Icarus

Icarus is episode six of season five of Endeavour.

Synopsis[]

Morse investigates the disappearance of a teacher from a public school and begins to question whom he can trust when a body is discovered. Thursday grapples with the imminent closure of Cowley Station as he tries to connect Eddie Nero to a series of unsolved murders and he assigns Fancy to track down the man who may be the key to cracking the case.

Plot[]

In Cowley Road Police Station, Superintendent Bright announces that the station is to be completely closed by the end of the month.

Morse travels to Coldwater Boys' School, where he has accepted a job as Classics master. He meets Mr. Bodner, who shows him to his new classroom. Morse is told he the replacement for Mr. Ivory, who has gone missing, and whose disappearance is being investigated by the police.

We are then shown a previous scene where Bright calls Morse and Thursday into his office and tells them that Division has requested an officer be sent undercover at Coldwater. The original investigating Inspector and Sergeant were killed in a car accident before they could solve the case. Trewlove is to pose as his wife to see if she can find out any information from the staff.

As Morse and Thursday sit overlooking the Merton playing fields, Thursday says that it seems a bit much for a single missing person. He says that he would have wanted him and Morse to get a final arrest together - desirably, Cromwell Ames, who has been targeting Eddie Nero and some of his employees. He maintains that he is retiring - what with the station closure, he sees no point in moving somewhere else.

In their temporary cottage, Trewlove tells Morse that she discovered that a student used to go to the village shop to buy cigarettes and whiskey on behalf of Mr Ivory. In the pub, she found that Ivory did go there the night he went missing, and was possibly meeting someone called Agnes Davies. Morse still thinks that this is a waste of time, as the deaths of the detectives must be simple happenstance, not connected with Ivory's disappearance. Due to the double bed in the bedroom, Morse sleeps in the bath.

The next morning, in the school, Morse stops a group of boys bullying another student, Stanlow. When Stanlow leaves, he leaves behind his rough book, which has a few doodles and equations on the cover. Meanwhile, Thursday begins typing his letter of resignation.

Morse takes the register in his form group. He learns of a nickname one of the students has, on account of his being Jewish. Morse says that there will be none of that - even if the student in question, Morris Minor, doesn't mind. He also learns there is a student in his form with the surname Nero. One of the other students, Rowntree, was expelled a few weeks previously. Most of the students have a disturbing tendency to speak quickly and in a seemingly rehearsed fashion. Morse looks at the records of the student called Nero, and finds that he is Brett Nero, son of Eddie Nero. He phones Thursday to tell him so. A woman, Ravenna Mackenzie, comes in and tells him he is not supposed to use the phone for personal matters.

Meanwhile, Eddie Nero and his wife are in town when a car drives past them and one of the occupants attempts to shoot them both. Thursday and Strange go to see Nero in his snooker club, who is fairly nonchalant about the attempt on his life.

Back in Coldwater, some of the students ask Morse about Mr Ivory, and if he had an accident like the police officers who were investigating his disappearance. Morse asks them if they liked Ivory, which they didn't particularly; he was just their Master. Trewlove goes to Mrs Ivory's house to deliver a letter and invite her to supper with her and Morse.

Fancy is on surveillance outside a club, where he sees two men unloading a box from a car. While Thursday and Win have dinner, she asks him when he is going to put his papers in. Thursday says he doesn't want to trouble Bright while all the station closure business is going on. Win also tells him that his brother, Charlie, rang earlier. Soon after, Strange arrives, and tells Thursday that Fancy has spotted Cromwell Ames outside the club.

Morse and Trewlove attend a party at the school. The physical education master comes on to Trewlove while Morse questions the headmaster about Ivory. The Games master, Blackwell, asks Morse about his supposed previous school, Bamfylde. The matron comes and asks Morse to come with her. She takes him to one of the dormitories, as Stanlow has wet the bed. Morse asks if there could be a position for Trewlove in the ward with the matron, Mrs. Seymour.

Thursday, Strange, and some other officers arrive at the club and arrest Cromwell Ames. They question him back at the station, and accuses him of three previous murders connected with Eddie Nero - Liam Flynn, Bert Hobbs, and Lloyd Collins (who died in Cartouche, Colours, and Passenger respectively). Cromwell denies all knowledge of the murders, or indeed of Eddie Nero.

Morse sees Stanlow, who says that he had a nightmare. Above his bed are pictures of Martin Luther King Jnr, Abraham Lincoln, and John and Robert Kennedy. Stanlow says that Mr Ivory encouraged him to look to the lives of great men. He liked Stanlow, as he thought he was kind. He gave Stanlow a nickname - Dak, short for Daktari, after a television programme. Mrs Seymour tells Morse that Stanlow's parents are getting a divorce, and that the other boys bully him - although Ivory used to protect him from this, for unclear reasons. Morse sees a silhouette of a person upstairs. He follows them to his classroom, where he finds a bloodied shirt stuffed into his desk.

Thursday informs Bright of the Cromwell Ames situation. Ames has several witnesses who give him alibis for all of the murders, and photographic evidence that he was in London at the time of the attempt on Nero's life. He also tells Bright about the shirt Morse found - with over twenty stab wounds in it.

Morse watches some of the students rehearse their performance of Julius Caesar. Meanwhile, Trewlove joins Mrs Seymour in the infirmary, and gets some information out of her through casual conversation. She later tells Morse that there was no love lost between Ivory and Blackwell, and they had an argument on the night Ivory died.

Morse joins Blackwell in the field, where the students are practising rifle firing. Only Stanlow is not firing - according to Blackwell, he is a 'pacifist' - more like 'coward' - so Blackwell makes him hold two heavy buckets for the entire lesson. Blackwell is a great believer in 'Making Britain Greater'. He asks Morse how he managed to marry Trewlove - Morse replies that it is charm.

Later, Mrs Ivory is having supper with Morse and Trewlove. Morse asks her about her husband, just as Mr Bodnar arrives to take Morse to the pub. Morse asks Bodnar about Ivory, who says that Ivory was a bully who inspired the same in others. He opines that the boys in the Lower Sixth were all right before Ivory became their Master. He asks Morse if he had ever been bullied.

Meanwhile, Thursday gets a call from Charlie, who asks him to go to London. When he arrives, Charlie explains to him that he got behind on some loans, and ended up participating in a fraud scheme. It ended up with Charlie losing all of his money, including the loan off Thursday. Charlie admits that it is possible the authorities will be able to trace the money back to Thursday. Thursday goes back home and tells Win that he had gone to London. He admits that he loaned Charlie their money, and that this means he won't be able to retire as soon as he had hoped. Win is upset that Thursday didn't tell her about the loan in the first place.

Bodnar leads Morse back through the woods. Before they part ways, Bodnar gives Morse his torch and some directions. He says that Ivory got into the students' heads, and it spread like cancer. On his way back, Morse comes across a mausoleum. When he investigates, he finds a body in a half-open coffin.

Thursday and Strange go to Coldwater to question the headmaster. They awkwardly pretend that they have never met Morse before in order to keep up appearances. They all go to the mausoleum, where Morse tells them the body is not Ivory's, as everyone currently thinks, but a student called Rowntree, who was supposedly expelled a few weeks ago. [[Dr DeBryn confirms the body is a teenager, who died four to six weeks ago. In the corner there is a pile of spent cigarettes and whiskey bottles, telling them that Ivory frequented there. Due to Rowntree's disappearance not being reported, Morse suggests that the deaths of the Inspector and Sergeant originally in charge of the investigation where not accidental, and that they were deliberately silenced.

Back at the school, the headmaster tells his daughter, Miss Mackenzie, to back up his story that they were together all evening. Meanwhile, Dr DeBryn tells Morse that the shirt he found contained twenty-three stab wounds. Fancy goes over to Morse and asks him how long his pretending to be Trewlove's husband will last for. Morse, initially unfazed, replies that it will be until they find Ivory. Fancy tells him to remember what's what, to which Morse tells him to grow up, and if he put as much effort into police work as his love life he may actually get somewhere.

Thursday and Strange go back to the school to tell the headmaster that the body is not Ivory's, but Rowntree's. The headmaster says that Rowntree was expelled because he was a troublemaker. Meanwhile, Bodnar tells Morse that Rowntree wasn't a bad kid. In fact, he was Stanlow Mark 1 - Ivory protected him. Then, they had an argument, which culminated in Rowntree hitting Ivory. Rowntree was immediately expelled, and Ivory drove him to the train station.

Fancy goes round to Trewlove's temporary cottage. Trewlove won't let him in in case he blows their cover - his pretence of going door to door wouldn't stand up as the Morses weren't living in Rose Cottage at the time of either Rowntree's death or Ivory's disappearance. Fancy says that he misses her, to which Trewlove replies that it's only been four days. Fancy says that it feels like longer. Trewlove won't answer as to whether she misses Fancy, as some of the boys are running past the cottage. Fancy tells her that he loves her and leaves.

Thursday and Strange question Mrs Seymour about Rowntree, who says that he was a bit of a weakling, and often picked on by Blackwell. When they ask Blackwell about this, he says they shouldn't believe a word Matron says. He claims he was making the boys into men, even going to such extremes as flogging, or 'corporal punishment' as he calls it. Afterwards, Blackwell complains to Morse and Bodnar about the detectives. Stanlow turns up and gives Blackwell a sick note excusing him from Games, which Blackwell refuses to accept. Thursday meets Morse outside. Thursday suggests that either Ivory did for Rowntree, or someone at the school murdered both of them.

During Games, Blackwell flogs Stanlow while making the other boys watch. He gets to twelve before Brett Nero steps in and tells Blackwell to leave him alone. Blackwell shoves Nero a few times and goads him about his father until Nero punches him in the mouth. Blackwell, barely fazed, pushes Nero against the wall and beats him. One of the other boys, Morris Minor, runs to get the headmaster, and he, Morse, Bodnar, and Mrs Seymour arrive. Mrs Seymour takes Stanlow to the infirmary. When they are alone, Blackwell accuses Morse of not being a real teacher. Morse says that he is with the education board. Blackwell says that if he wants to find out what happened to Rowntree, he needs to find Ivory.

As Thursday walks past a jeweller's, he sees Fancy inside, appearing to be buying a ring. Meanwhile, in their cottage, Trewlove asks Morse if he thinks there is life after death. When Morse says how grim that sounds, Trewlove asks what girls are supposed to talk about. Morse asks her about Fancy, and she says she told him not to be too serious about their relationship. What with the station closing down, she has put in for a transfer to Scotland Yard. Although she will still be able to see him, she has to put her career first. Morse says that if he found someone, none of this would matter at all.

Fancy goes back to the station to clock off surveillance duty, saying that Ames is being watched by some of the night policemen. Thursday assures him that there is nothing to worry about between Morse and Trewlove, and that he needs to concentrate on the Ames case. Fancy says that he won't let Thursday down. Meanwhile, in the school, one of the boys, Rackway, turns the lights out in the dormitory and follows Miss Mackenzie down the stairs and out of the building. She disappears through a door with Blackwell.

Win packs a bag and says that she is going to her friend Renee's, as she is so angry at Thursday for loaning Charlie money, and without telling her. Before she leaves, she hints at something is the matter with Joan.

The next morning, Fancy watches Ames return to the nightclub. Meanwhile, in the school, Morse tells Trewlove he is going into town to investigate Ivory further. Trewlove goes for a walk in the forest, where she runs into three of the students: Rackway, Clunchfist, and Queach. They invite her to join them for a smoke and a joint, which she refuses. They threaten her, saying that there is no one to hear her scream. Bodnar turns up, and sends them on their way after a short exchange, during which Rackway suggests Bodnar shouldn't threaten them. They only leave after Bodnar threatens to get the headmaster. He walks Trewlove back to her cottage.

Dr DeBryn tells Thursday and Morse that Rowntree had snorted almost 100% heroin, which was almost certainly his cause of death. Meanwhile, Fancy watches Ames and his gang unload several rifles from their car.

Back in the station, Morse says that snorting that amount of heroin was tantamount to suicide. Thursday tells Bright about the drugs. Morse says that the twenty-three stab wounds in the shirt rings a bell somewhere. Strange receives a call from Fancy, saying that Ames is outside Nero's snooker hall with a mob and several guns. Bright authorises them to draw arms and go after Ames.

Thursday, Morse, Strange, and several armed officers arrive at Nero's club. They enter and find a complete massacre - the floor is lined with bodies, none of which are alive. They are of both Nero's gang and Ames' alike. Ames himself is dead, with Nero dying in the corner. Nero says that it wasn't him. He falls unconscious before he can say what he is talking about. Then, Morse finds Fancy's body. He desperately tries to perform CPR, but Thursday tells him there is no point. Strange, bewildered, asks what Fancy was doing in there - he told him to stand-to.

Outside, Miss Frazil turns up and asks Morse if it's true about an officer's death. Morse doesn't give her a statement, even off the record. He tells her to make sure she gets Fancy's age right; he was twenty-three.

Bright arrives, as does Dr DeBryn, who says that he will start with George, not wanting him to lie in such company a moment longer than he has to. Morse and Thursday find a few open packages containing what looks like drugs.

A police car pulls up outside Trewlove's temporary cottage and brings her to the station. Strange tells Morse that they have notified the Devon police about Fancy, as that is where his family live. Trewlove arrives and asks them what is going on. They do not give her a straight answer, but it is obvious from Fancy's non-appearance that he is dead.

Morse suggests that the remains of the address of the drug package, 'Mr J., Ro, Col' could mean Mr J. Ivory, Rose Cottage, Coldwater School, and that Ivory was involved with Nero. He also considers the possibility that Nero organised the deaths of the policemen originally investigating Ivory's disappearance, and that Division knew this. Bright says there is nothing they can do, as everybody involved is now dead.

At Coldwater, some police officers take Brett Nero away. Meanwhile, in Oxford, Morse and Thursday discuss Fancy, and Morse says he was due more than respect, he was due fifty more years of life. Then, he says he has to go back to the school.

Morse finds Stanlow cleaning a rifle, apparently on Blackwell's orders. Morse asks him about Ivory and Rowntree, and Stanlow says he doesn't know anything about their disagreement. In form, the boys tell Morse that Brett Nero has left. Morse finds Ivory's wallet in his desk, and finds a business card for Magdalen Cars, Nero's business, in it. The other boys appear to threaten him over it. Mr Bodnar tells Morse that Ivory used to bring back drugs to the school and sell them to the students.

Dr DeBryn examines the bullets taken from Fancy's body. Meanwhile, Morse goes back to the station and tells Thursday and Strange about Ivory's wallet. Morse receives a call from Dr DeBryn, who tells him that the bullets that killed Fancy did not come from any gun recovered at the crime scene, indicating there was at least one other man who got away.

Morse visits Bright at his home, though Mrs. Bright is out. Morse looks at a picture of Bright's daughter. He tells Bright that Fancy's killer is still at large, though Bright seems unwilling to investigate the matter, since it will passed to the new staff at Thames Valley station.

Thursday is at his house when Joan comes round, and offers to make them tea. Meanwhile, Morse comes across Rackway smoking in the graveyard. Morse takes the cigarette off him and tells him that if he had anything to do with Ivory's death he will go to prison. Rackway says that they had nothing to do with it, they just found Ivory's shirt and wallet by the kissing gate. Morse goes there and finds a pen, monogrammed with Ivory's initials, that writes in red ink, the same that Ivory used to write the notes to Rowntree, and that he annotated his poetry book with.

Joan tells Thursday that Win will come back eventually. Thursday apologises for interfering in Joan's life last year (referencing the events in season four, particularly Lazaretto and Harvest). He receives a phone call from Morse, and they both go to the school, where the students are gathering for the Remembrance Day service. Morse asks after Stanlow, who is not there, and Morris Minor says he is still in the dormitory.

They go to the dormitory and find a piece of paper with diagrams and equations on it, apparently a plan of the school grounds. Morse realises that the photographs above Stanlow's bed are all of famous men who were assassinated with guns. As the Headmaster begins the service, Morse goes to the clock tower to find and stop Stanlow. Thursday goes to the hall to warn everyone to stay inside. Morse finds Stanlow, and tries to persuade him to come inside. Stanlow has Blackwell in the gun's viewfinder. He fires, but Morse knocks him over and the bullet does not hit anyone.

Back inside the school, Morse asks Stanlow about Ivory. He tells them that Ivory's nickname for him, 'Dak', comes from the Hindi for 'post' or 'mail', and the nickname seemed to have been inspired by a poem by Kipling. They realise that, like Rowntree, Stanlow was a messenger for Ivory, taking messages between Ivory and Miss Mackenzie. They tell this to Mrs Seymour. They say that on the day Ivory went missing, Stanlow had the flu, so asked Mrs Seymour to deliver the message to Miss Mackenzie. Mrs Seymour read the note, and followed Miss Mackenzie to the woods, were she was meeting Ivory. When Miss Mackenzie left, Mrs Seymour stabbed Ivory. She says that he was a monster, 'the Devil himself', and filled the boys' heads with cruelty, and gave them drugs. She found out about the drugs from Rowntree, who came to the infirmary suffering from an overdose. Mrs Seymour killed him to protect Stanlow, and make sure he wouldn't go the same way as Rowntree.

They find Ivory's body in a septic tank in the forest. Thursday points out that they don't know for certain that Ivory killed Rowntree, that he might have taken an overdose by accident. Therefore, it is likely that Ivory found Rowntree dead, and hid his body to conceal the fact that Rowntree was taking drugs off him. They take Mrs Seymour away, and Morse confesses to Bodnar about his real identity as a police officer.

Trewlove tells Bright that she is leaving to join Scotland Yard, and Bright wishes her luck, saying he had hoped she would be the first female officer in the Oxford CID. He tells her he is sorry about Fancy. Trewlove thanks him for looking after her. Her and Morse say goodbye, and she says she won't go to Fancy's funeral.

At Fancy's funeral, Morse reads the poem 'Say not the Struggle nought Availeth' by Arthur Hugh Clough. Trewlove leaves a bunch of flowers. At the post-funeral reception, Strange says that they gave him a good send-off at least. Miss Frazil congratulates Morse on his reading, and Dr DeBryn says she wrote a fine obituary. Morse disregards this, saying all they are thinking is 'Thank Christ it wasn't me'.

At the station, all the files are being cleared out. Bright apologises for the state he has left the station in and says he will resign, saying that he failed Fancy and all the rest of the officers. Strange says that this isn't how it will end, and that they will find Fancy's killer and bring him to justice. Thursday says that whatever they will be called, they are City men to the last. They, and Morse, vow to serve justice for George.

Thursday tells Morse he won't retire, as he still has to help them bring Fancy's murderer in. Morse laments that he should have been kinder to Fancy. They shake hands, and Thursday leaves with his belongings. Morse sits in the empty office for a while, then finally turns out the lights and leaves.

Morse goes to Joan's house and asks her if her offer of coffee still stands. They gaze at each other as the end title music begins.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Recurring Cast[]

Mark Arden - Eddie Nero
Caroline O'Neill - Win Thursday
David Jonsson Fray - Cromwell Ames
Phil Daniels - Charlie Thursday
Abigail Thaw - Dorothea Frazil
Sara Vickers - Joan Thursday

Guest Cast[]

Caroline Martin - Kate Ivory
Aldo Maland - Stanlow
Sam Clemmett - Rackway
Jojo Macari - Queach
Lily Lesser - Ravenna Mackenzie
Michael Simkins - Mr Mackenzie
Felix Scott - Mr Blackwell
Andrew Buckley - Mr Bodnar
Barnaby Taylor - Summerhead
Xander Classey - Gaudibund
Louis Strong - Clunchfist
Thomas Panay - Morris Minor
Anson Boon - Brett Nero
Madeleine Worrall - Mrs Seymour

Trivia[]

This episode marks the final appearance of Dakota Blue Richards as WPC Shirley Trewlove.
This episode marks the final appearance of Lewis Peek as DC George Fancy.
The episode Arcadia is referenced when Joan buys groceries from the shop Richardsons.
The original DI and DS being killed in a traffic accident was a plot point used in the book Last Seen Wearing, though this was not used in the episode based on this book.