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I'm not going to be able to watch either, unfortunately. I've been flitting about all evening, having left too much to get ready for the new term to the last minute. My next job is to prise youngest son off the computer to get his bag ready for tomorrow and to get him to have an earlier night. Enjoy the episode.
I was disappointed with Foyles War last night because I thought there were several anomalies, such as:
- No one seemed particularly upset that a police officer had been shot.
- Nothing much was said about someone nearly running over Milner near the beginning.
- Henry, who as a mapmaker had presumably signed the Official Secrets Act, spoke very openly to the priest about forthcoming bombing raids on Germany and even told him that one was planned for Berchtesgarten. However strong his religious ideals, this seems very unlikely.
- Milners well thought out theory about Henrys death being murder rather than suicide was practically ignored.
- The refugee German priest (who, as it turned out, was neither a refugee nor a priest) was given a parish on the vulnerable south coast some time after his arrival in 1937. Wasnt he more likely to have been interned to be on the safe side, because by then it was obvious that Germany was a threat?
- He said at the end that hed been to a seminary but had never been ordained. Would he have been able to cope with running a parish?
- He was found out because he had said he had previously been a priest at a village in Germany and an aerial photograph, intended for use in a bombing raid, showed that the village didnt have a church. He said it was a careless mistake, but it wasnt one the Germans would have made when they were sending a spy to England. (Ref. another thread a prime example of a story being contrived!) And wouldnt the allegedly thorough checks carried out on his arrival in England have discovered this lie?
- The spy wasnt expecting Foyle to turn up at his church to arrest him, but he managed to have a loaded gun conveniently to hand, although I didnt see where he got it from.
- At the end of the episode Samantha said she'd resigned from her job at the mapmaking centre in order to rejoin Foyle at the police station. Were people allowed to 'resign' from such positions so easily in wartime?
My husband was content just to watch it as it was and I kept making comments. Must have been very annoying for him that I was being such a nitpicker!
I have to say I have always found the plots of Foyles War to be ill thought out and holey, and now can't be bothered even watching it! Thanks for the summing up Jenny - it seems I did right to keep away!
Oh dear, Jenny, you might have marked your comments with the words SPOILER. I recorded it last night and haven't seen it yet - sadly I now know a large chunk of the plot.
Did anyone know that Anthony Horowitz, of Alex Rider fame, was one of the original writers of Foyle's War? Also Midsomer Murders, but he says he's now 'distanced' himself from that because of the incredulous plots. Somehow I don't mind as much when MM has incredulous plots because it's almost part of the charm, but Foyle's War is supposed to be serious drama.
He also did quite a few of the Poirot's early on I believe.
If AH has distanced himself because of the plots, then you know there is a problem.
I think it is a reflection on how scriptwriting is going generally. Their apprenticeship is done by writing episodes for soaps- and they're hardly a recommendation to go on and do other things.
I may be being hard, but you can see a general dumbing down and decline in quality.
I do think it was irresponsible of Jenny to reveal so much of the plot. I read only half of the post because I want to watch my recording later in the week. Some sites do have a WARNING - SPOILER system but this should not be necessary on a site like this.
Perhaps we should instigate a warning system to avoid this problem in future.
I think that it is a perfectly valid area of discussion, as it involves writing and construction of.
Apologies to those people who recorded FW, but please watch it - I'd like to know your opinions on the plot. As writers you would have recognised very quickly that the German 'priest' was a fake.
Yes, but I stopped reading your post halfway through. And what about others who ducked out just in time. Are you going to let the rest out a bit at a time.
Spiregate, I don't think you should go on with this.
Jenny has apologised for spoiling it for others- unintentionally, but it does not mean that it should be forbidden to talk about it at all.
Oh for goodness sake! No one made you read Jenny's post. You only had to read her opening line to realise that she was going to discuss the plot, so why didn't you just stop reading and only return once you had seen the pre-recorded programme and wanted to join in on the thread.
I've just watched this episode of Foyle's War and I enjoyed it. It said in the credits that Anthony Horowicz was the writer of that episode. Anyone else enjoy it or am I the only one?
Added information, Anthony Horowitz has a house in Orford. In fact from a picture of his writing room with the lamp in a copy of Suffolk Magazine, I think Ihave seen it from the outside when we visited Orford once or twice.
Comments
- No one seemed particularly upset that a police officer had been shot.
- Nothing much was said about someone nearly running over Milner near the beginning.
- Henry, who as a mapmaker had presumably signed the Official Secrets Act, spoke very openly to the priest about forthcoming bombing raids on Germany and even told him that one was planned for Berchtesgarten. However strong his religious ideals, this seems very unlikely.
- Milners well thought out theory about Henrys death being murder rather than suicide was practically ignored.
- The refugee German priest (who, as it turned out, was neither a refugee nor a priest) was given a parish on the vulnerable south coast some time after his arrival in 1937. Wasnt he more likely to have been interned to be on the safe side, because by then it was obvious that Germany was a threat?
- He said at the end that hed been to a seminary but had never been ordained. Would he have been able to cope with running a parish?
- He was found out because he had said he had previously been a priest at a village in Germany and an aerial photograph, intended for use in a bombing raid, showed that the village didnt have a church. He said it was a careless mistake, but it wasnt one the Germans would have made when they were sending a spy to England. (Ref. another thread a prime example of a story being contrived!) And wouldnt the allegedly thorough checks carried out on his arrival in England have discovered this lie?
- The spy wasnt expecting Foyle to turn up at his church to arrest him, but he managed to have a loaded gun conveniently to hand, although I didnt see where he got it from.
- At the end of the episode Samantha said she'd resigned from her job at the mapmaking centre in order to rejoin Foyle at the police station. Were people allowed to 'resign' from such positions so easily in wartime?
My husband was content just to watch it as it was and I kept making comments. Must have been very annoying for him that I was being such a nitpicker!
My fault for reading the thread, I suppose. :-(
If AH has distanced himself because of the plots, then you know there is a problem.
I think it is a reflection on how scriptwriting is going generally. Their apprenticeship is done by writing episodes for soaps- and they're hardly a recommendation to go on and do other things.
I may be being hard, but you can see a general dumbing down and decline in quality.
I think that it is a perfectly valid area of discussion, as it involves writing and construction of.
You've done it again!
I've emailed Webbo to see if he can add the word Spoiler to the title of this thread.
I just think people shouldn't be so cavalier.
Jenny has apologised for spoiling it for others- unintentionally, but it does not mean that it should be forbidden to talk about it at all.
I DIDN'T get it.
Not on my tv(London area) - not in RT either.