Raga review – Endeavour tackles politics and racism in 1970s Oxford

Racism is once again rearing its ugly head in Oxford, and a partially-unsolved case means our detectives have a lot on their plates in another instalment of Endeavour. ‘Raga’ is a strong instalment boasting the series’ usual strengths, with its only major faults stemming from the groundwork it is obligated to lay for next week.

An election is drawing near, and far-right politician Martin Gorman (Jason Merrells) is stirring up racist sentiment, leading to racially-motivated violence between gangs of youths becoming an issue on the streets of Oxford. Morse and Thursday are preoccupied with other matters, however – an employee at a popular Indian restaurant, the Jolly Rajah, is founded murdered on a takeaway delivery, at the house of a local food critic who, it transpires, has since gone missing. But is racism the motivation for the crime, or something else entirely?

It is brutal and unpleasant, highlighting those tensions that truly did exist and how ill-founded they are

Endeavour returns to a familiar theme in racism, exploring the subject in ‘Raga’ in much the same way it did in the series five episode ‘Colours’ – it is brutal and unpleasant, highlighting those tensions that truly did exist and how ill-founded they are. At one point, a character exclaims that racism is fine because ‘their food smells funny’ – this character is Mrs Radowicz (Rebecca Saire), returning from that earlier episode with a son (played by Allam’s own son William in his TV debut). Theirs is the most powerful plot in an episode that explores the question of belonging and identity. I also want to single out Madhav Sharma, who gives a powerful performance as a man struggling with accepting that he has dementia.

Zam Salim takes up the director’s baton in ‘Raga’, another competent showing that contrasts the city’s beauty with the nightmarish trappings of the towpath at night. Russell Lewis’ script is also very enjoyable, packing its mystery with a lot but never feeling over-stuffed or confused. There’s even some time for jokes amid the drama, with Bright coming out with a cracking line about food critics that was as unexpected as it was funny.

Russell Lewis’ script is also very enjoyable, packing its mystery with a lot but never feeling over-stuffed or confused

‘Raga’ is another showcase for Evans and Allam, who are so pitch-perfect in their portrayals of Morse and Thursday – silence between them says as much as words, and that’s a very hard thing to convey. Morse is still spending time with his friend Ludo and attempting to deny his wife Violetta (Stephanie Leonidas) the resumption of their Venetian affair, despite her best efforts. Thursday is convinced that the Towpath Killer from last week’s episode is still on the loose (we, of course, know that he is right), and struggling with an increasing disaffection for his profession. If you’re a fan of Morse, you know that this story eventually ends with Thursday disappearing from Morse’s life, but seeing the groundwork being laid is painful stuff.

Thursday’s hunt for the Towpath Killer and Morse’s relationship with Ludo and Violetta are enjoyable and fit with their characters, but they once again feel like strands of an ongoing story, rather than part of this story. It can feel a bit disjointed at points, and I once again hope that the final episode will help this series feel like a more cohesive whole (it will feature a series of random accidents, which is touched on here by Dorothea Frazil). It does feel like nit-picking, but this is only because Endeavour is usually so tight in its writing, so a little slack does show more so than usual.

I enjoyed ‘Raga’ and it’s the usual strong Endeavour showing, with the faults once again stemming from its need to be part of a whole as well as a standalone piece. I do wonder if reducing the series by an episode has forced Lewis to be a bit more heavy-handed in his writing, because it’s never shown quite like this before. Anyhow, with all this set-up, the final episode should be an interesting one.

Enjoying the series? Read Reece’s reviews of episode one: Oracle and episode three: Zenana.