'Endeavour!'

  
Among the anti-Masonry in the entertainment media is the prejudice of one Inspector Morse, the eponymous character in the long-running (thirty-three episodes!) detective series from ITV. One story in particular, titled "Masonic Mysteries," from 1990, shows the Chief Inspector framed for a murder, seemingly by Freemasons. There's even a sub-plot concerning the staging of Mozart's The Magic Flute.

The origins of Morse's anti-Masonic leanings went largely unexplained, other than the general, perennial fear of Masonic conspiracy inside the institutions of justice in Britain, but this also lands squarely during the period of real life suspicion of Masonic inspired corruption of British institutions, leading up to Jack Straw's edict in 1997 mandating judges and magistrates to declare if they held Masonic membership.

Anyway, tonight on PBS, the prequel to the Inspector Morse series just concluded a moment ago. Titled "Endeavour," it depicts Morse on his first case, the murders of two young people near Oxford, with a related prostitution ring led by an automobile salesman. Confronted by Morse, the car dealer warns the young detective, bragging of having very important contacts in his circle of friends. "Or square," as he put it.

And thus, the viewer is given a glimpse into how the inspector came to his jaundiced view of the Craft.