THE actor who will star as a young Detective Constable Morse in a one-off drama told of his love for Oxford last night.

Stepping into John Thaw’s shoes for the Morse prequel, 31-year-old actor Shaun Evans will shed light on the inspector’s rise through the police as a young man in the ITV drama set in 1965.

Mr Evans, who was in Oxford during the summer for shooting, said: “It was fantastic to film in the city – I love Oxford. It’s one of my favourite places and given the nature of this particular nature of the job it made the whole shoot incredible.”

Evans didn’t have to audition but was handpicked for the part after impressing in The Take and Come Rain Come Shine.

The weight of expectation from die-hard Morse fans, however, is something Evans refused to dwell on. He was instead determined to approach the part afresh after immersing himself in Colin Dexter’s books.

The Merseyside-born star said: “Being in Oxford was great because I was such a fan of the books and meeting Colin Dexter, there was something specific about the experience that did contribute towards a certain magic.

“It really couldn’t be set anywhere else and we felt that when we were there.

“Colin Dexter was involved in finding the actor for the part. It’s incredible to think this chap sits down at a type writer to write and the words are so enjoyed and loved by the public.”

And while he hopes that the series will be enjoyed by existing Morse fans, Evans said that he didn’t want to create a nostalgic tribute to the iconic series.

“I believe that every time you do something you have to start like it’s fresh and think ‘we’ve got to involve the audience’,” he said. “You would be foolhardy to expect an audience to love right off because of its heritage.

“That would be lazy.”

The Guildhall drama graduate said he relished the chance to play a brilliant young man as he made a name for himself – a role very different to the Morse, the mentor to Lewis, we are familiar with.

Evans said: “The brilliant thing about this character is you have someone at the very beginning of something and looking for some guidance and a role model so to speak. He is someone who is headstrong, intelligent and capable so it’s not as easy as saying he’s a ‘rookie cop’.”

The show will pay a fitting tribute to legendary actor John Thaw with a cameo by his daughter Abigail.

Endeavour will be screened on ITV1 in January.