Foyle's War (series 5)

Cast and characters

At the start of the episode Foyle is in retirement after his resignation a year earlier at the end of Casualties of War. Sam has ceased to be a police driver on being sacked by Foyle's replacement Meredith and is now working as a librarian in the Air Ministry's cartography facility at Beverley Lodge, having been recommended for the job by her seniors at the Mechanised Transport Corps (where, as seen in "The Funk Hole", she never fitted in). She is also helping Foyle write a book on the Hastings Constabulary by acting as his typist (though it is implied that Foyle is quite - indeed, more - capable of typing the manuscript himself). Milner is finding Meredith difficult to work with and therefore considering leaving the police. However, by the end of the episode, the original team of three is reunited.

Background and production

The cartography activity at fictitious Beverly Lodge (filmed at Langley Park, Slough, Berkshire) is based on the activities of the secret mapmaking activities at Hughenden Manor during World War II, which wasn't known until two years before the shooting of this episode. The series' author, Anthony Horowitz, based much of the story on the experiences of Victor Gregory, who was one of the mapmakers at Hughenden, and who was engaged as a consultant during the shooting of the episode.

Another theme within the episode is efforts by the English church to preach forgiveness of the enemy, to establish relations with the German church (such as the German Confessing Church), to grant Germany a conditional rather than unconditional surrender to prevent the unnecessary killing of innocents by indiscriminate bombing of German cities, and to oppose that bombing in itself. The efforts of Dietrich Bonhoeffer towards such aims are mentioned, the fictional Francis Wood (holding the fictional bishopric of Cirencester) leads the movement (in place of the real-life George Bell, Bishop of Chichester), and the character of Samantha's vicar uncle Aubrey Stewart (Brian Poyser) recurs from the episode "The French Drop".

The general setting is also significant, with mentions of increased troop movements down to the south coast and that "the end of the war is in sight". This indicates the April 1944 setting, two months before D Day.

Cast and characters

Foyle's son returns in this episode, as do the American Captain John Kieffer (from "Invasion") and the recurring character Hilda Pierce, played by Ellie Haddington (from the episodes "War Games" and "The French Drop"). 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.

Background and production

A major plotline is the Slapton Sands disaster and the subsequent cover-up. Others include the ongoing preparations for the celebration of VE Day in Hastings (including profiteering on the sale of Union Jacks) and the difficulties experienced by returning servicemen adapting to civilian life.

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, and on Netflix as of April 2014.