Foyle's War Set 2 (2003) - DVD Review

Film:
DVD:

Series Created by Anthony Horowitz
Starring Michael Kitchen, Anthony Howell, Honeysuckle Weeks, Julian Overden

Features:

• Four episodes
• Interview with actors Howell and Weeks
• Production notes
• Cast filmographies

Released by: Acorn Media.
Rating: NR
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Rent it.

In the autumn of 1940, brave British pilots in their Spitfires battle German bombers over the cities of England. But some enemy planes still get through and they deliver their deadly cargo. Random death and destruction is the order of the day. But the English people persevere through the devastation, the restrictions on food and fuel, and the constant fear of invasion. But people are still people and they still commit illegal acts, including murder. Helping to maintain the rule of law is Chief Inspector Foyle (Kitchen). With his assistant, Sergeant Milner (Howell) and his feisty driver Samantha (Weeks), Foyle investigates serious crimes and works to maintain the spirit of justice against the expediencies of wartime. Welcome to Foyle's War.

If you read my review of the first season, that about sums up my feelings for this set. The acting and production values are still excellent. The stories are interesting and reveal little known--especially for American audiences--aspects of WWII such as "funk holes" and coloring horse meat green to prevent it being mistaken for steak. The stories relate to today, what with corporations willing to take advantage of conflict to make a buck, the problem of homosexuality in the military as well as the difficulty government has keeping a country running during a war.

The real difference I noticed with this season is how understanding Foyle is. For example, in the course of an investigation, he discovers that a friend of his son's--both young men are pilots--is gay and is attracted to Foyle's son. I know this is fiction and not real life, but Foyle should have had more of a reaction to this. Not revulsion but some sort of shock or disturbance. The actor and the show portray Foyle as a cop who has seen it all and lets very little affect him. But I think he takes the reserved English manner a bit too far to be believable.

There are some differences with the extras in this set compared to the previous one. A criticism I had last time was that the production notes were the same on each disc and there were no specific notes for the episode. Well that has been fixed, for now there are both general notes on the series and the episode. Maybe Acorn Media read my review. There's also filmographies of both the main cast and guest stars, and an interview with the two supporting actors, Anthony Howell and Honeysuckle Weeks. It's the usual affair with questions about how they got started and what they thought of their characters and Michael Kitchen. However Weeks has this annoying habit to stare off when her co-star is talking. It looks like she doesn't care what is going on unless it involves her. I don't understand why she couldn't feign some interest. She is an actress; she could have acted interested.

Regardless, the shows will satisfy any WWII enthusiast or fan of British mysteries. Foyle's War is still worth a rental.

• Buy it from Amazon.
• Buy other Foyle's War stuff from Amazon.