strange reveals he was the person that had delivered a curry to his home the previous night. Aziz worked at the popular Indian restaurant The Jolly Rajah. Television chef Oberon Prince (Neil Roberts), the culinary mind behind The Jolly Rajah, is missing. Uqbah Sardar (Madhav Sharma), the restaurant owner, has begun to experience the effects of dementia and is suffering because of it.

There is trouble on the horizon for Morse and Thursday. Whilst there remains a modicum of loyalty between them, it is noticeable how Morse no longer wants to spend time with the boss at the pub. Thursday, possibly thinking about retirement, is frequently lost in his own thoughts. Dorothea Frazil (Abigail Thaw) the editor of The Oxford Mail, has picked up on the negative vibe Thursday is giving off. The professional relationship Morse and Thursday once enjoyed could be ending. Could this explain Thursday’s absence from Morse’s life?

Inspector Morse aficionados will recognise the house Morse is redecorating. It’s the same house the detective sergeant continued to reside in during the 1980s and 1990s. Once he bought the house, he never felt the need to move to another house. The house holds a lot of memories for fans of the original series.

Previously …