Foyle's War
British television detective series (2002–2015)
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Foyle's War is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by Midsomer Murders screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series Inspector Morse ended in 2000. It began broadcasting on ITV in October 2002. ITV director of programmes Simon Shaps cancelled Foyle's War in 2007, but Peter Fincham (Shaps's replacement) revived the programme after good ratings for 2008's fifth series.[1][2] The final episode was broadcast on 18 January 2015, after eight series.[3]
| Foyle's War | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Anthony Horowitz |
| Starring | |
| Opening theme | Jim Parker |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 28 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Jill Green |
| Producers |
|
| Running time | 86–100 minutes |
| Production companies | Greenlit Productions (series 1–6) Eleventh Hour Films (series 7–8) |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 27 October 2002 – 18 January 2015 |
Description
Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen), a widower, is quiet, methodical, sagacious, scrupulously honest, and is frequently underestimated by his foes. Many of his cases concern profiteering, the black market and murder, and he is often called on to catch criminals who are taking advantage of the confusion created by the war. Although Foyle often comes up against high-ranking officials in the British military or intelligence services who would prefer that he mind his own business, he seeks justice tenaciously. Throughout the series, he is assisted by his driver, Samantha "Sam" Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks), and Detective Sergeant Paul Milner (Anthony Howell).
The first six series are set during the Second World War in Hastings, Sussex, England. In series seven, Foyle works after retirement for MI5 on Cold War espionage. The stories are largely self-contained. There are some running plot strands, primarily involving the career of Foyle's son Andrew Foyle (Julian Ovenden) – a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force – or Foyle's relationships with minor characters. Each episode runs for 90 to 100 minutes, filling a two-hour time slot on ITV when commercials are included.
Production
In a newspaper article and an interview accompanying the series one DVD set, Horowitz explained that he was seeking a name which evoked the early 1940s. He thought of Foyles bookshop in London's Charing Cross Road, once known for its archaic business practices and its owner, Christina Foyle; Christopher was the nearest male name to Christina. After Christina Foyle's death, control of Foyles passed in 1999 to her nephew Christopher. Christopher Foyle made a cameo appearance in the episode "Bad Blood", although his scene was cut from PBS airings in the US.[4][5]
The series is also notable for its attention to historical detail, and the drama is frequently moved along by historical events of the Second World War. Horowitz considered that to honour the veterans of the war it was important to get the details correct.[notes 1] As the series progressed, he became more interested in the "murder mystery" format than the portrayal of history and exploration of the Home Front.[notes 2] Nevertheless, the Imperial War Museum is credited in an advisory capacity in some episodes. St Just, in Croft Road, Hastings, was used as the location for Foyle's home.[6]
Cancellation and revival
After five series, Foyle's War was cancelled abruptly by ITV director of programmes Simon Shaps.[7] This forced Horowitz to discard scripts set during most of 1943 and 1944, resulting in time jumps of nine months to a year between episodes; previous series had gaps of a month at most. In April 2008, the presumed final episode, "All Clear" (during which the end of the war is announced) was broadcast.
On 9 April 2008, however, ITV announced that it was negotiating with Horowitz and Greenlit Productions to revive the series and continue Foyle's adventures beyond VE Day;[1] some media observers saw high viewing figures for the penultimate episode (a 28-percent audience share) on 13 April as strengthening the case for continuing.[8] When the audience figures for the final episode were released (28 percent and an average of 7.3 million viewers), ITV confirmed that it had entered "early discussions" with Horowitz and Greenlit.[2] The negotiations led to Foyle's War's recommissioning for an additional three series.[9] Series six began filming in February 2009 and premiered on UK television on 11 April 2010.[9][10] Series seven was filmed in Ireland and London from late August to December 2012, and was broadcast in the UK in March and April 2013.[11] Series eight, three two-hour episodes, aired in the UK in January 2015.[12]
Foyle's Last Case
Even after this second cancellation, Horowitz continued to hold out hope for some sort of revival, spin-off around Honeysuckle Weeks's character, or even just some Christmas specials.[13] An example of the latter concept was even developed by Horowitz as Foyle's Last Case, an exclusive two-part Christmas short story for The Daily Mail newspaper, published there on the 22 and 23 December 2018.[14]
Episodes
| Series | Time | Title | Writer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 2002 | May – August 1940 | 1 (1) "The German Woman" | Anthony Horowitz |
| 2 (2) "The White Feather" | |||
| 3 (3) "A Lesson in Murder" | |||
| 4 (4) "Eagle Day" | |||
| Series 2 2003 | September – October 1940 | 1 (5) "Fifty Ships" | |
| 2 (6) "Among the Few" | Anthony Horowitz & Matthew Hall | ||
| 3 (7) "War Games" | Anthony Horowitz & Michael Russell | ||
| 4 (8) "The Funk Hole" | Anthony Horowitz | ||
| Series 3 2004 | February – June 1941 | 1 (9) "The French Drop" | |
| 2 (10) "Enemy Fire" | |||
| 3 (11) "They Fought in the Fields" | Rob Heyland | ||
| 4 (12) "A War of Nerves" | Anthony Horowitz | ||
| Series 4 Part 1 2006 | March – August 1942 | 1 (13) "Invasion" | |
| 2 (14) "Bad Blood" | |||
| Series 4 Part 2 2007 |
December 1942 – March 1943 | 1 (15) "Bleak Midwinter" | |
| 2 (16) "Casualties of War" | |||
| Series 5 2008 |
April 1944 – May 1945 | 1 (17) "Plan of Attack" | |
| 2 (18) "Broken Souls" | Michael Chaplin | ||
| 3 (19) "All Clear" | Anthony Horowitz | ||
| Series 6 2010 |
June – August 1945 |
1 (20) "The Russian House" | |
| 2 (21) "Killing Time" | David Kane | ||
| 3 (22) "The Hide" | Anthony Horowitz | ||
| Series 7 2013 |
August – September 1946 |
1 (23) "The Eternity Ring" | |
| 2 (24) "The Cage" | David Kane | ||
| 3 (25) "Sunflower" | Anthony Horowitz | ||
| Series 8 2015 |
October 1946 – January 1947 |
1 (26) "High Castle" | |
| 2 (27) "Trespass" | |||
| 3 (28) "Elise" |
Episode numbers in parentheses are a running count used in the following table, "Main Characters".
Characters and cast
Main
- Michael Kitchen as Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Series 1–8)
- Honeysuckle Weeks as MTC (Mechanised Transport Corps) Driver Samantha Stewart (Series 1–8)
- Anthony Howell as Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Paul Milner (Series 1–6)
Recurring
- Julian Ovenden as Squadron Leader Andrew Foyle DFC (Series 1–5)
- Mali Harries as Jane Milner (Series 1–2, 4)
- Michael Simkins as Hugh Reid (Series 1)
- Corin Redgrave as Assistant Chief Constable Rose (Series 2–3)
- Geoffrey Freshwater as Sergeant Eric Rivers (Series 2–3)
- Ellie Haddington as Hilda Pierce (Series 2–3, 5, 7–8)
- Jay Simpson as Sgt Ian Brooke (Series 4–5)
- Max Brown as Adam Wainwright (Series 6)
- Daniel Weyman as Adam Wainwright (Series 7–8)
- Tim McMullan as Arthur Valentine (Series 7–8)
- Rupert Vansittart as Sir Alec Meyerson (Series 7–8)
- Hermione Gulliford as Elizabeth Addis (Series 8)
Guest appearances
- James McAvoy as Ray Pritchard (Series 1)
- Rosamund Pike as Sarah Beaumont (Series 1)
- Paul Brooke as Arthur Ellis (Series 1)
- Tobias Menzies as Stanley Ellis (Series 1)
- Charles Dance as Guy Spencer (Series 1)
- Danny Dyer as Tony Lucciano (Series 1)
- David Tennant as Theo Howard (Series 1)
- Oliver Ford Davies as Lawrence Gascoigne (Series 1)
- Cheryl Campbell as Emily Gascoigne (Series 1)
- Sophia Myles as Susan Gascoigne (Series 1)
- Elliot Cowan as Peter Buckingham (Series 1)
- Janine Duvitski as Eve Redmond (Series 2)
- Emily Blunt as Lucy Markham (Series 2)
- Laurence Fox as Simon Walker (Series 2)
- Bill Paterson as Patrick Jamieson (Series 3)
- Sandra Voe as Mrs Roecastle (Series 3)
- Samuel West as Lt. Col. James Wintringham (Series 3)
- Peter Capaldi as Raymond Carter (Series 3)
- Philip Jackson as Alan Carter (Series 4)
- Gerard Kearns as Frank Morgan (Series 4)
- Eleanor Bron as Elsa Constantin (Series 6)
- Andrew Scott as James Devereaux (Series 6)
- Kate Duchêne as Helen Fraser (Series 7)
- Jonathan Hyde as Colonel Galt (Series 7)
- Tamzin Outhwaite as Brenda Stevens (Series 7)
- Nick Hendrix as Robert Lucas (Series 8)
- Matilda Ziegler as Lady Ava Woolfe (Series 8)
International broadcast
- Africa - The series began broadcasting in 2009 on the pay service DStv (broadcast from South Africa) on the Universal Channel.[15]
- Australia - Aired on the ABC, with repeats on Seven Network
- Canada - Broadcast in Ontario on TV Ontario and in British Columbia on Knowledge Network
- Denmark - Broadcast on DR1; reruns regularly
- Finland - Broadcast on Yle TV1; series seven and eight broadcast in 2015-2016
- France - Broadcast on Polar+; series one to four broadcast in 2023-2024
- Sweden - Broadcast on TV8, SVT1 and TV4
- Germany - Broadcast on ARD One
- US - Aired on PBS.[16] Series 1-8 are available for streaming on Acorn TV and occasionally on Netflix (the latest run in 2014–2017) via paid subscription. Acorn Media contracted Cre-a-TV to repackage Foyle's War in two-part episodes to run in PBS's time slots. The episodes were fed by satellite to the public television system by PBS affiliate KCET in Los Angeles, and public TV stations began rebroadcasting the series in the fall of 2011. Each episode was aired in two parts, each in a one-hour time slot (usually separated by a week), and each part ran for about 50 minutes.
- Belgium - Canvas
- Netherlands - KRO and BBC NL[17]
Awards
Foyle's War was nominated in the Best Production Design category for the 2003 BAFTA Television Awards, and won a Lew Grade Award for Best Entertainment Programme that year.[18] The series was nominated for the 2004 BAFTA Best Drama Series award.[19] That year, Honeysuckle Weeks was nominated for the 10th National Television Awards' Most Popular Newcomer award.[citation needed]
Media
DVD releases
In the UK, the first four series of Foyle's War were released as two two-disc DVDs per series, with two episodes each and episode titles instead of series numbers. In March 2007, UK and US distributor Acorn Media began re-releasing series 1–3 as four-disc DVDs for the UK (as they had in the US) and labelling them with series numbers. A complete box set of the series is available.
| DVD series/sets | TV series | Episodes | Originally aired | DVD release | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK (Region 2) | US (Region 1) | Discs | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Oct–Nov 2002 | 2+2 disc release: 10 February 2003[20][21] Re-released 7 March 2007[22] |
11 March 2003[23] | 4 | |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Nov–Dec 2003 | 2+2 disc release: 9 February 2004[24][25] Re-released: 12 March 2007[26] |
20 July 2004[27] | 4 | |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | Oct–Nov 2004 | 2+2 disc release: 7 March 2005[28][29] Re-released: 11 June 2007[30] |
1 November 2005[31] | 4 | |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | Jan 2006 - Apr 2007 | 2-disc release: 9 October 2006[32], 16 April 2007[33] Re-released: 11 June 2007[34] |
17 July 2007[35] | 4 | |
| 5 | 5 | 3 | Jan - Apr 2008 | 28 April 2008[36] | 5 August 2008[37] | 3 | |
| 6 | 6 | 3 | Apr 2010 | 26 April 2010[38] | 1 June 2010[39] | 3 | |
| 7 | 7 | 3 | Mar & Apr 2013 | 15 May 2013[40] | 24 September 2013[41] | 3 | |
| 8 | 8 | 3 | Jan 2015 | 19 January 2015[42] | 14 April 2015[43] | 3 | |
Blu-ray releases
All but the last two series have been released on Blu-ray in Australia (all discs are region-free).[44] While it may appear the "complete collection"[45] box set includes seven seasons, there are only the first six series included. This is due to Icon entertainment releasing parts 1 & 2 of series four as seasons 4 & 5 respectively. Hence after the fourth season the Australian season numbering is one greater than the series that is included in the release.[46]
| Blu-ray seasons/sets | TV series | Episodes | Originally aired | Blu-ray release | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aus (Region B) | US (Region A) | Discs | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Oct–Nov 2002 | 7 July 2010[47] | n/a | 2 | |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Nov–Dec 2003 | 7 July 2010[48] | n/a | 2 | |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | Oct–Nov 2004 | 4 August 2010[49] | n/a | 2 | |
| 4 & 5 | 4 parts 1 & 2 | 4 | Jan 2006 - Apr 2007 | 4 August 2010[50] | n/a | 2 | |
| 6 | 5 | 3 | Jan - Apr 2008 | 1 September 2010[51] | n/a | 2 | |
| 7 | 6 | 3 | Apr 2010 | 1 September 2010[52] | n/a | 2 | |
| 8 | 7 | 3 | Mar & Apr 2013 | n/a | 24 September 2013[53] | 2 | |
| 9 | 8 | 3 | Jan 2015 | n/a | 14 April 2015[54] | 2 | |
Other media releases
Hastings Borough Council and Rod Green have produced books to accompany the series and these go behind the scenes, as well as celebrate aspects of the series.
- Foyle's Hastings, Hastings Borough Council, 2006, ISBN 978-0901536075
- Foyle's Hastings, Hastings Borough Council, 2006 (updated version), ISBN 0-901536-08-3
- The Real History Behind Foyle's War, Green, R., (2nd Ed.), 2010, ISBN 978-1847325426