Well, Foyle's Peace has been mentioned in several articles I have recently read about the totally stupid decision to bring Foyle's War to an end. According to the creator and writer, Anthony Horowitz, who is foaming at the mouth at this decision, was told by a brand new head of drama at ITV that this series was being decommissioned. Why? No reason was given and six months after this stunning piece of idiocy the aforementioned Head of Drama left.
How many programmes are there in the ITV canon have the following attributes:
- beautifully acted
- have high production values
- consistently brilliant
- the entire family can watch
Yes, exactly.
Over the last few months I have been collecting the entire series on DVD. HMV seem to be selling them off half price and as I pass a branch on my way to work each day, I nip in and see what is on offer. So far I have series 1-4 and over the last week have watched the entire first series once more. It is staggering to see how the high standard has been maintained. One particular episode, The White Feathers, tells the 
story of a Mosely-like group whose charismatic leader is played quite wonderfully, by Charles Dance. One scene in this particular episode which reduced me to tears, was played out on the beach at Hastings where boats were returning from Dunkirk and Foyle goes to greet a fisherman whose son has been killed while trying to save soldiers in the sea. The father was played by one of those English 'jobbing' actors who appear regularly on the television and in the theatre, no household names here, but his quiet narrative of what happened at Dunkirk and then his crumpling into heartbroken weeping, though it will never win an Oscar, was deserving of one. Michael Kitchen, as Foyle who had just seen his son off to join the RAF, watched and listened and by the slightest movement of his lips and flicker of his eyes, we knew he was thinking that one day this could be him, weeping at the loss of his son.
You may remember that when watching Cranford some months ago, I raved at a simply stunning piece of acting with Michael Gambon and Judi Dench that left me totally overwhelmed, well this did the same, and so have other episodes that I have been rewatching.
Last night's episode was, once more, superb with acting of the highest order. ITV must be stark staring mad to allow this series to finish and I can only hope and pray that somebody, somewhere, will take up the mooted idea of Foyle's Peace (preferably NOT the commercial channels) and will move pretty quick to bring this series and the wondrous Micheal Kitchen back.
Mark you, most television companies have a track record of not taking a blind bit of notice of what the public think, so I am not holding my breath.
