The so called ‘permissive society’ comes under the spotlight as Endeavour is tasked with protecting conservative social activist, Joy Pettybon, after she receives a death threat while visiting Oxford to promote her ‘Keep Britain Decent’ campaign.

Whispers that Cowley General contains a cursed ward - and a seemingly innocuous death - set off a chain of events that lead Endeavour to investigate.

When a body is found in Bramford Mere, a marshland outside of Oxford, everyone assumes they are the remains of Dr Matthew Laxman, an Oxford botanist who mysteriously disappeared near the site five years earlier.