Series 8 of the ITV programme Foyle's War, comprising three episodes, aired in January 2015 on ITV. Though most episodes were broadcast at 8:00 pm on ITV, the final one was transmitted at 9pm.
Episodes
"High Castle"
Cast and characters
Adam Wainwright is forced, on two fronts, to address the issue of women who went to work during wartime and do not want to give up their jobs postwar. One of his constituents does not want to be demoted to accommodate a returning soldier whose job she had filled, competently, in the soldier's absence. Meanwhile, at home, the Wainwrights struggle over his desire for her to quit her job to become a stay-at-home mother. While Foyle investigates the deaths of Knowles and Linz, Sam Wainwright decides to volunteer for a risky undercover job to find a "Friends of Himmler" photograph incriminating Del Mars' father and his Nazi sympathies. Foyle, unaware of her pregnancy, agrees. Foyle also seems to strike up a mutual intellectual appreciation with Dr. Elizabeth Addis, a colleague of Knowles at UCL.
Background and production
The story takes place shortly after the Nuremberg trials, which ended on 1 October 1946. Linz and others like him were on trial because his firm, IG Farben, had during WWII hired Monowitz concentration camp inmates from the SS. Del Mar and his father, who own Global American Oil, represent war profiteers who, like Linz, should also have been tried during the Nuremberg trials. However, MI5 had a history of looking the other way and of protecting influential people like him because, in this case, the government desired his influence to help the UK build a presence with the Shah of Iran and ultimately, a countervailing presence to the Soviet Union in the Middle East.
"Trespass"
Cast and characters
Adam Wainwright continues serving as a MP, while Sam Wainwright continues helping Foyle with his work. She also takes interest in a local boy suffering from whooping cough. Foyle briefly resigns after being set-up while trying to meet members of an Arab delegation, and it is revealed at the end of the episode that Addis is working for Pierce.
Background and production
The episode opens with newsreel coverage of the King David Hotel bombing in Jerusalem on 22 July 1946, which acts as a background to later tensions over the Palestine issue in London. References are also made to graffiti depicted symbolising Perish Judah, and a Right Club type of organisation which agitates Londoners in Adam Wainwright's electoral district. The show also references the early stages of the formation of the NHS.
"Elise"
Cast and characters
A major subplot in the show is that of racketeer Damian White, a man wealthy from illegal clubs, bars, goods, thefts, and more recently, the sale of state secrets to Russia. Sam Wainwright, still showing no signs of her pregnancy, is faced with a dilemma when her husband is persuaded to crack down on the black market and police collusion in East Peckham, resulting in his arrest when some contraband cigarettes are planted in their home. The series ends with her telling Foyle of the pregnancy and asking him to be the godfather.
Background and production
According to letters found in Pierce's apartment, the story takes place a few days after 3 January 1947. Real events which influenced this episode include Operation NordPol, a successful German intelligence operation in Holland in 1942 and 1943. Other ongoing themes include issues surrounding the black-market and post-war food, goods, and building material shortages, and one scene shows a Happy and Glorious film poster starring Tommy Tinder.
International broadcast
It was broadcast in the United States as Foyle's War VIII, on PBS' Masterpiece and on Acorn TV.
