Talk:Foyle's War

notes and trivia
I am in the process of creating individual episode pages. I would then suggest moving the episode-related trivia / historical notes to the appropriate pages. Gwinva 20:31, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Done, except this: "Similarly, the county of Cumbria did not exist at the time of the programme being made; it was not introduced until 1974, out of Cumberland, Westmorland and the Furness enclave of Lancashire." What does this refer to? Gwinva 15:03, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
 * It's a reference to War of Nerves.Florrie 12:28, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

broadcast dates
Can anyone confirm international broadcast dates for Series 5? foyleswar.com confirms the Australian schedule, but only refers generally to screenings in New Zealand, Denmark and (quote) "I think, Netherlands". It is a fan site, reporting hearsay. Do we have other references? As far as 'original air date' notes go on the List of Foyle's War episodes page, I think we need to go for the UK ITV screening since Foyle's War is made by ITV. A note could follow somehow to indicate some international screenings predate the official premiere. Gwinva 12:23, 15 February 2007 (UTC)


 * What sort of 'confirmation' do you want? The NZ UKTV online guide doesn't show past programming times, but the transmission dates are listed at fw.com as are the dates for Denmark. Not sure where I mentioned the Netherlands? Not with the transmission dates at any rate. Dates recorded on the wiki page should definitely be the UK air dates. The issue with dates arose only because it seemed to be accepted that FW5 hadn't aired anywhere else at all and therefore shouldn't be counted in the total number of films. And no, we don't report 'hearsay'. Florrie 14:43, 15 February 2007 (UTC)


 * thanks! I must be blind: couldn't see it. The Netherlands comment is from fw.com 'FAQ' section. Gwinva 15:01, 15 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Yep, went looking for it after I saw your note here and deleted it. That's more of a 'don't email me about anything that's answered here' chatty message rather than a factual documentation of data. Actual transmission dates are recorded at the foot of each cast list in the relevant episodes 'people' section. Florrie 15:25, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

If you go to the ABC website (abc.net.au) and type 'foyle's war' into the search box at the top of the page, it will come up with programme summaries and transmission dates. All of the programmes have now been shown in Australia and I have a feeling that there have been some repeats. Perhaps an email to the ABC itself might help there. Do you know when the 2007 series is due for release? Celticgowerman 14:44, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject?
I know I may sound crazy, but what do people think of a Foyle's War WikiProject? Or am I just being crazy? :P After all, Firefly has it's own WikiProject, and it only had 14 episodes.. Leave thoughts here, and if I get at least 2 people with me (I am hoping for Florrie and Gwinva at least :P ), I could see about getting it created. Illyria05 (Talk • Contributions) 05:59, 20 February 2007 (UTC)


 * It's not a crazy idea, but the key would be to get more people on board. Perhaps see who has contributed to Foyle's War in the past, or drum up some support at the Television wikiproject. In the meantime, I'll keep working on the pages as and when I have time.  Thanks for all the work you're putting in. Gwinva 07:21, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

DVD releases
I notice that we have included these on the main page as well as the List of Foyle's War episodes. I would suggest it is displayed on either one page or the other, not both. Gwinva 12:02, 2 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Agreed. Maybe the main page would be best? But, whichever, once is enough. Florrie 13:23, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Okay, I removed it from main page.. I think the LOE would be ideal.. Illyria05 (Talk • Contributions) 17:23, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Series 8 for DVD was released in early 2014. Entitled the Cold War episodes. The guff about TV and DVD mismatches needs to be fixed.220.244.88.51 (talk) 12:05, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

Why are there links to Amazon pages in the DVD release section? Anyone can find these on their own without Wikipedia acting as a shill for a website! They need to be removed! Hesweeney (talk) 06:24, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

Episode pages
In order to conform with standards at WP:EPISODE and an accompanying debate at Village pump (policy)‎, I have merged the episode pages into series pages. This left the List of Foyle's War episodes rather redundant, so I condensed the information and merged it onto the main Foyle's War page. Hope this meets with everyone's approval. Gwinva 15:52, 4 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I have begun reformatting the season pages, and have gathered a number of reliable sources to back up production and historical information. Also want to reformat bullets into prose and remove trivia, but bear with me as I am about to start a wikibreak (busy in real life).  If anyone wants to go ahead with the above, then feel free.  I'll add mine in as and when.  If those at WP:TV-REVIEW turn up, then give me time!  I will come back! :). Gwinva 11:30, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Non-driver
Presumably in some early episode there is an explanation of why Foyle can't or won't drive. It seemed like an affectation to provide a fairly low-ranking police official with a driver, until I saw an episode where Foyle was relieved for a few days and his replacement sent Sam back to the motor pool, saying he was able to drive himself. The description of Foyle would be improved by bringing in the plot reason (if any was ever given) why Sam has to drive him everywhere. Did he lose his license? Can't learn to parallel park? Gets lost easily? Leadfooted and prone to drunk driving? Can't push the clutch because of an old war wound? No place to park near his home? Edison 20:35, 14 August 2007 (UTC)


 * No reason has ever been given on-screen. ~ Florrie  &bull;  talk  &bull; 22:56, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Au contraire - in the first episode DCS Summers remarks to Foyle ""Oh, and I understand that you don't drive? I've never heard of a Chief Superintendent who can't drive, but still...", or words to that effect. Will add it to the article.  Neddyseagoon - talk 00:47, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Doesn't, can't drive isn't a reason. Can't or doesn't by choice or circumstance? It has never been stated on-screen. &bull; Florrie &bull; leave a note &bull; 10:24, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
 * You are assuming that driving was a universal skill in the 1940s, as it is today in the UK. Consider that it may have been as rare as horse riding is nowdays: common, but not a skill everyone can be expected to have. Driving was also a recent skill, drivers licenses didn't exist before 1900 (ie, roughly Foyles birth considering he served in WWI). It was also common for high ranking officials to be provided with a car and a driver for their duties. For example, Paul Brickhill's "The Dam Busters" describes the commander of RAF 617 Squadron being provided with a car and driver, as befitted his position. The driver was provided despite Guy Gibson being able to drive (he owned his own private car). Gdt (talk) 11:41, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Well I'm not assuming anything, which is why I said the reason hasn't been given on-screen. &bull; Florrie &bull; leave a note &bull; 12:16, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Not unexpectedly, there is an explanation, of sorts, given in the final film of the series as to Mr Foyle's driving. • Florrie • leave a note • 01:05, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

A DCS is actually a senior operational police rank (or it would have been if it had existed in the early 40s.) The hierarchy goes Detective Chief Superintendent - Detective Superintendent - Detective Chief Inspector - Detective Inspector - Detective Sergeant - Detective Constable, in descending order of seniority. A DCS certainly wouldn't have been expected to drive his own car, though the driver would normally be a more junior police officer such as a detective sergeant working with the DCS rather than somebody seconded from the army. Lots of well spoken young women worked as drivers in WW2 though, notably the future Elizabeth II. As a comparison, the fictional Inspector Morse is a DCI. --Ef80 (talk) 20:25, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

It is revealed in one of the later episode, either season 6 or 7, that indeed Foyle can drive, but choose to not drive. I sort of recall the impression was given that he choose not to drive so as to be better use the time spent in cars thinking about the cases but I may be wrong on that. I have just watched the most recent 2 seasons on DVD, and can't remember which particular episode it was, but it all came about when Paul's wife goes into labor and Foyle is the only one available to drive her to the hospital. 173.30.145.40 (talk) 15:28, 16 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes, he drives at the end. The plot conceit that he could not drive made for good TV - that way he gets to spend a lot of time talking to a photogenic girl about his cases - or rather, not talking but making curt little remarks in an extremely dry tone. :) In reality, it is I suspect exceptionally unlikely that a senior policeman of his worldy ways at that time would not drive. There was no driving test and any middle-class man with an ounce of gumption and no serious health difficulties and a job that required it would have had a bash. I liked the way they worked it in at the end though - very amusing. Jamesinderbyshire (talk) 16:09, 16 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Foyle drives in "The Cage" (S7E2?), on leaving Samantha and her husband after the meeting where they first discussed Evelyn Greene.
 * T 88.89.219.147 (talk) 07:19, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

Season 6, Episode 3: Near the end, Foyle says, "Well, I never actually ever at anytime said I couldn't drive. I just prefer not to." (2016) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Determined force (talk • contribs) 07:58, 6 July 2016 (UTC)

Historical Accuracy
The first paragraph of this section makes note of the concern of the series creators for historical accuracy. The following three paragraphs work it over as if on an Easter egg hunt with anachronisms being the eggs. By the sheer volume of words devoted to the anomalies, one is left with the impression that perhaps the series is a little careless in this respect. I think it is useful to make note of these sorts of historical inaccuracies, but perhaps some balance could be achieved by elaborating at greater length on the measures taken to be realistic and true to the period in countless details that were lovingly researched and attended to. 74.242.235.235 (talk) 05:40, 30 July 2008 (UTC)
 * To my mind, the "Inaccuracies" are just unsourced trivia, and don't really belong here, anyway. Asd to the positives, if you've some sources which discuss the measures and loving research, then do add them in.  Gwinva (talk) 23:32, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

I removed a couple of unexplained inaccuracies. "The episode 'The Russian House' had a shot of a red kite over the South Coast - not present in 1945." "- and the character addressed as Captain Bradley was wearing three pips on his shoulder." Derekbd (talk) 07:26, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
 * An army captain correctly has 3 pips. Seadowns (talk) 18:13, 15 October 2017 (UTC)
 * The Red Kite was extinct in England in 1945. It was reintroduced in 1989 and has subsequently bred well. I've no idea if the bird portrayed was actually a Red Kite. --80.176.142.11 (talk) 20:03, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

Operation Tiger

Operation Tiger is mentioned in the episode All Clear. However, the disaster is very wrongly portrayed. The number of dead is in fact 946 and not 746. It was friendly fire during a live fire landing exercise caused by a delay not being properly communicated and not German e-boats that did the killing. --86.129.122.53 (talk) 21:21, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

Hastings Harbour Arm
It was in fact built between 1898 and 1902   —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.151.88.27 (talk) 22:38, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

Questionable 'inaccuracy' (smoking and infidelity)
In the version visible today:

"...None of the main cast members are ever seen smoking, most unusual for the 1940s. Nearly every married couple important to a plot has an issue of infidelity...."

Besides being sweeping generalizations, these statements are also demonstrably false and irrelevant. For example, Sam Stewart accepts and smokes a cigarette while on stakeout in chapter 9 of 'Eagle Day' without coughing and gagging. The depiction of main characters as largely non-smokers is consistent with Foyle's exceptional moral clarity and his influence on family and staff who emulate his qualities. If anything, this makes the series subtly more real without belaboring the point.

How much total abstinence from smoking exists currently among young aspiring members of professions like police and military? The behavioral distinctions today are that more people quit in midlife, and smoking is banned in some public spaces, primarily in the US, distinctions which are not depicted anywhere in the series.

Throughout history, infidelity has been rampant. 40% admitted to cheating on their significant others in the Masters and Johnson study. The number is probably understated so likely at least half of everyone cheats, especially among uninhibited criminals.

Consistent with his character, Foyle roots out infidelity as a motive and actively participates in covering it up as a requirement for eliciting cooperation while leaving judgment to God as he does with other controversial moral issues such as homosexuality. It is fortunate that no one pointed to the existence of homosexuals as further evidence of historical 'inaccuracy'. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.183.238.154 (talk) 05:06, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Geographical Inaccuracy
in the last episode that I watched, Sam's American boyfirend said that he had trained at "Fort Benning, Virginia," Fort Benning is actually in Georgia. I have been to Fort Benning a number of times. It is near Columbus, Georgia Geoff. Waterhouse —Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.224.17.31 (talk) 04:11, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

I believe that this is a typographical error that wasn't caught. On a keyboard, the same finger is used for a "V" as for a "G". That is, VA vs. GA when abbreviated. Those filming the show likely did not include an American who might have caught the mistake. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.116.20.126 (talk) 03:56, 5 June 2019 (UTC)


 * While I believe that much of the rivet-counting and speculation about the significance of smoking/non-smoking and whether Foyle is pro-life or not is going a bit overboard, I do think the "Fort Benning, Virginia" thing was embarrassing for the writers of this (IMO) excellent, fascinating series. In another episode, "Sam" says she was taken by her father to Edinburgh, where she had to sit through a long, and to her, boring, discussion of the Book of Revelations (sic).  I would expect a vicar's daughter to know that the last book in the Bible is the Revelation--singular, although adding the s is an extremely common error.  Terry J. Carter (talk) 03:42, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

Quality of this page
May I say that this page has been beautifully compiled, almost to the point of poetry (for example: "She invites herself to eat with Foyle on a number of occasions and covets a turkey"). As well as being useful and accurate, it's just so well written - a credit to Wikipedia Heenan73 (talk) 00:17, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Foyle & Moral Politics - Anachronism
''He [Foyle] has high moral standards, being scrupulously honest. Some viewers may feel that he is pro-life, in that he stated that the murder of a pregnant woman took two lives, however this is speculative in that the position is never advanced in the series. In the same episode (Among the Few), he worked out that one of his son's friends was homosexual, and was compassionate to him.''

The above paragraph looks like someone has fed Foyle through a twenty-first century filter for two hot topics (abortion & homosexuality) that currently divide the USA. They are very trivial matters in terms of Foyle's War, and were not really an issue in World War 2 England. Both were illegal and, so I suppose, when Foyle, as a police officer, turns a blind eye towards someone's criminal activity as a homosexual, it is noteworthy. However, he is a generally compassionate and moderately liberal man anyway - he also expresses distate for prosecuting a woman who attempts suicide, and is reluctant to harass a left-wing speaker purely because of his political views.

So I am not sure if this paragraph really adds anything to the article, except for anyone who is obsessed with trying to find which "side" everyone falls on the issues of abortion and homosexuality. I have, therefore, broadened its scope. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Iacobus (talk • contribs) 01:11, 2 December 2009

possible series inaccuracies
Could the main authors of the main Foyle's War page please check the series information. The latest is Series 6 not 7 (you can check Amazon). The early series were all four episodes; the later were three. I'd change it but don't want to get into an argy-bargy. prayersaint (talk) 09:22, 2 May 2010 (UTC)


 * First, new talk page items go at the bottom not the top of the page. Next, please read the entire article. The new series is series seven. Due to marketing decisions by Acorn Media series four and five (which were only two episodes each) were packaged together and sold as series four, This has created an anomaly in the labeling of the DVD sets when compared to the production of the show in the UK. All of this is gone into in detail in the DVD section. MarnetteD | Talk 10:40, 2 May 2010 (UTC)


 * I am a little confused about the series/season numbering. I cleaned up some pages that had numbering inconsistent with the front page but there were lots of other entries than just the episode pages (so I may have done more harm than good). I would like a consensus about how the series should be numbered and referred to so all the references can be consistent. My view is that the series numbering should match the content creators version of series, with notes to show how other broadcast areas, DVD and reference sites (like Amazon), differ from this. Adam.r.rowe (talk) 22:41, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

Historical accuracy (2)
The Historical accuracy section, although interesting, seems to be largely trivia and original research. Many of the inaccuracies may be correct and several of them have good references, but I believe that the very premise that the series contains inaccuracies needs to be verified by a reliable source. WP:OR is quite clear about this: "Wikipedia articles must not contain original research. The term "original research" (OR) is used on Wikipedia to refer to material—such as facts, allegations, ideas, and stories—for which no reliable published source exists. That includes any analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to advance a position not advanced by the sources." Any thoughts? Wikipeterproject (talk) 20:01, 4 June 2011 (UTC)
 * My feeling as a long term Wikipedia editor is that this is all lovely stuff and certainly belongs somewhere on the internet if not in a book. However it's largely original research and doesn't belong here. I've removed the section. --Tasty monster (=TS ) 23:41, 3 December 2011 (UTC)
 * As a long term editor I can't agree (which is why I reverted). An encyclopedia article by its nature uses different sources which each count if they are relevant to the subject of the article.  A list of facts relevant to the article isn't either analysis or synthesis of material serving to advance a position.  Each of the facts in this section stands on its own.  Some may be challenged, but each is a fact relevant to the subject of the article, and they were put in by a number of different editors.Nightspore (talk) 01:09, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

Too much deleting going on here.

The historical inaccuracies are interesting, are arguably general knowledge, and should be tagged if necessary as source needed, not slap-happily removed because they're unsourced. Ask for sources, but don't make the article less useful and interesting. (I know this comes down to a large philosophical split among editors; source-needed tags could help resolve the split in this instance.)

I don't have the time or energy to revert all these edits, but I do want to object to them. Nightspore (talk) 16:50, 10 March 2013 (UTC)


 * nope, very specific claims of knowledge of times long past require not only citation, but to sources specifically finding fault with this series to be relevant. Let in one, and dozens of these uncited factoids get added. Yworo (talk) 03:21, 12 March 2013 (UTC)


 * That's one theory of editing Wikipedia, but a lot of editors disagree and your complacent "nope" is inappropriate. But I just don't care enough about this: go ahead and destroy -- make the entry less interesting -- instead of asking for collaboration and improvement. Nightspore (talk) 12:29, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

more details
The first episode of the post-war series were broadcast here in Canada on May 26th, 2013. The table currently lists UK and US release dates, and ignores Canadian release dates. Geo Swan (talk) 03:27, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

Language
To say the series was "axed" is unnecessarily subjective in tone. Canceled would be more suitable for a Wikipedia article.Landroo (talk) 13:36, 28 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I agree, but as this is a British subject, British 'cancelled' will be required. Bevo74 (talk) 15:33, 28 August 2013 (UTC)

series over?
I can't really tell from the article if the series is in fact, finished and over with. Will there be more? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.119.151.233 (talk) 07:52, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
 * The last article I read about the show said series/season 9 was set to begin filming this fall, but there was no mention of how many episodes there would be (presumably 3) or when it will air. Metrowestjp (talk) 08:13, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

confusing bit needs help, I think
The paragraph about the cancellation after five series is confusing. It states that the cancellation happened suddenly, causing "Horowitz to throw out scripts set during most of 1943 and 1944, resulting in time jumps of nine months to a year between episodes." Presumably these gaps are during SERIES SIX, since the supposed final episode 'All Clear' is mentioned in the next sentence. Does this mean that the cancellation order happened after series 5 had aired but as series 6 was starting production? Or that after five series it was announced that the next would be the last? Either way, this should be made clear, please -- Thanks for attention to this matter.  ◦◦derekbd  ◦   ◦my talk◦◦  16:18, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

Badly sourced sentence
FTA: As the series progressed, Horowitz became more interested in the 'murder mystery' format than the portrayal of history and exploration of the Home Front.

This is taken from the DVD's production notes, but I don't think those can be trusted to give a neutral picture of what happened. Foyle's War was from the outset Midsomer Murders in WWII, there is no doubt about that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.139.81.0 (talk) 01:43, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Season 4 vs. season 4-5
There has always been confusion on whether season 4 is actually a full season of four episodes, broadcast over the course of two years, or whether they are in fact two different seasons, being season four and five, both consisting of two episodes.

This page lists all four episodes as 'series 4', so does IMDB, but is there good reason for doing this as broadcasters seem to be broadcasting Foyle's War as having nine seasons, and not eight? --Midas02 (talk) 19:11, 26 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Good Q. This website seems to have it at 8, but Acorn Media is merely the distributer of RLJ Entertainment's British content, so that is not necessarily authoritative in itself.  Then again, the RLJE webiste claims "Through Acorn Productions, its UK production arm, RLJE owns all rights to the hit UK mystery series Foyle’s War and is developing new programs." so maybe their site can be taken as authoritative.  Confusingly however, Acorn TV's website lists them as 9, as does ITV's site.  The first Q may therefore then be: Who actually decides how many series (i.e. the producers, the distributors, the broadcasters, the retailers, or "online authorities") there actually are? Jabberjawjapan (talk) 01:34, 27 August 2015 (UTC)

Final season may or may not be on PBS?
Has anyone heard about this? I've heard only a handful of PBS stations are getting the final season. --RThompson82 (talk) 20:24, 28 November 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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