THAT doyenne of cool, Patti Smith, recently gave TV detective dramas her unexpected seal of approval after admitting that when she's in the UK, she likes nothing better than hunkering down in a hotel room and binge-watching our crime shows.

It was exciting news for Shaun Evans, the lead in the jewel of ITV's current detective drama crown, Endeavour, and a self-confessed fan of the American singer-songwriter.

"I've got the biggest crush on Patti Smith," says the 35-year-old with a laugh.

Morse was the highest performing new drama to air on ITV in 2012, reached a peak of seven million viewers for the second series and subsequent episodes have been shown in the States as well as over here.

The second series ended with Morse languishing in prison after being falsely accused of murdering Chief Constable Robert Standish and with senior officer, DI Fred Thursday (Roger Allam), seriously wounded after a gun shot to the chest.

Although he's "open" to any opportunities "to be involved in a good story, told well", he's not ready to hang up Morse's dapper hat just yet.

"We'll just have to see how the audience takes to the new series," he says.

"It's not like we have a six-year contract, there's none of that. It's day by day, year by year. I think this one is really good. We'll know when it airs if there's an audience for it and if we feel there's another place to take these characters."

*Endeavour returns to ITV on Sunday, January 3