Foyle’s War

The great detective series set in the midst of the “good” war

Anthony Horowitz is brilliant.

As a writer, he has created convoluted mysteries, young adult adventures, and a laugh-out-loud iteration of Sherlock and Watson with himself cast in the sidekick role. All his adult books are impeccably plotted. I find them both highly literate and highly entertaining. And when Horowitz turned his had to television writing—especially in Foyle’s War—he produced something that I think is a modern masterpiece.

The Books

If you enjoy intricate, wildly twisting plotting, consider the Magpie Murders. It is a complicated reflection on the detective fiction genre, a story within a story that shifts back and forth in time and place, and ends with just one more twist. The amateur detective, the inspired super sleuth, the “mysterious death in a charming English country village”—this book has them all. The book was adapted into a 6-part television series, as well. If you’re a PBS supporter you may have it available to stream.

Alex Rider, a 14-year-old who becomes a key operative in MI6, the famous British spy service. The young protagonist saves the world from devious villains in 13 novels plus two collections of short stores and a half dozen graphic novels.

In the Hawthorne and Horowitz series, five novels so far that began with The Word is Murder, the author himself becomes a character in the story, teaming with a dour, acerbic, somewhat bitter former police detective who is blessed with the instincts of a modern Sherlock Holmes. The former detective, Daniel Hawthorn, finds himself in need of cash. He enlists the author, Horowitz, as his ghost writer—the Watson/Holmes connection. Entertainment ensues.

Foyle’s War

Horowitz’s greatest creation, however, may be the police detective Christopher Foyle  played by Michael Kitchen in Foyle’s War. The stories pit the quiet, intense detective against spies, profiteers, bureaucrats, putative allies (American GIs), and common criminals operating in and around a small English town during World War II. Foyle, who would have preferred to enlist in the military, is forced to serve on the front lines of the home front in 28 self-contained television episodes that originally aired as two-hour programs on commercial television.

Michael Kitchen as Foyle and Honeysuckle Weeks as Sam Stewart.

While Kitchen, as Foyle, leads the cast, the program would not be as memorable without the memorably-named actress Honeysuckle Weeks who plays his Sam (Samantha Stewart) his right-hand woman and driver.

Foyle’s War is brilliant television. It captures the atmosphere of the time and, in the course of the series, gives viewers the feeling of what it might have been like to live though the darkest of times see the light of peace dawning.

<AN ASIDE>

There is a flaw in Foyle’s War. You can see it in other period films and television shows. The vehicles. There they are, in the middle of a war with everything in short supply, and whatever automobile or lorry (truck) that appears in the program is in perfect mint condition; no dings, dents, or rusty fenders. That is, of course, because they all ARE in mint condition, borrowed from museums or other collections where they have been lovingly restored and cared for.

<END ASIDE>

Human criminals never rest, though, so there will always be a need for an forthright and incorruptible police inspector.

Foyle’s War is one reason we subscribe to Acorn. It’s available on other streaming services as part of their content, and as a rental on still others.

Anon.

Ridge