Endeavour ITV1

"THE world's long on academics," Detective Inspector Fred Thursday told fledgling investigator Endeavour Morse, "but woefully short on good detectives."

This is true. When was the last time you saw Bamber Gascoigne find a missing person?

Had it not been for Fred Thursday, distant cousin of Ruby Tuesday, Endeavour may never have gone on to become the greatest of all British TV detectives.

"What you've got to ask," Thursday told him, "is where you see yourself in 20 years."

At which point Endeavour looked in the rear-view mirror of Thursday's Jag and saw a snow-whiskered John Thaw, pictured below, staring back.

Thankfully, the prospect of ageing 40 years in two decades didn't put him off.

For me, Endeavour was by far the best TV offering this festive season.

Where else could you find a murdering opera singer, a slimy government minister offered the "choice" of resignation or a bullet through the head, and a dodgy car dealer who pimped out girls to people in high places.

It was a tough introduction to detective life for Endeavour – corrupt colleagues, sneery superiors, and the occasional mutilated corpse. The only other place you happen across that kind of thing is at Westminster.

Endeavour, though, was showing early flashes of the genius that, as Morse, would become his trademark.

He could see, for instance, that the key to the mystery of a murdered youngster lay in the crosswords by her bed. Sadly, such clues are not available to the modern policeman.

Today's teenager spends more time on Facebook than the cryptic in the Oxford Mail.

"There's only ever two clues she's filled in," noted Endeavour, "the first across and the last down," a level of expertise similar to my own.

But the key moments for Morse fans lay in the foundation-laying of familiar quirks.

"Actually, sir, I don't drink," he told Thursday as they reviewed the evidence at a pub.

"Very commendable," said Thursday, "now get that down you."

I'm not saying he was hooked, but the look on Endeavour's face as he took that first sip was reminiscent of Prince Harry's when he first spotted Pippa Middleton's backside.

Then there were the admiring looks at Thursday's Jag, his plea at the end to drive.

As Morse, he was never going to end up in a Skoda.

Thursday too was a revelation.

The shining example of good, the willing listener, in a system rotten to the core.

Here was Morse's inspiration, just as he would be to Lewis, and Lewis to Hathaway.

Look out for Young Thursday in 10 years time, the latest in a franchise which runs out only when the line's traced back to a Bow Street Runner.