Foyle's War (series 4)

Foyle's War (series 4)
No. of episodes 4

Series 4 of the ITV programme Foyle's War was first aired in 2006; comprising two blocks of two episodes each, it is set in 1942 - 1943.

Episodes

Part 1

"Invasion"

Writer: Anthony Horowitz Director: Gavin Millar Airdate: 15 January 2006 Net duration: 94 minutes Set: March 1942 Viewers: 8.23 million
Guests: Corey Johnson, Jay Benedict, Zoe Tapper, Philip Jackson
American "Doughboys" arrive in Hastings, resulting in some hostility from the locals. An old friend of Milner's dies in a house fire, and a barmaid is found dead at the welcoming party for the American soldiers, with one of the Americans as a suspect.

"Bad Blood"

Writer: Anthony Horowitz Director: Jeremy Silberston Airdate: 22 January 2006 Net duration: 94 minutes Set: August 1942 Viewers: 8.17 million
Guests: Kenneth Colley, Roy Marsden, Philip Franks, Gawn Grainger
A biological warfare experiment with anthrax goes horribly wrong, complicating a murder investigation and threatening the life of Foyle’s faithful driver, Sam.

Part 2

"Bleak Midwinter"

Writer: Anthony Horowitz Director: Gavin Millar Airdate: 11 February 2007 (UK) Net duration: 93 minutes Set: December 1942 Viewers: 8.18 million
Guests: Ron Cook, Liz Fraser, Paul Jesson, John Nettleton, John Kane
Foyle returns to investigate the death of Gracie Phillips, a munitions worker. In the course of this investigation, Milner deals with a surprising return of someone from his past. Sam spends the episode longing for a turkey dinner.

"Casualties of War"

Writer: Anthony Horowitz Director: Tristram Powell Airdate: 15 April 2007 (UK) Net duration: 94 minutes Set: March 1943 Viewers: 7.89 million
Guests: Michael Jayston, Harry Eden, Abigail Cruttenden
Foyle's goddaughter Lydia and her young son James — traumatised by the bombing of his school — come to stay unexpectedly. As he struggles to look after the boy when James' mother goes missing, Foyle's life suffers a further complication when the body of a local man is found near a military centre — leading him into the top-secret world of weapons research. In the meantime Milner investigates a crooked gambling ring. Also being investigated is a series of sabotage incidents against the war effort. However, when Foyle is prevented from bringing the culprits (of the murder and the sabotage) to justice, he resigns from the police force. The episode thus touches upon sabotage against war facilities in the UK, weapons research, immunity from justice, Spanish spies working for the Franco regime, school bombings, and the aftermath of bombings, including shell shock among the civilian population.
Historical context

Much of the episode's historical content was inspired by the invention of the bouncing bomb and the Dambusters raid of 1943, as portrayed in the film The Dam Busters. Writer Anthony Horowitz planned his story to "shadow" one aspect of the bomb's development; the episode depicts a group of scientists experimenting with a mechanism to put backspin on the bomb. The test sequence was designed to replicate the actual tests, including a depiction of the official cameraman, which allowed them to add in archive footage.[1]

Another historical reference in this episode is the bombing of the Sandhurst Road School, in Catford, South East London, on 20 January 1943, in which 38 children and six teachers were killed, and some 60 other children and adults were injured.[2][3]

International broadcast

The two episodes for part 2 screened in Denmark on 5 and 12 September 2006, some months before their ITV debut.

Part 1 was broadcast in the United States on PBS on Mystery! on 17 and 24 June 2007,[4] and part 2 on 1 and 8 July 2007,[4] as Foyle's War IV.[4] The series was added to Netflix as of April 2014.[5]

Cultural references

In "Bleak Midwinter:

In "Casualties of War":

References

  1. ↑ Interview with episode director Tristram Powell in: "Foyle's War: Behind the Scenes Documentary" (DVD Extra feature). Greenlit Productions. 2007.
  2. ↑ IMDb Foyle's War, "Casualties of War" (2007) Trivia page
  3. ↑ "We saw the Nazi pilot wave at us - then he bombed our school: Survivors remember in the day the Luftwaffe massacred 38 pupils at a London school", by Amanda Cable, Daily Mail, 4 September 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 "Foyle's War, Series IV". PBS.
  5. ↑ Thomas, Chet (April 2, 2014). "More British TV Shows on Netflix: 'Foyle's War'". Netflix TV Shows Review.

External links

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