Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Anton Lesser, Jake Laskey, Chris Larkin, Genevieve O’ Reilly, Richard Dillane, Joanna Roth, Charles Babalola, Shvorne Marks, Tom York, Caroline O’ Neil, Sara Vickers, Jack Bannon, Gala Gordon, Dakota Blue Richards, Sean Rigby, James Bradshaw, Amelia Clarkson, Max Bennett, Amalia Vitale, Paige Carter, Angela Terrance, Abigail Thaw, Elizabeth Hopper, Helen Lyle.
The dreaming spires of Oxford are seen by many as the vision of the idyllic, the meeting of the pastoral and the edification of those that reside within its natural border, there is something to be said for this near vision of perfection, of the unceasingly bucolic and the trek through the minds of the people who make it their business to steal the vision and try and make it an overpowering Arcadia.
The finest you can be is always a tall order and for those that surround Endeavour Morse, it can be the biggest of asks and yet in amongst the seemingly separate threads that make up the storyline of Arcadia, the very best, the surprising and the completely awful merge without concern for the backdrop that the University city holds dear.
The chilling and disturbing vendetta against a well-known local supermarket chain is the most pressing thought in the mind of the young Morse and yet the murder of a talented artist, the rights of a self contained commune and the imminent departure of a now trusted colleague all find themselves playing with the thoughts and emotions in the Detective Constable and it is into these musings that the case turns worryingly sour.
Utopia is in the eye of the beholder and its heavy breathing partner, the relentless dystopia, is always lurking just out of sight, ready to step in when the need arises to bring the whole vision of perfection, of great labours honoured, crashing to its knees. Arcadia grasps this point with great diligence to the matter at hand and with subtle sympathy to the plight of the more unfortunate in the story.
With Shaun Evans giving an excellent performance, the shackles of the previous two series now finally coming loose, being aided by Genevieve O’ Reilly in sparkling form as the bored and sexually perturbed Annette Richardson and Dakota Blue Richards making a fine debut as W.P.C. Shirley Trewlove, Arcadia makes sure that this particular episode of Endeavour is one that sticks in the mind for all the right reasons; a class act of an episode.
Ian D. Hall