The dramatic finale of the second series saw the young detective languishing in prison having been framed for the murder of Chief Constable Rupert Standish and Thursday’s life hanging in the balance after being shot in the chest.
Series three will comprise of four two-hour cases written by Lewis and Endeavour creator and Inspector Morse writer, Russell Lewis.
Set in 1967, three months after Donald Campbell’s ill-fated attempt to break the 300-mile speed barrier on water, the first of the new stories follows the murder of bus conductress Jeannie Hearne on the night she visited the local fairground.
“1967 is for Endeavour ‘perhaps the end of the beginning.’ Change is abroad in the world and not even the city of dreaming spires can escape its influence,” says writer Russell Lewis.
“Change for Endeavour, and those most dear to him – personally and professionally. Departures and arrivals. Entrances and exits. Our next quartet of mysteries will take the audience on a psychedelic Summer of Love fairground ride.
“In particular, one encounter at a certain stately home will echo down the years, and have consequences that not even Endeavour Morse could have foreseen. The only constant is death… And Green Shield Stamps.”
While mystery surrounds the fate of Thursday, ITV and show producers Mammoth Screen have confirmed the return of Jack Laskey as DS Peter Jakes, Sean Rigby as PC Jim Strange, Anton Lesser as Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright, James Bradshaw as Dr Max DeBryn and Abigail Thaw as journalist Dorothea Frazil.