Foyle's War: Set 1 (The German Woman / The White Feather / A Lesson In Murder / Eagle Day) (2003)

Foyle's War  is the rare mystery series that does more than plop a  good detective into the middle of a decorative and bygone era. Created by writer  Anthony Horowitz,  Foyle's War  makes profoundly resonant use of British  society in 1940, a terrifying time in which the threat of an Axis assault on  England disrupted ordinary life in often horrible ways, from the resettlement of  city children (into the care of rural strangers) to a spike in xenophobia to a  loss of personal freedoms. Against this heady backdrop is the near-solitary  figure of Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen), a  London investigator who would rather be fighting Hitler abroad but is stuck  solving domestic homicides--generally sparked by wartime fervor--with the help  of a plucky driver (Honeysuckle Weeks) and a steadfast assistant (Anthony  Howell). Kitchen's magnificently measured performance and Horowitz's masterful  grasp of the moral and dramatic issues of his battle-scarred milieu make   Foyle's War  a must.  --Tom Keogh 
      
         
       
       The time is the early 1940s; the place is England's southern coast. As WWII rages around him, duty calls Christopher Foyle. Much to his frustration, however, the stalwart detective's responsibilities are on the home front, not the battlefront. Michael Kitchen (Reckless) stars with Edward Fox (The Strauss Dynasty) and Robert Hardy (All Things Great and Small) in a fast-paced four-part drama heavy on suspense and somber atmospherics. 6 hours 52 min. on 4 DVDs.