Dakota Blue Richards (Skins, The Golden Compass) has joined the cast of ITV’s Morse prequel Endeavour as a series regular for its upcoming third season. She has been cast as WPC Shirley Trewlove and will appear in the final three episodes of the season.
Shirley Trewlove is described as being “thorough, determined and forthright”. She proves herself a vital addition to the force and quickly draws the admiration of Endeavour by demonstrating natural initiative, a wry sense of humour and perhaps most keenly, a rare intellect – one not entirely similar to his own.
The four episode third season of Endeavour, which will again be written by Russell Lewis, will be set in 1967 and will pick up from the season two finale, which 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. Returning cast members include Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Jack Laskey, Anton Lesser, James Bradshaw and Abigail Thaw.
Endeavour was created by Russell Lewis and was initially piloted by ITV as a one-off drama in 2012, before the strong ratings prompted the broadcaster to pull the trigger on a series order. The Mammoth Screen produced series is executive produced by Russell Lewis, Michele Buck and Damien Timmer. Novelist Colin Dexter, who created the Morse character, serves as a creative consultant.
“Bright, capable and brave, WPC Shirley Trewlove is a very welcome addition to the ranks of Oxford’s Finest”, said series creator, writer and executive producer Russell Lewis. “While very much a young woman of the 1960s, Trewlove also evokes a very particular kind of timeless British heroine. Betjeman’s ‘Ring leader, Tom-boy, and chum to the weak”.
