Foyle's War series 6

Series 6 of the ITV programme Foyle's War was first aired in 2010, beginning Sunday 11 April; comprising three episodes, it is set in the period from June to August 1945.

Foyle's War
Season 6
No. of episodes	3
Series chronology

Episodes

"The Russian House"

Writer: Anthony Horowitz	Director: Stuart Orme	Airdate: 11 April 2010 (UK)	Net duration: 93 minutes	Set: June 1945	Viewers: 7.08 million
Guests: Eleanor Bron, Christopher Good, Tim Pigott-Smith, Marcel Iureș, Tom Goodman-Hill, Giles Taylor, Michael Elwyn, Dimitry Drannikov, Rob Heanley, Polly Maberly, Marek Oravec
In the prelude to the 1945 General Election, Foyle is pressured to remain in his job, given the absence of a replacement. His former CO asks for his help finding an escaped Russian prisoner of war, Ivan Spiakov, who had fought with the Germans in Normandy. Spiakov, seeking refuge, meets a former POW colleague, Nikolai Vladchenko, then heads to "The Russian House" in London. Despite being moved to a safe house, the location is raided by the army and he is captured. Milner, now a newly promoted detective inspector in Brighton, is called to Redwood Lodge to investigate the death of Sam Stewart's new employer, a famous artist. Milner appears cool and distant when Foyle arrives at the scene following on the trail of the Russians. Foyle's investigation into the Russians then leads him to the supposed safe house, which leads to an attempted hit. Foyle learns of forced repatriations to the Soviet Union, which if exposed, could reveal complicity by the British government.

Cast and characters

Foyle is still chasing retirement after his resignation at the end of "All Clear," but his superiors are finding it hard to find his replacement. He gives them four weeks before he steps down for good. His former WW1 CO, Brigadier Timothy Wilson, arrives from the War Office to enlist his help with the search of a German sympathiser and ethnic Russian POW. Meanwhile, Milner, keen to step out of Foyle's shadow and prove himself as a detective, is now in Brighton with his new wife, Edie, and their recently born daughter, Clementine Elizabeth. Stewart has returned to civilian life and had just started working as a domestic for the well-to-do artist, Sir Leonard Spencer-Jones, before considering another offer from Adam Wainwright to work at a guest house. Also at the house is another anti-communist Russian POW, who is now the groundsman and serves as a witness to murder.

Background and production

The major theme of this episode is the emerging effects of the Cold War in post-war Britain, and the commencement of the repatriation of enemy combatants from the UK. For Russian combatants, particularly for enemy sympathisers, anti-communists, and those with knowledge of atrocities, the pending deportation situation was bleak. Part of the plot, therefore, centres on members of the Russian Liberation Movement (aka "White Russians"), who are seeking to avoid repatriation to the USSR. In this context, mention is also made of the Almanzora, a ship used by the British to transport returnees to Odessa, during the repatriation of Cossacks after World War II (and in which ex-troops from the West Indies immigrated to Britain in 1947). The show should not be confused with the 1989 novel, The Russia House, by John le Carré; however, it is also important to note that Michael Kitchen starred in the 1990 film adaptation of Le Carré's novel.

"Killing Time"

Writer: David Kane	Director: David Richards	Airdate: 18 April 2010 (UK)	Net duration: 92 minutes	Set: July 1945	Viewers: 7.09 million
Guests: Obi Abili, Adam James, Andrew Hawkins, Max Brown, Zoe Telford, Christopher Mellows, Sam Spruell, Neil McCaul, Nicholas Shaw, Trevor White, Victoria Lennox, Nicholas Gleaves, Joseph Long, Nick Dunning, Charlotte Riley, John Sharian
Stewart and Wainwright are now running a dilapidated local guest house together, where Mandy Dean, an unmarried mother with a mixed-race child, is one of the residents. Dean, who had been disowned by her mother, struggles to make ends meet and her situation is complicated by the return of her former boyfriend, a boxer named Tommy Duggan who was sent to Scotland as a conscientious objector. Foyle investigates a series of nighttime holdups against apparent war profiteers, leading him to the nearby US military base run by Major Wesker. Dean's lover, Private Gabe Kelly, an African-American, appeals to Wesker to let him marry Dean, but is later set up as the prime suspect in her murder. Foyle uncovers evidence of Wesker's deputy, MP Sergeant Calhoun, and his corrupt, collusive, and racist activities at the base, and of Wesker's complicity in murdering Dean after extorting sexual favours from her in return for supposed favourable treatment of her visa case.

Cast and characters

Foyle continues his work at the Hastings Police Station, where he opposes a racial segregation order at the town council, and in his spare time, continues his hobby of fly fishing. Foyle is supported by a new assistant detective, DC Hadley; Milner (who is now working in Brighton) does not appear in this episode. Stewart and Wainwright continue their work running and organising the guest house, and slowly they begin to become closer as they help Dean and her baby.

Background and production

The primary theme in the episode is prejudice and segregation imposed by the US military on its soldiers and in locations visited by soldiers near to its bases (as seen in incidents such as the 1943 Battle of Bamber Bridge in Lancashire and the 1944 Park Street riot in Bristol). Another theme is that of the "conchies", or conscientious objectors, returning to civilian life along with demobilised soldiers. Underlying all of these is the social stigma against unplanned single motherhood and a tension (particularly among US troops of the time) against interracial relationships.

"The Hide"

Writer: Anthony Horowitz	Director: Stuart Orme	Airdate: 25 April 2010 (UK)	Net duration: 89 minutes	Set: August 1945	Viewers: 7.40 million
Guests: Max Brown, Georgie Glen, Richard Goulding, Anastasia Hille, Will Keen, Steven Pacey, Joseph Kloska, Hugh Ross, Andrew Scott, Maggie Service, David Yelland, Dominic Jephcott, Kirsty Besterman, Rupert Frazer Chris Wilson as DCS Clarke.
Foyle finally leaves Hastings Police Station to his successor, DCS Clarke. As he returns home, he sees a headline about James Devereaux, the son of a distinguished local family arrested for joining the British Free Corps, a unit supporting Nazi Germany during the war. Based on an earlier connection of Foyle to the family, he undertakes a personal investigation of the case. He visits Devereaux's lawyer and then Devereaux in his cell, and he finds a damaged young man unwilling to fight his treason case. Meanwhile, DI Milner is investigating the murder of Agnes Littleton, a researcher for Sir Charles Devereaux. The cases soon merge through Jack Stanford, a comrade of Devereaux in the Free Corps, who assumes the identity of "Jack" and murders Littleton, Devereaux's childhood friend and the recipient of his coded intelligence letters. The final revelation is that Devereaux's father murdered his wife (as their young son, nicknamed "Jack", watched unnoticed from a bird hide) to avoid the family shame of a divorce.

Cast and characters

After his resignation, Foyle makes plans to go to the US aboard the Queen Mary to "tie up some loose ends" — an oblique reference to his determination to bring Howard Paige to justice, since he was unable to do so in the episode "Fifty Ships". We also learn of Caroline Devereaux's involvement as a nurse in Foyle's recuperation from injuries in WW1. This episode not only sees the final appearance of Anthony Howell as Milner, but also sees the budding relationship between Stewart and Wainwright bloom into an engagement at Hill House.

Background and production

The episode prologues with the firebombing of Dresden in February 1945 and ends by highlighting the role of Queen Mary in repatriating returning US troops. It also introduces MI9, whose primary role was to support available European Resistance networks. The Devereaux estate, referred to as Whitefriars in the episode, is fictional but loosely based on the life of William Devereux. In terms of production, there was a three-year gap before the next series aired in 2013.

International broadcast

Series Six was broadcast in the United States on PBS stations on Masterpiece Mystery! as Foyle's War VI on 2, 9 and 16 May 2010, and on Netflix as of April 2014.

External links

• Series 6 on IMDb