Rating summary
Movie | | 5.0 |
Video | | 4.5 |
Audio | | 4.0 |
Extras | | 4.0 |
Overall | | 4.5 |
Foyle's War: Set 7 Blu-ray Movie Review
The Cold War Policeman
Reviewed by Michael Reuben September 22, 2013
Acorn Media has released the first six sets of the British police drama Foyle's War on DVD, but
Set 7 is the first to appear on Blu-ray. This isn't as odd as it sounds, because the three feature-length episodes in Set 7 are the first where Acorn
acted as the show's co-producer. With these
episodes, Foyle's War returned to the air after a three-year hiatus, having lost none of its
popularity in either the U.K. or America, where it airs on PBS as part of Masterpiece Mystery.
The latest episodes took the show in such an intriguing new direction that it could almost be
called Foyle's War II.
The first six sets of Foyle's War (which comprise seven "series" in the U.K., but try not to let
that confuse you) ran on Britain's ITV from 2002 through 2010 and were so popular that public
demand restored the show to the air after an initial cancellation in 2007. The title character is
Detective Chief Superintendent (or "DCS") Christopher Foyle, a soft-spoken and self-effacing
policeman in the coastal town of Hastings who has the peculiar job of investigating local crime
while Britain fights for its survival in World War II. In the opening scene of the first episode,
Foyle, who is every inch a patriot, applies for a military post and is rejected, because he is
considered more valuable in his present job. Periodically throughout the show, he struggles with
a sense of futility, as he investigates local cases of murder, theft and war profiteering while his
country's future hangs in the balance across the Channel in Europe.
But Foyle represents something important, which is why he became so popular. As created and
largely written by Anthony Horowitz (Poirot and Midsomer Murders) and embodied by actor
Michael Kitchen, best known to American audiences as M's chief of staff in GoldenEye and
Tomorrow Never Dies, Foyle was a reminder
of everything that the British military was fighting
to preserve: justice, decency, tolerance, fair play and a clear sense of right and wrong. In a rare
moment of open anger, Foyle expressed his innermost thoughts to a miscreant he'd arrested:
You know, I sometimes wonder why I do this job. And then I come across someone like
you. I
mean, we're living in such evil times, when the whole world seems to be sinking into some sort of
mire. And as if Hitler wasn't enough, we've got the likes of you, who capitalize on other people's
misery, who hurt them, make things even worse for them when they're at their weakest. And it's with
the likes of you that this mire begins. And it's some small consolation to know that I've helped to
clean up just a little bit of it.
By the end of Set 6, however, the war had concluded, and Foyle had retired. His trusty sergeant,
Paul Milner, had been promoted to Detective Inspector and assigned to Brighton, and his
longtime driver and assistant, Samantha "Sam" Stewart, had married and settled into private life.
Foyle left for America to pursue a suspect from one of his early cases, an American businessman
whose importance to the British war effort had shielded him from a murder charge for which
Foyle had conclusive evidence (Series 2, Episode 1, "Fifty Ships"). The decision was classic
Foyle. Though modest, restrained and unfailingly polite in the traditional English fashion, Foyle
notices everything, forgets nothing and never chooses the easy path over the right one. As a
government official who has tangled with Foyle in the past warns an overconfident colleague:
"He is not the provincial policeman you expected."
The Eternity Ring (first broadcast: Mar. 24, 2013, U.K.; Sept. 15, 2013, U.S.)
In a prologue set in 1945, scientists successfully achieve the first detonation of an atomic bomb
in the deserts of New Mexico. The team leader is a German scientist who fled the Nazis, Max
Hoffman (Ken Bones), and the group includes an English colleague and his wife, Professor and
Helen Fraser (Stephen Boxer and Kate Duchene). As they watch the mushroom cloud from their
shelter, they congratulate each other on a historic achievement.
In 1946, Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) has just returned from America. As he disembarks
at the docks in Liverpool, he is intercepted by Arthur Valentine (Tim McMullan) of MI5, the
covert branch of British intelligence charged with defending the homeland. Valentine insists that
Foyle accompany him but will not explain why.
It turns out that Valentine's leash is being held by Hilda Pierce (Ellie Haddington), a formidable
adversary with whom Foyle has tangled in the past. During the war, Pierce was a member of the
Special Operations Executive, or SOE, which conducted espionage, reconnaissance and sabotage
against the Nazis. Now she is a senior officer with MI5, reporting to Deputy Chief Sir William
Chambers (Nicholas Jones). Pierce and Sir William ask Foyle to assist them in investigating a
suspected group of Soviet agents attempting to steal nuclear secrets known as the "Eternity
Ring". The Ring is believed to have connections to Professor Fraser, who now works at the
Armwell Nuclear Research Facility outside London, along with Hoffman, an avowed communist
sympathizer.
When Foyle asks why he, a retired policeman, should involve himself in such matters, the MI5
officers reply that a police style of investigation is precisely what's called for. Then they provide
him with a personal incentive: a photograph of his friend and former colleague, Sam (Honeysuckle Weeks), apparently
handing an envelope to a known Soviet spy, Marc Vlessing (Nathan Gordon), outside the Old
Vic Theater. Sam Wainwright, they tell him, using her married name, works as a secretary for
Professor Fraser. She and her husband have become communist sympathizers. She appears to be
part of the Eternity Ring.
Though obviously skeptical, Foyle takes the assignment. He arranges to meet with Sam and,
through her, is introduced to Professor Fraser, who invites him to dinner at his home with
Professor Hoffman. Ever the methodical observer, Foyle begins to assemble a picture of the
possible suspects, but before he can make sufficient progress, a major breach of security occurs at
the Armwell Nuclear Research Facility. Has the Eternity Ring achieved its ultimate goal?
Policemen are routinely lied to, and Foyle is a master of separating truth from deception. He does
eventually solve the riddle of the Eternity Ring, clearing Sam in the process, and he accomplishes
even more than his original assignment. Hilda Pierce, who already learned to respect the former
Superintendent in their previous encounters, is so impressed that she offers him a permanent
position with MI5. This presents Foyle with a dilemma. A job with MI5 was something he'd
sought during the war, but he was turned down. Now, it's being offered to him with open arms,
but the arms belong to one of the most treacherous people he's ever met.
"I haven't got the requisite capacity for deceit", he tells Pierce. "Precisely!" she replies. "I need
someone I can trust." Foyle doesn't trust Pierce for an instant, but he strikes a bargain for his
services that benefits others, including Sam, who lost her job with Professor Fraser when he
learned that Foyle was investigating him.
Every episode of
Foyle's War has subplots. "The Eternity Ring" includes the story of a former
Hastings constable, Frank Shaw, who served on the force under Foyle but joined the military
when war broke out. He was captured, held in a POW camp and only now, after six years, is
returning to a family that barely remembers him. Shaw's struggle to reintegrate himself into a life
and a country that no longer exist is a stark reminder of how drastically the war reshaped the
British nation.
The Cage (first broadcast: Mar. 31, 2013, U.K.; Sept. 22, 2013, U.S.)
A woman named Evelyn Greene (Laura Way) walks out on her husband (Simon Coury) without
a word after receiving a mysterious phone call. That same day, a Russian man, Palenko
(Radoslaw Kaim), staggers into a country infirmary and dies from apparently self-inflicted
wounds, before the doctor on call, Dr. Ross (Rufus Wright), has time to perform a transfusion.
All that Palenko manages to get out are the words (or word) "Ten Eye".
Foyle becomes aware of these events when the new deputy director of MI5, Sir Alec Myerson
(Rupert Vansittart), asks him to investigate the murder of three Russian defectors who the
Security Service was holding in supposedly secure "safe houses". Since Evelyn Greene was
employed at the Foreign Office, where she had access to the location of these individuals, the
timing of her disappearance is suspicious. But Foyle wants to know who called Evelyn just
before she disappeared. Was she tipped off?
Foyle receives a lead from an unexpected source: Sam, who has now been hired by MI5 as
Foyle's assistant. In her limited spare time, Sam is aiding her husband, Adam (Daniel Weyman),
who is standing for election to Parliament as a Labour candidate from their tiny district. In door-to-door campaigning, Adam encounters a woman
(Ruth McCabe) who tells him about her
missing daughter. The police will do nothing for her, she says. The missing daughter's name?
Evelyn Greene.
Two women of the same name who have disappeared at roughly the same time are more than a
coincidence. Foyle begins a discreet inquiry into Adam's constituent, while at the same time
attempting to retrace the steps of the Russian Palenko before he died at Dr. Ross's hospital. The
hospital is near a secure military installation called Barton Hall to which access is strictly
prohibited, but Foyle has Sir Alec arrange a tour. Under the watchful eyes of Colonel Galt
(Jonathan Hyde, Mr. Ismay in
Titanic) and Captain
McDonald
(Tom Beard), Foyle and Sam are
shown a sophisticated listening post that intercepts Russian transmissions. But they conclude
there's more to Barton Hall than they have been allowed to see.
The story of the two Evelyn Greenes crystallizes the crosscurrents that run throughout these
episodes of
Foyle's War. The threat from Stalin's Soviet Union is real and dangerous,
all the more so because many in the West still sympathize with the ideals behind the original
Russian revolution and regard Stalinism as an unfortunate detour that must be tolerated on the
road to achieving a workers' paradise. In the name of their idealism, they justify sacrificing many
lives. But the British military and MI5 do not have clean hands either. In combating a threat that
is far more difficult to identify than the Nazi army, they have ventured into gray areas that, if
exposed, would render the perpetrators liable to prosecution.
Foyle reveals all of this, along with the security leak, but it gives him little satisfaction. It does,
however, earn him the gratitude of Sir Alec, which allows Foyle to offer aid to one of the
innocent victims of what the Deputy Chief calls "this nasty little war we seem to be fighting".
Sunflower (first broadcast: Apr. 7, 2013, U.K.; Sept. 29, 2013, U.S.)
After the war, both the Americans and the British found themselves in desperate need of
intelligence expertise on the Soviet spy apparatus. That expertise was available at a price. The
Gestapo and the SS had spent years developing counterintelligence against the Soviets, and some
of their surviving officers were willing to trade it for new identities and immunity from
prosecution for war crimes. One such SS officer is Karl Strasser (Lars Eidinger), who has been
relocated by MI5 to London with a false identity as a Dutch professor teaching art history classes
in Rembrandt and other Dutch masters.
Strasser lives in a boarding house run by Brenda Stevens (Tamzin Outhwaite) but controlled by
MI5. Stevens is not supposed to know anything about her boarders, but she is the widow of a
Dutchman who died during the war, and she has guessed Strasser's true identity. So has another
of her residents, Mr. Parry-Jones, a former member of Special Operations Executive, who is
disgusted by the fact that Strasser is walking freely around London.
Strasser told MI5 that he spent the war behind a desk, but he is spotted in the street one day by a
soldier who was badly wounded and is still traumatized named Thomas Nelson (Thomas Aitken).
Nelson remembers Strasser's war record differently. He is haunted by fragmented visions of Strasser in an SS uniform commanding a Panzer division
to commit war atrocities; all of these memories are dominated by vividly colored sunflowers in the French Ardennes. Nelson is not the only party who
questions Strasser’s history. Midway through the episode, a delegation from America led by Lt Colonel Hoyt Jackson
(Colin Stinton) strides into MI5, having learned of Strasser's survival, demanding that he be
turned over. Hilda Pierce, without batting an eye, says she doesn't know who they're talking
about.
With so many potential accusers, it's not surprising that Strasser feels unsafe. He complains to
MI5 that someone is following and harassing him and demands that something be done about it.
Sir Alec thinks it's the perfect job for a former policeman and asks Foyle to set aside his personal
feelings. Barely containing his distaste, Foyle meets with Strasser, reviews his living
arrangements and meets with his landlady and fellow boarders. In the end, he cannot draw any
firm conclusions and simply recommends that Strasser allow MI5 to relocate him with a new
identity. And it's at that point that events get
really interesting.
The tradeoffs involved in the Strasser affair are mirrored in a problem that Adam Wainwright
faces in his political life. A former land owner, Geoffrey Helliwell (Andrew Tiernan), complains
to Adam that he's been swindled out of his farm, which was purchased by the RAF during the
war for use as a training facility, with a promise that Helliwell could buy it back at fair market
value after the war. Now the government has procured an appraisal claiming that the land has
doubled in value, which Helliwell says is impossible. The Labour minister to whom Adam is
now attached, Charles Roper (Richard Dillane), says it's all aboveboard, but Adam has his
doubts. When Sam hears the story, she ignores all of Mr. Foyle's warnings about misuse of MI5's
resources to dig into the history of the appraisal and uncovers startling information. (Foyle
discovers what she's doing and gives her one of a series of stern lectures—then helps her.)
In the end, both Sam and Foyle end up in much the same position. Each of them has done the
right thing, but both stand accused of having sacrificed the greater good for the sake of their own
moral purity. Then again, where does one draw the line on compromise? How much do you
sacrifice before you lose touch with the very values that first inspired you to battle (which
certainly seems to be the case with Hilda Pierce)? The exchange between Sam and Foyle that
closes "Sunflower" is typical of
Foyle's War at its best. On the surface, it's a mundane question
and answer. In context, with everything that precedes it, it reverberates through the story and
beyond.
Foyle's War: Set 7 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
The three episodes of Foyle's War comprising Set 7 were shot with the Arri Alexa by Gavin
Struthers, who was new to the world of Foyle but no stranger to historical British drama for
television. (Struthers' other credits include the pilot for
Endeavour and the second season of
Downton Abbey.) As Set 7 is the first to
be presented in hi-def and also represents an entirely
new setting, it is difficult to compare to prior seasons. However, the series has always favored a
desaturated palette with a predominantly brown cast that accentuates both the period look and the
frayed conditions of Britain during the war. This same palette is appropriate for 1946, when,
despite the Allied victory, supplies were short and conditions remained grim. Occasional bursts
of bright color are provided by memories or flashbacks, such as the vivid recollections of
sunflowers in the third episode, and some of the wardrobe of the female staff at MI5 shows more
color than elsewhere. The interior of the "prefab" home occupied by Sam and Adam Wainwright
is also considerably brighter; as explained in the extras, the dwelling was chosen to provide
visual variety and also because it was historically accurate. An occasional side trip to a country
setting provides a welcome refreshment of green.
Detail is exceptional throughout, whether in long shots (e.g., the "typing pool" of assistants at
MI5, where Sam is assigned a desk, or the field of sunflowers where Thomas Nelson's
traumatized memory keeps returning, or the large airfield where an important investigation
reaches its conclusion) or in closeups of Christopher Foyle's polite face and thoughtful eyes—or
Hilda Pierce's iron face and chilly eyes. The Blu-ray appears to have been sourced from digital
files with no intervening analog conversion, which would account for the complete absence of
noise or interference.
Acorn Media has elected to place all three episodes on a single BD-50, with the extras on a
separate BD-25. I would have preferred, at their premium prices, two BD-50s, with the third
episode, shifted to the second disc. Perhaps then the compressionist would not have been
required to achieve the rather low average bitrate, for all three episodes, of 18.65 Mbps. Still,
Acorn seems to have gotten away with it. One of the advantages of digital capture, from a
compressionist's point of view, is that there isn't any film grain, which is one of the most
common sources of compression artifacts. I saw none in Foyle's War.
Foyle's War: Set 7 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
As best as I can tell, these are the first episodes of Foyle's War to be accompanied by a 5.1
soundtrack, supplied on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA. Previous episodes of the series were
released in Dolby Digital 2.0. I can't be sure whether it was the lossless format or the 5.1 mix,
but Foyle has never sounded more involving or immersive, although it is primarily a dialogue-driven series with its roots in the police
procedural. Certainly there are scenes in these episodes
where the multi-channel format gets an opportunity to flex its muscles. The hopeless last stand of
the soldiers in the Ardennes in "Sunflower", and the events that follow, alternate between full
sonic intensity and chilling silence. The portentous approach of an antique plane in a critical
scene has an authentic and suspenseful roar and rattle. A nighttime raid on a secret facility—I
cannot be more specific without spoilers—is full of subtle, and not-so-subtle sonic cues that add
to the excitement, as alerts are sounded and the window of escape quickly narrows. An ambush
of Foyle and another person by a hidden gunman is shocking and loud, both with gunfire and the
sound of breaking glass.
The thrust of Foyle's War, however, remains conversation between individuals, whether it's
Foyle and Sam, Sam and Adam, or any of the various suspects, wrongdoers, bystanders or, in
Adam's case, politicos and constituents. The soundtrack renders the dialogue with clarity, and
fortunately for the American ear, none of the accents are thick. The three episodes were scored in
the series' usual understated manner by Daniel Georgetti, returning from Set 6. (He also scored
The Hour.) The main theme was composed by
Jim Parker, creator of the memorable theme for
Midsomer Murders, of which
Horowitz was the principal writer in its early years.
Foyle's War: Set 7 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
- Brief Series Recap (disc 1) (1080i; 1.78:1; 6:01): After a promotional lead-in featuring
laudatory quotes from reviews, this featurette gets down to the business of presenting
highlights of the first six "sets" in order to set up the beginning of Set 7.
- Anthony Horowitz Introductions (disc 1) (1080p; 1.78:1): Although these are billed as
"Introductions", I suggest waiting until after viewing the episodes to watch them. Each
segment provides historical background on the episode.
- The Eternity Ring (4:59)
- The Cage (4:45)
- Sunflower (5:15)
- The Making of Foyle's War (disc 2) (1080p, 1.78:1, unless otherwise indicated)
- Origins, On the Set, and More (26:58): Horowitz, executive producer Jill Green
(who is married to Horowitz) and historical consultant Terry Charman of the
Imperial War Museum discuss the origins of Foyle's War generally and the
specific considerations involved in creating stories for the post-war years.
Directors Stuart Orme ("The Eternity Ring" and "The Cage") and Andy Hay
("Sunflower") also participate, as do production designer Anna Rackard and
various members of the props department regarding the challenges of recreating
the London of 1946—which, as it turns out, is easier to do in Dublin, because
almost none of that era's buildings exist in present-day London.
- Old Friends & New Faces (14:16): Several of the new regular cast are
interviewed, including Tim McMullan ("Arthur Valentine"), Ellie Haddington
("Hilda Pierce"), Rupert Vansittart ("Sir Alec") and Nicholas Jones ("Sir
William"). The returning cast participants are Honeysuckle Weeks ("Sam
Wainwright") and Daniel Weyman ("Adam Wainwright").
- The Styling of Foyle's War (26:57): Hosted by Honeysuckle Weeks, this feature
explores the care that went into recreating the hairstyles, makeup and clothing for
the female characters in these episodes of Foyle's War, which was of particular
importance for an era in which many women had entered the workplace while
men were fighting overseas. At the same time, both fabrics and cosmetics were
scarce commodities, which required inventive dressing for a professional look.
(The so-called "coupon buster" shoe is a plot point in one episode.) In addition to
Weeks, Alexandra Clatworthy ("Charlotte") participates, because her character is
the MI5 assistant to whom Sam looks as a kind of role model.
- The Sunflower Massacre: Historical Facts, Visual Fictions (17:45): The Nazi
atrocity depicted in the "Sunflower" episode is a composite of several incidents,
which are described by Terry Charman of the Imperial War Museum. To create
the graphic footage, director Andy Hay used a combination of practical and digital
effects. Footage from the location shows the practical effects being rigged and
filmed. Visual effects supervisor Barney Curnow then demonstrates how the
practical effects are enhanced by small additions, such as muzzle flashes added to
weapons that weren't actually fired and additional bullet hits and blood spray
beyond what could safely be achieved with squibs. (This portion of the program is
preceded by a warning about its graphic nature.)
- Photo Gallery (1080i; various; 2:03): A mixture of publicity stills and behind-the-scenes photos.
- Trailers: At startup, disc 1 plays trailers for Acorn Media, Case Histories and Miss
Fisher's Murder Mysteries. These can be skipped with the chapter forward button and are
not otherwise available once the disc loads.
Foyle's War: Set 7 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
Foyle's War has consistently been one of British television's most popular detective series, and these three
episodes, which may or may not be the last, are among the best to date, in large part because they
introduce an innovative retooling of the format without sacrificing any of the qualities that made
Foyle so beloved. Probably because it had a hand in producing these episodes, Acorn Media has
been able to assemble one of the most feature-rich releases in its long history of providing British
TV for American home video collectors. The Blu-ray edition of Foyle's War Set 7 is a worthy
addition to any library, whether you're already a fan of Detective Foyle or are meeting him for
the first time. Highest recommendation.