Foyle’s War set 7

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

With this set, Christopher Foyle transitions from police work to working for the Intelligence Services.

If you want to know more about what happens with Sam and her husband, then, by all means get the final three sets (7-9). It is also interesting to learn more about Mildred Pierce over the final three sets.

But, having said that, I just didn’t find this quite as interesting as seasons 1-5. I’ve been thinking about why this is, and offer the following:

1) Without Milner in the mix, the the chemistry just isn’t what it used to be.
2) The clarity of justice is far more muddied; working for the Intelligence Services, it is harder to tell who is right and who is wrong. This reason is probably the major ones. The new shows are more depressing than getting a feeling of justice done. It was satisfying to see Foyle arrest the wrongdoer. It was satisfying to see the “bad guy” caught… but I get no such satisfaction from any of the shows in the sets 7-9.
3) I didn’t care for the new opening as much

Let me add that there were still some fun and good moments throughout; it’s not all bad — thus, the three-star rating instead of one. But none of the new shows holds a candle to my all-time favorite, The While Feather (season 1, #2) – the show dealing with Dunkirk was excellent.

Another minor point: I was very shocked and unhappy when the character of Sam first appeared in the first show… the bubbly, happy person was withdrawn and sour… it turns out that there was a reason for this and it turns around, but for a re-introduction, I remember thinking “If this is how Sam will be as a married woman, I don’t think I want to watch this”.

I’m a huge fan of Foyle’s War, seasons (or sets) 1-5, but once was enough for this set. I didn’t even bother to purchase season 8 or 9 – I watched them on streaming to know what would happen, but I really wasn’t motivated to purchase them.

– Amazon Richard

Since this is Set Seven, I’m assuming that you have seen sets 1-6. If not, then start there not here with set seven! Foyle’s War: The Home Front Files Sets 1-6 Of course, this review is influenced by how I feel about sets 1-6! So, I won’t go into who Foyle is or where and when this drama takes place. 🙂 After seeing sets 1-6, I’m betting you’ll want to see set seven!

I love Michael Kitchen as Christopher Foyle. Plain and simply, Foyle is my favorite character of this genre. So, I was anxious to receive the latest offering of Foyle. Kitchen is still marvelous as Foyle. In this installment, Foyle remains brilliantly astute, keeping his head while others are losing theirs, shrewd, logical, loyal (to his “driver” Sam and to his country) and overall the man of morality/character that drew me to him. (He also continues to have a great BS detector which I must say is much needed in his new position! Indeed!)

How I came to rate this feature with four stars is by averaging between the five stars I give Michael Kitchen for his remarkable portrayal of Foyle given the script he had to work with and three stars for the story line. Bottom line, I will purchase Set Eight if there is one.

I just didn’t like the format of finding Foyle in MI-5. He was practically shanghaied getting off of the ship from America by little more than emotional blackmail to assist MI-5 because Sam (played by Honeysuckle Weeks, his driver from previous episodes) was implicated as a spy. In order to prove Sam innocent, Foyle felt he could not say no even though he clearly wanted to refuse. I liked his loyalty and belief in his former colleague by coming to her rescue (so to speak). That is pretty much the plot of episode one in this series. Of course Sam wasn’t a spy (no spoiler there, that’s a given) and after proving she wasn’t, why Foyle then agreed to continue at MI-5 baffled me. I really thought that he should have told them, NO! and then gone fishing and waited until he received a better offer from another avenue that appreciated his keen mind. 🙂 I also didn’t get why MI-5 wanted him so badly when throughout the entire three episodes he was undermined, underused, and pretty much mistreated. It seemed as if he wasn’t needed, wanted or valued in any way. I just didn’t like Foyle being relegated to a position of little standing; I preferred him as Chief Superintendent. The political intrigue was too excessive and disturbing for me. This new set is a type of drama, heavily political, that I don’t care for. I like crime solving as the main component with respect shown toward those characters who deserve it. I would have liked to have seen Foyle return in a role of Superintendent solving crimes. In the previous six sets there were always instances where Foyle was underestimated but by the end of the episode he came out on top. If you’ve seen the previous episodes I hope you understand what I mean. Even though the war had ended, war-torn England and all the country was suffering could still have been portrayed with occasional instances of political intrigue (which was effectively shown in the previous six sets of this series.)

Also, while I am glad that Honeysuckle Weeks returned I was not bowled over by her story line and the sub-plots she and her husband brought to the overall tale. I haven’t decided if she married well. I’ll have to go back and watch the previous episodes, from set six, and see if that helps me decide.

All in all, I love Christopher Foyle. He’s a man I would want for a friend…definitely for me and not against me.

– Elle

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Michael Kitchen, Honeysuckle Weeks
Directors: Stuart Orme, Andy Hay
Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number of discs: 3
Studio: ACORN MEDIA
DVD Release Date: September 24, 2013
Run Time: 274 minutes