Roger Allam has reflected on his long-running role as DCI Fred Thursday in ITV's hit detective drama, Endeavour. A core cast member, the 72-year-old appeared alongside Shaun Evans in all nine seasons of the Inspector Morse prequel, which aired from 2012 to 2023. Speaking with The Guardian this month, Roger revealed why he initially signed on to Endeavour more than a decade ago, and the real reason is a heartwarming one.
© Photo: ITVSpeaking about his eleven-year tenure as DCI Thursday, Roger recalled: "Having played a lot of sneery middle-class [expletive], I was immediately attracted to the character because this was more from my actual family background – working class. One grandfather was a labourer on a building site, the other was a stonemason.
"Thursday is absolutely someone of my parents' generation," he continued. My mother was born in 1912, my father in 1914, his brother Fred was born in 1916. Playing him was an opportunity to explore and remember the 1960s and the lives of people like my own family."
What else has Roger Allam said about playing DCI Fred Thursday?
A sentiment which Roger has touched upon before, in a previous interview with PBS, the TV star said of his character: "As an ordinary working class man who went through the Second World War and whose parents went through the First World War, just as my parents…and grandparents did, he reminds me very much of that generation of my own family, and when I play him, I feel somehow that I'm hopefully honouring them."
© Photo: RexLikewise, he told Ox in a Box how he used his family's experiences as inspiration. "My grandfathers were in WW1 and my uncle was killed in WW2," he said in 2023. "I was born in the 1950s and my earliest memories are playing in the bomb sites in the East End in London, so we were a very similar class of people to the Thursdays, and I used a lot of that, not altogether consciously, but it was there when I needed it.
"But I also did some research on soldiers' experiences in the war and what it was like when their comrades were shot and sprayed with their blood, which are all things to keep in mind with Fred, and I think that's why he could be so violent," Roger mused.
Why did Endeavour end in 2023?
Endeavour drew to a close after nine seasons. Speaking with RadioTimes.com, executive producer Damien Timmer explained that while the show was never cancelled, the show's creator felt it was the right time to conclude the series.
"From the first Endeavour pilot, Russell [Lewis, creator] has known exactly where he wanted to end the saga of Endeavour Morse and Fred Thursday," he said. "We put off this awful day for as long as we possibly could, but there was a point a few years ago where we agreed as a creative team that it was time to prepare for the final end, and go out on a high!"
Seasons 1-9 of Endeavour are available to stream on ITVX.
