Product Description

The international hit mystery series continues with four stories set in 1941, as World War II rages over Europe. Michael Kitchen (Out of Africa) stars as detective Christopher Foyle, whose loyalties are put to the test as his investigations uncover unpleasant truths that powerful people would rather keep hidden. Grounded in historical fact and filmed in London and the southern counties of England, Foyle’s War opens a unique window on a significant time and place. As seen on PBS.

Also starring Anthony Howell, Honeysuckle Weeks, Julian Ovenden, and featuring Corin Redgrave, Bill Paterson, Stella Gonet, Samuel West, Angela Thorne, and James Wilby.

THE MYSTERIES:

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE behind-the-scenes documentary with interviews and exclusive "making-of" footage, production notes, and cast filmographies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10954 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-11-01
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 400 minutes

Amazon.com
Foyle's War: Set 3, another great suite of mysteries largely written by series creator Anthony Horowitz, finds Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) presented with his best opportunity to do what he has wanted to do since the outbreak of World War II: take a hiatus from sleuthing to join Britain's intelligence campaign against the Nazis. But there's a problem, as Foyle learns in Set 3's first mystery, "The French Drop." The circumspect detective investigates the suspicious death of a young operative whose father, a highly placed intelligence officer, objects to Foyle rooting around top-secret projects. "The French Drop" is particularly fascinating for Foyle's dangerous visit to a government operation that trains agents to employ assassination and dirty tricks in their work. Meanwhile, Foyle's right-hand man, Sgt. Milner (Anthony Howell), looks into an elaborate deception designed to throw Foyle and company off the case.

"Enemy Fire" is also a fine story, featuring Foyle's heroic son, Andrew (Julian Ovenden), a Spitfire pilot for the RAF and a man about to crack from combat stress. Andrew's problems are set against the possible murder of a despicable man whose carelessness as a mechanic caused the severe burning of another pilot. "Enemy Fire" also outs Andrew's romance with Sam Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks), Foyle's straight-arrow driver, to the unsuspecting Foyle himself. "They Fought in the Fields" marries several phenomena about Britain's wartime experience--among them the capturing of German pilots on English ground and the hard work of "land girls" (women put to work on farms)--in a thriller about the death of a farmer. A nice bonus: longtime widower Foyle grows interested in a woman who appears, despite a seemingly low opinion of men, interested in him. Finally, "A War of Nerves" deals with the hard work of "sappers," soldiers who defuse unexploded German bombs, and the sad reality of black marketeers who steal supplies badly needed for the war effort. Foyle also looks into, against his wishes and principles, the work of a socialist activist who makes a compelling case that the war is suppressing workers' rights. As with previous sets, this one is superb in its depiction of little-known facts about World War II's effects on civilian life in Britain. Michael Kitchen, heading a superb cast, continues to make Foyle one of the most interesting English detectives of all time, a figure of unimpeachable integrity. --Tom Keogh

The Houston Chronicle
For mystery fans, Foyle is a must-see.

The Wall Street Journal
The most engrossing Masterpiece Theatre enterprise to come along in years.

Customer Reviews

For more nuanced performances watch the DVDs and not the shortened PBS telecasts
Series 3 of the excellent series Foyle's war was first telecast in the U.S. on PBS on 11, 18, 25 Sep. and 3 Oct. 2005 and was released on DVD on 1 Nov. 2005. However, watching the DVDs of all series is preferable if one wants to see the unexpurgated episodes. Here are the first telecast dates for series 1-4 of Foyle's war:
series 1: telecast UK Oct.-Nov. 2002, US in Feb. 2003 (on Masterpiece theater, with Russell Baker introducing)
series 2: telecast UK Nov.-Dec. 2003, US in July-Aug. 2004 (on Mystery)
series 3: telecast UK Oct.-Nov. 2004, US in Sep.-Oct. 2005 (on Mystery)
series 4: was filmed in spring 2005 and will be telecast in 2006
The PBS broadcasts in the US are edited for a 90-minute period, which includes the Mystery (or Masterpiece theater) opening-closing sequences, between-program promos, etc. This means that each episode is really only 85 minutes long at best. Region 1 DVDs (U.S., Canada), in contrast, are about 100 minutes per episode, as are the region 2 DVDs (Europe--see www.amazon.co.uk): specific values for the 4 episodes on series 2 are (for region 1) 98.5, 97.9, 98.3, 98.3 minutes. Thus in the U.S. for the proper, more nuanced episode watching Foyle's war on DVD is essential and preferable to viewing it on PBS.

Note: In a 28 Sep. 2004 interview with creator-writer Anthony Horowitz, he was asked: "Do you realise that the show is edited to pieces when it's shown on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the states?" Horowitz replied: "Yes we're very sorry about that. It's not something I'd choose to do. It's American networking. I'd advise all American fans to get their hands on the English DVDs to see them in full." I note here that American fans need only get the *American* DVDs to see the episodes in full. Also, if you first watch the shortened PBS telecast, you may later wonder about some lengthier scenes when you watch the DVDs.

A Trip Back in Time: Solving Murders Amid the Bane of War.
"Foyle's War" is as much an exploration of the era in which it takes place as it is a series of murder mysteries. Writer/creator Michael Horowitz based the stories on real institutions and circumstances of World War II, as they were experienced by the 2 generations of Englishmen and women whom we see in the films. The attention to detail in dress, speech, and production design is extraordinary. Series 3 takes place in 1941 and incorporates the Women's Land Army, the early years of Special Operations Executive, and the military's pioneering burn treatment centers into the mysteries. Michael Kitchen stars as quiet, perceptive Detective Superintendent Christopher Foyle, a widower and veteran of the First World War, who feels he should be contributing more to the war effort in spite of his great success as a crime-solver. Sergeant Paul Milner (Anthony Howell), a veteran who lost one leg and perhaps his marriage, is Foyle's right-hand man. And Samantha "Sam" Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks) is Foyle's spirited, youthful driver. "Foyle's War" is a wonderful trip back in time, where ever-popular murder mysteries are set against the intriguing background of a world at war.

The DVDs (Acorn Media 2005): PBS cut these episodes down to 85 minutes for American television. The DVDs contain the full 100-minute versions, which truly are better. There are 4 DVDs, with one episode per disc. Bonus features on Disc 1 are: "The Making of Foyle's War" (24 min) which follows one day of filming "Enemy Fire" on an RAF airstrip in Buckinghamshire, including filming the crashing spitfire. "Production Notes: Anthony Horowitz" (text) comments on history and characters. This was also on the PBS web site. "The Truth Behind `The French Drop'" (text) discusses the SOE that was created by Churchill in 1940 for purposes of sabotage and subversion. In "Cast Reflections" (text), 6 cast members comment on their characters and the series. There are also "Cast Filmographies" for 6 cast members.

"The French Drop" finds Foyle still dissatisfied with being a police detective and trying to get a transfer to Naval Intelligence. He's distracted from his discontent when a young man is found blown to bits in a book depository, apparently a suicide. The only clue to his identity is an engraved gold pocket watch, which indicates that he is William Messinger, son of Major General Giles Messinger (Ronald Pickup) of MI5 and an agent himself for the super-secret Special Operations Executive (SOE), specializing in "the arts of ungentlemanly warfare". Foyle tangles with William's commanding officer Colonel James Wintringham (Samuel West) and interdepartmental rivalries in the intelligence community to unravel this complex case in which no one seems to be who they say.

In "Enemy Fire", the Royal Air Force has requisitioned Digby Manor, the stately home of Sir Michael Waterford (John Wood), to use as a burn treatment center under the administration of the unorthodox Dr. Jamieson (Bill Paterson). Dr. Brian Wrenn (Jonathan Slinger), a surgeon at the center, has become frustrated by a rash of petty accidents that appear to be sabotage. Meanwhile, DCS Foyle's son Andrew (Juilan Ovenden), an RAF Spitfire pilot, is showing signs of battle fatigue from constant sorties and sleep deprivation, exacerbated by an incompetent mechanic, Gordon Drake (Shaun Dooley). Violent and predatory, Drake makes enemies left and right. So it's no great surprise when he's found dead. In Foyle's words, "It seems half of Hastings decided to do away with him at much the same time."

"They Fought in the Fields" refers to the volunteers of the Women's Land Army, who kept Great Britain in meat and potatoes throughout the war in exchange for a pittance wages. Two Germans airmen bail out of their plane as it crashes in the English countryside and are picked up by Detective Foyle and Sergeant Milner. On the nearby Jackson farm, Rose (Paula Jennings) and Joan (Jenny Platt) of the Women's Land Army assist elderly Mr. Hugh Jackson (Nigel Terry), while their outspoken tenant, pole selector Barbara Hicks (Stella Gonet), takes a dim view of men. Mr. Jackson is found murdered in his home, and another German parachutist is found dangling from a tree. Sam joins Rose and Joan on the farm in search of clues to Jackson's murder. And Foyle suspects something is going on between those 3 Germans at the POW camp where they have been incarcerated.

In "A War of Nerves", Foyle's undercover investigation into stolen black market supplies is interrupted when Assistant Commissioner Rose (Corin Redgrave) insists that he investigate left-wing activist Raymond Carter (Peter Capaldi), who has come to town for a meeting of "The People's Convention". Unexploded German bombs are falling all over. When Captain Hammond (Dugald Bruce-Lockhart), Jack Archer (Samuel Oatley), and Ernest Jones (Fergus O'Donnell) of the bomb disposal unit enter an abandoned machine shop at Talbot's ship yard to diffuse one of them, they find a stash of cash and decide to keep it. But Earnest is abducted, Commissioner Rose is putting pressure on everyone everywhere to incriminate Raymond Carter, and all roads seem to lead to the shipyard and its owners, the brothers Talbot (David Westhead & Matthew Flynn).

BETTER AND BETTER
This series just keeps getting better and better. I loved Series 1 and 2 and didn't perceive that there was anyway Series 3 could be any better. I'm pleased to say that I WAS WRONG! Series three is awesome. The characters are more intriguing maturing in a most realistic manner with the stories being even more fascinating. A fine example is "A war of Nerves" that episode truly kept me on the edge of my seat. Likewise, "A French Drop" is spectacular!
If you're into "Good" mysteries, you can't get any better than this. So buy this disc; you'll love it!