A Pilgrim’s Digression

Foyle’s War is a British television drama that combines elements of historical fiction and mystery. In detective-novel fashion, it follows Detective Christopher Foyle, played by Michael Kitchen, as he investigates murders and other crimes in small towns along the southern coast of England.

What sets this series apart from typical detective dramas is the setting: England, 1940. Fear of a German invasion is high, and in the first episode, which I viewed last night, the Luftwaffe begins its bombing campaign against England.

In the first episode, “The German Woman,” we are introduced to a theme that should be all too familiar to Americans or Brits living in the proverbial “Age of Terror.” What do we do with people of the race or nationality of “the enemy” who live among us?

Britain’s solution is internment of all German immigrants between the ages of 16 and 63. However, in a small town on the coast, a local magistrate bribes officials to keep his beautiful, young wife off the lists of internees. When she is murdered, nearly decapitated by piano wire strung between trees in a wood where she routinely rides her horse, Foyle investigates.

Far from a routine “mystery novel,” Foyle’s War is really about how a country fights a war against a crafty, often invisible enemy while retaining its values and respect for human rights. Britain does not come off very well in the struggle, as depicted in the first episode of this series. Officials are portrayed as corrupt, allowing not only potentially dangerous German immigrants to go free, but detaining others out of spite. They are also portrayed as on the take, accepting bribes from anxious parents to keep sons out of the war.

Foyle is a rather stereotypical detective character. He is quiet, almost moody, and he only tells suspects as much as they need to know. He is fond of the “Colombo turn.” That is, he will finish with an interview, then turn around as he starts out the door, saying “Oh, one last thing…” He has a son who is going to war, and the depiction of their parting is either true to life, or unnecessarily stereotypically British. He does not hug his son or cry, but only grimaces a little as he hands him a wad of cash for pocket money. Either this is true “stiff upper lip” British reserve, or it’s unrealistic. Having little experience with the Brits outside of film, I don’t know which.

Adding a little variety to the story is Foyle’s driver, who is a female British soldier named Samantha, or Sam. All of Foyle’s subordinates have enlisted or been drafted, so Sam becomes his de facto deputy. She is a feisty character who doesn’t know her place as merely a chauffeur and insists on accompanying Foyle at crime scenes. Finally, he gives up telling her to wait in the car and accepts her assistance, particularly after she stops a fleeing suspect by bashing him in the face with her helmet.

Overall, as murder mystery there is nothing atypical about this story. The story follows the conventions of the genre as far as creating multiple suspects, suggesting false leads, and wrapping everything up neatly at the end. In fact, mysteries aren’t my favorite types of programs because I can’t stand formulaic stories like this. I really find them irritating. But combining two genres, mystery and historical fiction, raises this series pretty far above the average. I’ll rent more episodes from Netflix and see if I continue to like it.