Product Details

• Actors: Michael Kitchen, Honeysuckle Weeks, Anthony Howell, Julian Ovenden
• Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Studio: Acorn Media
• DVD Release Date: March 11, 2003
• Run Time: 400 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00007KLE8
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,583 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #2 in	Movies & TV > Mystery & Suspense > British Mystery Theater > Foyle's War
  #50 in	Movies & TV > Mystery & Suspense > Series & Sequels

• For more information about "Foyle's War: Set 1 (The German Woman / The White Feather / A Lesson In Murder / Eagle Day)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

• This is item 1 in The Foyle's War Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Foyle's War is the rare mystery series that does more than plop a good detective into the middle of a decorative and bygone era. Created by writer Anthony Horowitz, Foyle's War makes profoundly resonant use of British society in 1940, a terrifying time in which the threat of an Axis assault on England disrupted ordinary life in often horrible ways, from the resettlement of city children (into the care of rural strangers) to a spike in xenophobia to a loss of personal freedoms. Against this heady backdrop is the near-solitary figure of Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen), a London investigator who would rather be fighting Hitler abroad but is stuck solving domestic homicides--generally sparked by wartime fervor--with the help of a plucky driver (Honeysuckle Weeks) and a steadfast assistant (Anthony Howell). Kitchen's magnificently measured performance and Horowitz's masterful grasp of the moral and dramatic issues of his battle-scarred milieu make Foyle's War a must. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

An original masterpiece theatre mystery series set on the southern english coast against the backdrop of world war ii. Christopher foyle is a detective who is prevented from enlisting by superiors afraid of losing his talents on the home front. Studio: Acorn Media Release Date: 03/11/2003 Starring: Michale Kitchen Run time: 400 minutes

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Foyling (sic) the bad guys on the home front, August 1, 2004

By	Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Perhaps it's my affection for England - a love that makes my wife roll her eyes - that causes me to have a higher regard for BBC and ITV small screen productions than those of America, which seem so crass in comparison. So many of the former seem uncommonly funny, intelligent, or both. FOYLE'S WAR is an uncommonly intelligent detective drama, a period piece set on England's south coast in 1940. And, to keep the record straight, my wife's dedication to this series is at least as pronounced as mine, if not more so.

Michael Kitchen is Detective Inspector Christopher Foyle, who's ordered to remain at his post as homicide investigator for Hastings and its environs; he'd much rather be doing his bit for King and Empire fighting the Nazis across the Channel. Indeed, his son is a flying officer with the RAF. The two other series regulars are Samantha "Sam" Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks), the Women's Royal Army Corps enlistee assigned as his driver, and Paul Milner (Anthony Howell), Foyle's assistant inspector recently returned to home front duty after being wounded with the Army during the disastrous British invasion of Norway.

In Series One,the murders occur in contexts that include sexual harassment, anti-semitism, police brutality, local jingoism, sabotage, and conscientious objection - all set against a backdrop of Luftwaffe bombing raids and the fear of imminent amphibious invasion by the German Wehrmacht.

The character of Foyle - intelligent, perceptive, reserved, compassionate, wounded by his wife's recent death, worried for his son's safety - epitomizes the phrase "still waters run deep." The viewer embarks into each episode wondering what new layer of Foyle's persona will be revealed. (Not to give too much away, but I've just seen the first episode of Series Two, which gives evidence of an old and tragic love affair involving Foyle and a now-married gentlewoman.) And the evolution of the relationship between Foyle and the occasionally cheeky Sam is one of the major delights of the miniseries as the latter proves she's smart, intuitive, and potentially more useful than just a lowly chauffeur.

The various murders investigated by the trio are never straightforward, but involve clever plot twists and hidden motives, the solutions to which silently gestate in the Inspector's mind before being revealed at the end of the story, much like the Sherlock Holmes mysteries of old.

There are, of course, uneven moments to Series One which allow for only four stars. I trust, as the show matures, that it will only get better. The areas that need no improvement are the period costuming, props and sets, all of which are superbly done and a delight to an Anglophile.

85 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Count this for six stars at least, May 8, 2003

By	Irreverent "irreverent" (La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews

This is a worthy new addition to the best British mystery series -- heavy praise from me. As a red-eyed fan of Morse, Dalgliesh, Poirot, Holmes (Brett), Smiley, Wimsey, etc., I am picky, having hosed off Oscar(R) winners and sequel spawners with a couple of stars and a flood of sarcasm. However, my only misgivings about the five-star award to this (thank heaven only the first) "Foyle's War" set is that Amazon.com would not allow me to give it all the stars it merits.

I especially like its Britain -- no London / manorial ambience: Hitler lurks 30 miles across the Channel washing at our feet, the Battle of Britain has yet to be won, the Yanks not yet "overpaid, oversexed, and over here." At any time, a storm of Nazi bombs, naval gunfire, and assault troops could smash into the deceptively tranquil seaside setting, making the visit from William the Conqueror 874 years earlier seem like a romp in the meadow.

Foyle is recently widowed, and must also solve cases not only amid the chaos of the Dunkirk rescue and attempts to set up coastal defenses, but also knowing that his son is one of the outnumbered pilots keeping the Nazi storm offshore, even falsely accused by a dishonest superior in one episode. Foyle is human, doesn't drive(!) and is not delighted that his driver Sam turns out to be a Samantha -- until she conks a felon escaping him. Kitchen and Weeks are perfect, with Weeks's heroic status multiplied by learning from the DVD extras that she DID OVER ONE HUNDRED TAKES of eating the same sandwich and still made it look like her first bite. Too bad we so seldom find actors as uniformly marvelous as in British productions.

I will expand no more on the excellent reviews by others who appreciated this series, except to agree most enthusiastically. This is not only a superb mystery series, but an excellent reminder, in a setting not well-known in the US, of the courage and determination that the ordinary Brits found among their sometimes lovable quirks at a time when they stood alone as others caved in to Hitler.

The technological quality of the DVD's is superb. These great British TV series are reason enough to stay with the 4:3 format and leave wide screens to those whose taste has sunk to (or never rose above) Hollywood.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great new mystery series, March 13, 2003

By A Customer

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Fans of Inspector Morse who are still mourning the death of John Thaw will find this series a satisfying replacement, which was the intent of the British television moguls who first televised it. Like Morse, Kitchen's Foyle is a man of many layers, silent when others would be losing it. Both of his 'sidekicks' are engaging, with problems of their own (though neither replaces 'Robby', who was Morse's Greek chorus). What makes this series unique is how it brings World War II to life. The second episode, 'The White Feather', is striking in its topicality - the pacifists vs. those who see war as inevitable. In the light of what we know now about Hitler, the outcome of our own 'war' may be seen by future generations just as differently. Foyle joins the ranks of other great British detectives and I hope he will be around a long time.

For the main reviewer, Foyle is not a London detective. He lives on the coast (mainly because it would have been too expensive to try to get a 40's look in London). For those who think Foyle is 'righteous', I think we could substitute 'principled'. I was around for that generation and many of them lived by what they thought was right, not by what lie they could 'spin'.

Give this series a chance and I think you'll be hooked.