Abigail Thaw’s father is famous in the Endeavour world

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Endeavour comes to ITV on Sundays at 8pm and it features Abigail Thaw as Dorothea Frazil. Dorothea is the editor of the Oxford Mail newspaper and she has a sibling-like relationship with the young Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans). Express.co.uk has all you need to know about her famous father.

English actress Abigail Thaw was born in London to actor John Thaw and his first wife, Sally Alexander.

John played the original Inspector Morse from 1987 until 1993, continuing to feature in specials until 2000.

Abigail’s parents divorced in 1968 and she has a half-brother on her mother’s side and an elder stepsister and half-sister on her father’s side.

John is not the only famous family member as Abigail’s stepmother is actress Sheila Hancock.

After her parents separated, Abigail was brought up in Pimlico by her mother and her mother’s partner.

She still kept in regular contact with her father and went on to continue his Inspector Morse legacy.

Her own daughter, Molly, also had a cameo as the younger version of her grandmother Sally Alexander in the Endeavour season seven episode titled Oracle.

Her father John died at the age of 60 in February 2002, following a battle with cancer.

He had been diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in June 2001 and had chemotherapy.

Although he appeared to be responding well to the treatment at first, he was told the cancer had spread and his prognosis was terminal.

He died seven weeks after his 60th birthday, having just signed a new year-long contract with ITV.

He had been living at his country home, near the villages of Luckington and Sherston in Wiltshire.

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John’s funeral was attended by Charles, Prince of Wales at the time, and Richard Attenborough.

Away from Inspector Morse, the star was also known for his roles in Redcap, The Sweeney and Home to Roost.

Viewers may have also recognised him as the title character James Kavanagh in Kavanagh QC.

Abigail joined the Endeavour cast in 2012 as a series regular and she spoke out about paying tribute to her father.

She told Radio Times : “Going to work on Endeavour doesn’t feel like a homage to my father.

“But it does give me a jolt every now and then – it happens, funnily enough, when I’m in Oxford, where I think about him a lot more.

“I’m tired after a few days’ filming and think, ‘Blimey, he did this for months.’

“I never realised when I used to go round to see him for Sunday lunch and a gossip.”

Endeavour returns to ITV on Sunday at 8pm.

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