Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Anton Lesser, James Bradshaw, Sean Rigby, Abigail Thaw, Caroline O’Neill, Ryan Gage, Richard Harrington, Jessica Hayles, Stephanie Leonidas, Lucy Black, Holli Dempsey, Marianne Oldham, Carol Royle, Flora London, Sam Ferriday, Naomi Yang, Don Gallagher, Charlotte Potter, Andy Williams, Chris Foster, Susan Legg, Ben Alden, Michael Bundy, Paul O’ Kelly.
In the world of crime, nothing is a coincidence, everything has a meaning and all the dots, eventually, connect, such is the presence of mind that criminality has on the world that the murder of an individual in one city is almost always linked to another crime elsewhere; the world is a smaller place because of such associations and invariably the thin blue line that separates the wolf from its prey is conclusively breached.
Set against the continued discussion of the co-educational system that has had huge implications in the modern era, the third and final episode of the current series, Zanana, sees Endeavour Morse and Fred Thursday lock heads and perspectives, as they seek the truth of several stories which have dominated the series; especially that which has taken up much of Morse’s time, that of the enigmatic Ludo Talenti and his beguiling wife.
Ryan Gage has always had the roguish quality that has endeared him to audiences, the smile that betrays the hint of the ne’er-do-well, the beautifully wicked and impishly impressive, his previous screen credits have done much to place him in positions to which this immensely likeable actor can flourish in a James Dean type of way but with that exceptional nefarious attribute that has made each one frighteningly full of depth and possibility. It therefore comes as no surprise that in the guise of Ludo Talenti, the flamboyant stranger to whom Morse is introduced, that beneath that smile there was always going to be the scoundrel waiting in the wings, ready to be revealed.
It is testament to the actor’s demeanour that such a role was carried off with exceptional polish, and in the final episode of the series, amongst sterling performances by Anton Lesser as C.S. Reginald Bright, Roger Allam as D.C.I. Fred Thursday and of course Shaun Evans in the title role of the Oxfordshire Detective, the kindness of the smile and the politeness of his charm hiding what was surely one of the more hurtful villains of the long running series.
It seems a shame that the series itself was only three episodes long, and whilst nothing was missing from the overall effect of the stories contained within, there might have been a greater insight into the effect that Ludo’s plan was being portrayed, and the fall out between Thursday and Morse which has been building.
An episode that not only feels relentless but which pushes the back story of the title character ever deeper into the conscious of the fan; Zanana is of the women, of the men, of all who find themselves in such moments of being trapped in a situation they never asked to be in.
Ian D. Hall