Foyle's War: Set Four
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Michael KitchenBrand: Acorn
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 400 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
Movie Reviews of Foyle's War: Set Four
Movie Review: Overfed, Oversexed, Overpaid, and Over Here
Summary: 5 Stars
The fourth series of "Foyle's War," an award-winning British made-for-television historical mystery series, has just made its Public Broadcasting System television debut in this country. It has also been released, in a four DVD set of its four new, feature-length episodes, to coincide with that debut. The popular show, created and written by the remarkably young, talented and prolific Anthony Horowitz, stars Michael Kitchen ("Reckless," "Out of Africa,") as Detective Chief Inspector Foyle. He's ably backed by series regulars Honeysuckle Weeks as Samantha Stewart, his assigned Motor Pool driver; and Anthony Howell, as Sgt. Milner, his second in command. Guest stars in this set include Kenneth Colley, Michael Jayston, and Roy Marsden.
The series is set during World War II: the middle-aged Foyle, who'd prefer to be part of the war effort, must instead fight his lonely battle on the home front, in and around Hastings, on England's south coast; where he has supposedly been sent, from London, to keep the peace. This would be the area most vulnerable to a possible German invasion; conversely, it's also the area where American troops are being massed prior to Dday, when the Allies will invade the continent of Europe. The shows are beautifully filmed on location in London, and on the south coast; each, in addition to a mystery, deals with some of the lesser-known effects of the war: gambling, bootlegging, biological warfare, women in the work force. Horowitz's work has deservedly received top-drawer treatment: there are many speaking parts, all strongly cast, plenty of cars and extras, accurate set dressing.
The first episode in this series, "Invasion," does, in fact, deal with the only invasion this area, and Britain as a whole, actually suffered in this war, that of the American troops being shipped over and stationed in preparation for Dday. At one point, Lord Haw Haw, as the English called one of their better-known turncoats, is heard broadcasting English-language anti-American propaganda on German radio. He's just giving us a variation of what the ordinary Englishman was saying: "they're overfed, oversexed, overpaid, and over here." The satisfyingly complex mystery centers on a provocative bar maid who does a sideline in bootlegging whiskey, and quickly gets too chummy with the Americans.
"Bad Blood," the series' second episode, is also a strong one, dealing as it does with the British Government's secret experiments in biological warfare, particularly anthrax, recently become too familiar to us. The plot's many-layered; as is often the case in Horowitz's work, it gains emotional strength from overlapping family relationships: father/daughter, father/son, uncle/nephew.
"Bleak Midwinter," the third episode, is, to me, the weakest. I'm greatly interested in the subject of women's joining the workforce, in jobs previously considered for men only, in such large numbers. But the mystery's villain sure telegraphs his villainy from the show's opening seconds, and I doubt some of the forensics cited were then available. Furthermore,lighter moments concerned a turkey carcass seized in evidence in a case of rations-cheating, and the fascination the bird exerted on cops starved for meat after years of that rationing. But that fowl sure seemed to hang around long past the point where I'd welcome it on my plate.
"Casualties of War," the fourth episode, was interesting too. Journalists say truth is the first casualty of war: in this episode, the playwright cites that saying, but then goes on to give us several more casualties. People gamble past the point of no return. Education is also in trouble;on top of the bombings, the forced transport of London schoolchildren to the country, and the general dislocation, 20,000 teachers are in the military, and many schools are closed. In addition, we also see the well-known program in which scientists -- boffins, as the English call them -- are trying to develop a bomb that will destroy German dams. "The Dambusters--" these specific scientists and their product, were the subject of several World War II-era movies. We also see the German efforts to spy upon, and sabotage, this scientific undertaking. All in all, it's quite a satisfactory show.
Well, the American troops are already over there, being held in readiness for Dday, June 6, 1944. There's not much European war left, and there doesn't seem to be much appetite for "Foyle's Peace." We'll just have to see. So meanwhile, you ought to get your hands on this.
Summary of Foyle's War: Set Four
History meets mystery in this award-winning PBS series, with four all-new feature-length episodes set at the height of World War II. Michael Kitchen (Out of Africa) returns as the laconic Christopher Foyle, detective chief superintendent in the English town of Hastings. War has torn the social fabric of this once-quiet coastal community, and Foyle?s investigations explore the violence and opportunism that the conflict has fostered on the home front.
Also starring Anthony Howell and Honeysuckle Weeks, and featuring Kenneth Colley, Dermot Crowley, Liz Fraser, Philip Jackson, Michael Jayston, Corey Johnson, Jonah Lotan, and Roy Marsden.
THE MYSTERIES:
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE making-of documentary, production notes, the historical truth behind each episode, and cast filmographies.
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