Endeavour series 3: Inspector Morse spin-off to return with four new episodes

The new series will pick up straight from the end of this year’s shocking close

Inspector Morse prequel 'Endeavour' (ITV)

Crime drama Endeavour will be returning to our screens for a third series and will see the young Morse face his toughest case yet.

Series three will feature four new episodes written by Endeavour creator Russell Lewis, with actor Shaun Evans reprising his role as the detective.

The new series will pick up from the shocking events at the end of series two, in which Morse was left languishing in prison, framed for a crime he didn’t commit, while his partner DCI Thursday was close to death after getting shot in the chest.

The third series will be set in 1967 and has been described by Lewis as “a psychedelic Summer of Love fairground ride, filled with twists and turns, shrieks and scares”.

Series two was broadcast back in March this year and saw around 7 million tuning in to watch the four-episode mini-series.

Endeavour debuted back in 2012 as a one-off special to mark the 25 anniversary of Inspector Morse but proved so popular with audiences that a full series was commissioned for the following year.

The series was created by Lewis as a prequel to the popular Inspector Morse series, starring John Thaw as the canny police detective.

Endeavour is not the only Inspector Morse spin-off, a new series of Lewis will be aired later this year and feature Morse’s partner Robert Lewis investigating crimes in Oxford.