Production has begun on the third season of ITV crime drama Endeavour.

Shaun Evans (The Last Weekend) returns as the young Detective Constable Endeavour Morse in four new 120-minute films, following the success of Season 2 last year.

Written by Lewis creator and Inspector Morse writer Russell Lewis, the new season will be set in 1967, picking up from Season 2’s finale that saw Endeavour Morse placed in police custody, framed for a murder he didn’t commit, and DI Fred Thursday’s life hanging in the balance after being shot in the chest.

The first of Season 3’s stories follows the murder of bus conductress Jeannie Hearne on the night she visited the local fairground.

Writer Russell Lewis commented: “1967 is for Endeavour ‘perhaps the end of the beginning.’ Change is abroad in the world and not even the city of dreaming spires can escape its influence. Change for Endeavour, and those most dear to him – personally and professionally. Departures and arrivals. Entrances and exits.”

He teased: “Our next quartet of mysteries will take the audience on a psychedelic Summer of Love fairground ride, filled with twists and turns, shrieks and scares. In particular, one encounter at a certain stately home will echo down the years, and have consequences that not even Endeavour Morse could have foreseen. The only constant is death… And Green Shield Stamps.”

Returning cast members include Jack Laskey as DS Peter Jakes, Sean Rigby as PC Jim Strange, Anton Lesser as Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright, James Bradshaw as Dr Max DeBryn and Abigail Thaw as journalist Dorothea Frazil.

ITV has not revealed if Roger Allam will be back as Thursday.

Are you looking forward to Season 3? Let us know below…