Foyle's War (series 5)

Series 5 of the ITV programme Foyle's War was first aired in 2008; comprising three episodes, it is set in the period from April 1944 to May 1945.

Foyle's War
Season 5
No. of episodes	3
Series chronology

Episodes

"Plan of Attack"

Writer: Anthony Horowitz	Director: Tristram Powell	Airdate: 6 January 2008	Net duration: 93 minutes	Set: April 1944	Viewers: 7.37 million
Guests: Fiona Glascott, Martin Hutson, Julian Wadham, Robert Whitelock, Nicholas Day, Elizabeth McKechnie, Malcolm Sinclair, Philip Fox, Vince Leigh, Clifford Rose, Michael Jayston
Milner arrests a prominent trucking racketeer, Bill Burton, and is threatened by his "powerful friends". Meanwhile, DCS John Meredith, Foyle's uncharismatic replacement, has created unease at the station, and a number of officers have transferred or left to join the army. At a nearby Air Ministry building, where Stewart now works as a civilian, Airman Henry Scott, a capable but highly strung cartographer is troubled by irregularities within map data, but is later found hanged in local woods. His friend and confidante, a local Catholic priest from St. Jude's, Martin Keppler (a German refugee), attends an ecumenical conference against the war and the seemingly wanton bombing of Germany into unconditional surrender. Milner later becomes the subject of an attempted shooting, which leaves Meredith dead instead. At the urging of Assistant-Commissioner Henry Parkins, Foyle then agrees to return from self-retirement to solve the case, and soon exposes Wing Commander Stephen Foster's role in bribe taking and hiring Burton's nephew Adam Everitt, and Keppler's true role as a spy, and his complicity in both murders.

Cast and characters

Foyle has been in "retirement" after his resignation a year earlier at the end of Casualties of War. Stewart has been removed as a police driver (in the Mechanised Transport Corps) by Foyle's replacement, Meredith, and has been working as a librarian in the Air Ministry's cartography facility at Beverley Lodge for the last six months. She is also "assisting" Foyle as his typist in writing his book on the Hastings Constabulary (even though she does not appear to be that capable). In addition, her uncle Aubrey Stewart (Brian Poyser), a priest, returns from the episode "The French Drop", when he visits Hastings for the bishop's conference. Milner, unhappy since Foyle's departure, seeks his counsel after finding Meredith difficult to work with and considers leaving Hastings. However, by the end of the episode, the original team is reunited when Foyle and Milner both decide to stay, and Stewart quits to rejoin them.

Background and production

The episode mentions increased troop movements down to the south coast and that "the end of the war is in sight", indicating a pre-D Day setting. The cartography activity at fictitious Beverly Lodge (filmed at Langley Park, Slough, Berkshire) is based on the secret map-making activities undertaken at Hughenden Manor during World War II,[1] which was not known until two years before the shooting of this episode. Anthony Horowitz based much of the story on the experiences of Victor Gregory, a cartographer at Hughenden, and who was engaged as a consultant during the shooting of the episode.[2] Another theme is various efforts by the Church to: preach forgiveness of the enemy; establish relations with the German church (such as the German Confessing Church); and, grant Germany a conditional (rather than unconditional) surrender to prevent the unnecessary killing of innocents by indiscriminate bombing of German cities. The efforts of Dietrich Bonhoeffer are mentioned, as are events reflecting the real-life George Bell, Bishop of Chichester.

"Broken Souls"

Writer: Michael Chaplin	Director: Simon Langton	Airdate: 13 April 2008	Net duration: 91 minutes	Set: October 1944	Viewers: 7.74 million
Guests: Nicholas Woodeson, Graham Crowden, Duncan Bell, Phyllida Law, Natasha Little, Joseph Mawle, Roger Sloman
Foyle meets his friend, Dr Josef Novak, a Polish-Jewish psychiatrist, for a chess game. Novak works at a nearby Sackville House Hospital, a military mental health institution, headed by Dr Iain Campbell, where the young and ambitious Dr Julian Worth is found murdered after publishing an article based on Novak's patients. Foyle is called in and asks Stewart to help find a missing East End boy, Tommy Crooks. Meanwhile, Fred Dawson, a disabled former POW, arrives back at his farm to find his wife, Rose, and son being assisted by Johann Schultz, a German POW. He quickly suspects her of overly-fraternising with the German and also resents his friendship with Daniel, their son. At the hospital, Campbell is romantically involved with his secretary, Joy Phelps, the wife of Peter, a patient at the hospital, who is committed to an asylum following the death of Worth. Schultz, knowing that his time at the Dawson farm is over, escapes the camp and is later found dead nearby. Foyle's investigation reveals Campbell's killing of Worth over a stolen love-letter, and Novak's killing of Schultz based on instinct and survivor guilt.

Cast and characters

Novak was in Paris during the invasion of Poland, and his wife and (survivor) daughter remained there. During the episode, we learn of their transfer to a ghetto (probably the Lublin Ghetto), and then the Majdanek concentration camp, news of which triggers Novak's suicide attempt. Further, his uncle was apparently a Polish chess grandmaster. Dawson had been a prisoner since the Battle of Dunkirk, five years earlier, but recently escaped and is suffering from frostbite. Tommy Crooks, a 15-year-old missing former child-evacuee, arrives to stay with Sir John and Lady Muriel Sackville, the gentry who had lived in the newly converted hospital, and whose son was killed in the raid on Dieppe. As a telegram boy, Crooks was traumatised by the reactions of those he delivered bad news to, and also the recent death of his mother in a V-1 rocket attack. His father, Morris, arrives in Hastings seeking his return.

Background and production

German POWs are being billeted near Hastings at the Bexhill-on-Sea POW Camp. At the Ruby Cinema, the 1944 film Going My Way, starring Bing Crosby, is being screened, along with a Pathé News newsreel. The radio news report heard by Novak was by BBC correspondent Alexander Werth. Also, Brooke discusses a staff football betting pool at the station, in which they win £100, which Foyle suggests donating to Jewish refugees. The fictional article in the episode is in the October 1944 issue of The Journal of Mental Science, titled The Mental Trauma of War: Some Case Studies and published by the Royal Medico-Psychological Association. Foyle is also seen looking through newspapers dated 14 October 1944, including Daily Mirror, Daily Express, and The Daily Telegraph.

"All Clear"

Writer: Anthony Horowitz	Director: Tristram Powell	Airdate: 20 April 2008	Net duration: 93 minutes	Set: May 1945	Viewers: 7.92 million
Guests: Mark Bazeley, John Ramm, Jay Benedict, Frances Grey, Martin Savage, Jay Simpson, Paul Thornley, Ellie Haddington, Frank Mills
The episode begins on 2 May 1945, with the arrival of Major John Kieffer at the Majestic Hotel, now haunted by visions of dead American soldiers. With VE Day upon them, Foyle is asked to assist the council's celebration committee, along with Dr Henry Ziegler, an Austrian GP, and Martin Longmate, the owner of the Majestic and aspiring politician. Foyle attempts to rekindle their friendship, but Kieffer, now a heavy drinker, only wants to return to the US. The council's committee member, Mark Griffiths (formerly a Major in the Royal Signal Corps), is also haunted by his past, as is Edward Hylton, a demobilised soldier, and his wife Janice. When Ziegler is stabbed to death, Foyle investigates, soon learning of Griffiths's suicide as well. Suspicion turns to Michael Brown, the aged museum curator, who cannot explain why the murder weapon was taken from a display, and also Kieffer's interest in Griffiths. Foyle then meets Hilda Pierce in London, and learns of Operation Tiger in Devon. Confronting Kieffer, he learns of how he tracked down and hounded the man he held responsible, Griffiths. He also learns of Longmate's lethal attempt to cover-up his fabricated army medical check.

Cast and characters

Kieffer (from Series 4 "Invasion") returns in this episode, and we learn of his wife and two children. Also returning are Foyle's son, who had been flying in Malta prior to discharge, and Pierce (from Series 2 "War Games" and Series 3 "The French Drop"). With the war in Europe winding down, Foyle is retiring and the station is being moved to another location. Milner received a promotion to DI and transfer to Brighton, while Edith, his new wife, is expecting their first child, a daughter. When the delivery starts, Foyle gets behind the wheel and drives them to the hospital. Stewart is uneasy with her career post war, and Foyle suggests volunteering for SSAFA. Andrew Foyle attempts to apologise and propose to Stewart and rekindle their friendship and romance.

Background and production

A major plotline is the Slapton Sands disaster and its subsequent secrecy. Others include the ongoing preparations for the celebration of VE Day in Hastings (including profiteering on the sale of flags and bunting) and the difficulties experienced by returning servicemen adapting to civilian life. One inconsistency is that Andrew says he won't continue as a pilot because "sinusitis has affected my vision", but sinusitis, while a reason for temporary grounding because of the pain caused by unpressurised cockpits, extremely rarely affects vision permanently. Several newspapers are used as props: Foyle is seen reading a copy of The Hastings Chronicle with a "Hitler Dead" headline; a few days later, a child reads The Evening News stating Germany Surrenders; and, in the station, Brooke discusses a Jane comic from The Daily Mirror. The episode ends with Churchill's victory speech and It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow, sung by Vera Lynn.

International broadcast

Series Five was broadcast in the United States on PBS stations on Masterpiece Mystery! as Foyle's War V on 7 and 14 June 2009,[3] and on Netflix as of April 2014.[4]

References

1. Kearley, Susie (30 July 2012). "Secrets of Hughenden Manor". Military History Monthly. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
2. Foyle's War: Behind the Scenes (DVD)|format= requires |url= (help). ITV.
3. "Foyle's War: Series V". PBS. Archived from the original on 21 December 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
4. Thomas, Chet (2 April 2014). "More British TV Shows on Netflix: 'Foyle's War'". Netflix TV Shows Review. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014.

External links

• Series 5 on IMDb