Series 3 of the ITV programme ''
Foyle's War
''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by ''Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series '' ...
'' was first aired in 2004; comprising four episodes, it is set in early 1941. Series 3 was broadcast in the United States on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...
on ''
Mystery!
''Mystery!'' (also written ''MYSTERY!'') is a television anthology series produced by WGBH Boston for PBS in the United States.
The series was created as a mystery, police and crime drama spin-off of the already established PBS show ''Masterp ...
'', on 11, 18, and 25 September, and 2 October 2005 as ''Foyle's War III,''
and on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
as of April 2014.
Episodes
"The French Drop"
Cast and characters
In Hastings, Foyle and Milner (whose marriage is now breaking up) spend time dealing with petty crimes and black marketeers. Foyle, wanting to do more to help the war effort, goes to the Admiralty to see his brother-in-law Commander Charles Howard in hope of being offered a job at Naval Command in Liverpool. This ultimately fails. Foyle also has a run-in at SOE with an ex-con called Mason (alias Leo Maccoby) he helped imprison some three years earlier. Stewart returns to her hometown with Foyle, and meets her uncle Aubrey Stewart, the local vicar. This episode features the second of three appearances by the recurring character Hilda Pierce, played by
Ellie Haddington
Ellie Haddington (born 17 February 1955 in Aberdeen) is a British actress with a career spanning over 40 years.
Early life and education
Haddington was born in Scotland. She trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School from 1975 ...
(previously in the Series 2 episode "
War Games
A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...
", and then in the Series 5 episode "
All Clear
''Blackout'' and ''All Clear'' are the two volumes that constitute a 2010 science fiction novel by American author Connie Willis. ''Blackout'' was published February 2, 2010 by Spectra. The second part, the conclusion ''All Clear'', was releas ...
"); she then becomes a lead character in
Series 8.
Background and production
The title of the episode is taken from the phrase "
French drop
The French drop, also known as ''"Le Tourniquet"'', is a sleight of hand
Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or ...
", which is a well-known vanishing trick involving
sleight of hand
Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...
. Horowitz was also inspired by the Special Operations Executive, which
Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
created in 1940 to develop techniques of
sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identiti ...
and subversion. By setting the story in the early days of the SOE, Horowitz was able to use the conflict between the new SOE and the older yet under-prepared
Security Service and
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intellige ...
as a backdrop to the plot. Many of the details are authentic, such as the use by the SOE of
carborundum powder to disable cars,
and some characters are based on people involved with the SOE, such as the
former Shanghai Municipal Police officer and the character of Hilda Pierce, based on the real-life
Vera Atkins
Vera May Atkins (15 June 1908 – 24 June 2000) was a Romanian-born British intelligence officer who worked in the France Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) from 1941 to 1945 during the Second World War.
Early life
Atkins was ...
. Throughout the episode, numerous people are also seen carrying around
gas mask
A gas mask is a mask used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Most gas mas ...
s in small cardboard boxes with a carry string attached, indicating the concern of possible chemical weapon attacks of the time.
"Enemy Fire"
Cast and characters
Foyle is shown visiting the grave of his wife on the ninth anniversary of her death. The tombstone reads: "Rosalind Foyle, June 1902-February 1932, RIP". Wrenn was the surgeon who had amputated Milner's leg. Andrew Foyle receives a promotion to
flight lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the Indi ...
, and is transferred to a training position by
Wing Commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historic ...
Turner, who understands the service he has already performed.
Background and production
The hospital and its patients are broadly based on the work of
Archibald McIndoe
Sir Archibald Hector McIndoe (4 May 1900 – 11 April 1960) was a New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew.
Early life
Archi ...
and his "
guinea pigs
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus '' Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ...
". Waterford's story of
battle-fatigue and self-injury 25 years ago parallels that of Woods' injuries and Andrew Foyle's stress in this war. Andrew Foyle's transfer to a training position at an Operational Training Unit (OTU) is slightly inaccurate.
605 Squadron was a front line unit February 1941 and
RAF Debden
Royal Air Force Debden or more simply RAF Debden is a former Royal Air Force station located southeast of Saffron Walden and approximately north of the village of Debden in North Essex, England
History
The airfield was opened in April 1937 ...
did not have an OTU until March 1941 when No. 52 OTU formed to train fighter pilots using the
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...
, so it would be unlikely for him to fly a Spitfire to a unit with Hurricanes. The scenes at the 'factory' where Ann Preston worked, were filmed at
IWM Duxford's Hangar 3, featuring
The Old Flying Machine Company's Spitfire from ''
Series 1
The IBM Series/1 is a 16-bit minicomputer, introduced in 1976, that in many respects competed with other minicomputers of the time, such as the PDP-11 from Digital Equipment Corporation and similar offerings from Data General and HP. The Seri ...
''.
"They Fought in the Fields"
Cast and characters
Foyle is shown to understand German (in addition to French from the last episode) due to his war service. He also explains that he was part of a police football team that played while in Germany in 1936. Stewart is scoffed at by Dillon because of her "cushy" driving job, and decides to help the Land Girls with the potato crop.
Background and production
With the air and sea campaigns around the UK, a number of
POW camps were set up, as depicted in this episode. The programme also focuses on the voluntary service of the Women's Land Army, started by the government in June 1939 to increase agricultural production.
"A War of Nerves"
Cast and characters
In this episode, it is revealed that Sergeant Eric Rivers, who normally mans the front desk, has a daughter named Gwen. Further, Stewart agrees to testify on behalf of Jack Archer, Gwen's fiancé, later agreeing to be her bridesmaid.
Background and production
The
Chatham Dockyards
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...
provided the location for the shipyard, featuring both
HMS ''Ocelot'' and
HMS ''Cavalier''.
The shipyard racket is based on a real case of fraud by Frederick Porter of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
in 1942, whose ship scaling business embezzled over £300,000 from the government.
Rose also invokes
Defence Regulation 18B
Defence Regulation 18B, often referred to as simply 18B, was one of the Defence Regulations used by the British Government during and before the Second World War. The complete name for the rule was Regulation 18B of the Defence (General) Regula ...
as an extra-legal means of getting to Carter. The episode ends with the announcement of
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...
.
International broadcast
Series 3 was broadcast in the United States on PBS on ''Mystery!'', on 11, 18, and 25 September, and 2 October 2005 as ''Foyle's War III,''
and on Netflix as of April 2014.
References
External links
Series 3on
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foyle's War (Series Three)
Fiction set in 1941
Foyle's War episodes
2004 British television seasons