Imagining a Better Future by Re-imagining the Past

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Foyle's War

Occasionally there comes along a television series centered on World War II that breaks new ground. One of the most truly unique is the British series by ITV, Foyle’s War.


Set in the English village of Hastings during the 1940s, Foyle’s War combines Agatha Christi style detective stories with World War II intrigue. The lead character is Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle who is wonderfully played by Michael Kitchen. Other main characters are his driver Samantha "Sam" Stewart played by the lovely Honeysuckle Weeks and Detective Sergeant Paul Milner played by the dashing Anthony Howell.



Each installment is more like a feature length movie than a television episode. Every installment faithfully recreates wartime Britain and runs for an hour and half. In addition, they take place in chronological order with each one opening with the month and year of the story.

Foyle’s War differs from other wartime themed series in many ways. Not only is the concept unique, combining police detective with war, but its exploration of the varied civilian’s reaction to the war. Rather than a united front, it shows the British people severely divided in their support. This might seem odd to Americans in which World War II had so much support however, we should remember that Britain joined the war voluntarily while it was forced upon America. In addition, some British are shown with many of the same prejudices as was seen in America with the detention and attacks on ethnic Germans and Italians living in Britain.

Foyle’s War is a fantastic series that I highly recommend. Seasons One through Seven are available now on DVD, Blu-Ray and on Netflix. It's broadcasted in the US on PBS.

5 comments:

Tome Wilson said...

If you haven't been talking with Scott about this, you should. He's seen just about every episode, which is impressive given the length of the series.

Nebris said...

Excellent series. Highly recommend it. The first three or four seasons are on NetFlix Streaming.

Larry Amyett, Jr said...

Thanks, Tome! My wife and I just discovered this fantastic series and we're up to season 4 on DVD.

The Holly King said...

An excellent show. One of my favorites. Now that I have access I need to watch the series in order.

Mim said...

I always enjoy this. I'm in Britain, so the episodes broadcast here have hit the post-war period. It's still good. I wish the last series had been longer than three stories, though...