Foyle's War (TV Series) Casualties of War (2007) User Reviews

You do realise this is the third time I've been blown up..

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 5 October 2020]

This is an episode that really does tug at the heart strings, I found the most striking aspect being the story of young James, of course the gambling, sabotage and murder as all fascinating, but the trauma that little lad had gone through, and the subsequent act of his mother, it's captivating.

It's great, it's a very, very good, imaginative episode. A cracking story, magnitude production values, terrific acting as always, Kate Fleetwood arguably steals the show, over even the velvet voiced Stanley Townsend who I am a massive fan of.

Two scenes I loved in particular, Kitchen facing of with Michael Jayston, wonderful, and my favourite of the lot, Sam explaining her trauma to Foyle, such a wonderful scene.

I love how this show always made you think about aspects of the war that often went unnoticed, here they make us wonder what happened to the younger generation, with so many teachers on the front line, it's an interesting point.

Hand on heart, this is a wonderful, moving episode. 9/10.

The war may have been a casualty but the episode itself is not

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 4 November 2017]

Loved 'Foyle's War' and was immediately hooked when first getting into it. Love it even more now, on re-watches things that didn't quite make sense at first are clearer and things that were not noticed or appreciated before are and much admired. Everything that came over as brilliant on first viewings still are brilliant on re-watches.

"Casualties of War" has divided viewers and that's understandable. To me it's a good episode but one of the weakest generally of the series, which says a lot actually about how brilliant the best episodes are. There are parts of the story that could have had much more detail and clarity, other episodes feel more consistently logical and explore elements better. Also can understand the criticisms regarding everything inspired by the Bouncing Bomb story, it's just too harrowing, that still hits people hard, and historically significant for it to be misappropriated in as misjudged a way as here.

'Foyle's War' is a series usually very good, even more than that actually, in its very accurate and evocative representation of the period and attention to detail. While there is evidence of all that here, it was a bit of a shock however that the attention to detail wasn't as consistently careful, there are inaccuracies here that are uncharacteristically sloppy and takes one out of the period.

With all this being said, a lot of me cannot possibly hate "Casualties of War" because it also does a lot right despite these misgivings. Have always admired the visual detail that went into 'Foyle's War' and how high quality the production values are, with beautiful costumes, the evocative way the characters are made up, the look of the houses and cars, pretty locations and authentic-looking scenery. The music is in keeping with the mood and doesn't overpower the drama while still making an impact.

The writing is intelligent, sophisticated and thought-provoking, establishing Foyle's personality with so much depth already and providing some tense and heart-tugging moments. The story has its issues, but is still compelling and never dull. It does require full attention as ever, and is mostly very clever and intriguing, pacing itself deliberately but as ever with a lot happening things don't feel dull and there are some nice twists and turns. Foyle's personal life subplot is dealt with with a lot of heart, the main mystery is very clever and compelling and the ending is one of the most shocking of the series.

As ever there is a real sense that war is a central character and the themes are handled tastefully.

One thing that wasn't picked up by me but now is and admired hugely is the tackling of what was seen as truths but some really misconceptions and seeing British during the war in a new light. This was a bold move and dealt with a lot of honesty and tact.

The character tensions were also handled very well and added a lot of intrigue.

Michael Kitchen is truly superb as Foyle, subtle, intensely determined, commanding and above all human. One of the most interesting television detectives there's ever been and Kitchen has rarely been better. Honeysuckle Weeks is charming and loyal and Anthony Howell is very good.

Supporting cast likewise, especially Michael Jayston, Kate Fleetwood and a heart-breakingly nuanced turn from Joshua Lewis.

In summary, disappointing but still well worth watching. 7/10 Bethany Cox

In Too Far to Get Out

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 19 September 2016]

The story begins with a couple brothers trying to burglarize a big, beautiful house. The house is filled with treasures. However, they have no idea what they are walking into. A man is waiting for them and he begins to extort them, having them do treasonous things. At the same time we are introduced to a facility where secret work on a special kind of bomb is being done. Also, there are men involved in illegal gambling. The efforts to put a stop to this (because they act like organized criminals) brings all the stories together. The other significant story is the appearance of Foyle's niece and her shell-shocked son. He is a survivor 9f the bombing of a school where most of his classmates perished. He doesn't speak a work and has turned totally inward. The mother is a mess, but in Foyle's eyes, has always been one. She asks to stay with him and his efforts to help are turned away. Sam tries hard to assist, but the boy remains stoic. The theme of this episode is that during war, many of the rules we play by don't apply. There is a stunning announcement at the conclusion.

Another interesting episode full of plot twists and turns...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 8 July 2007]

Far from disappointing is this well scripted episode of FOYLE'S WAR: CASUALTIES OF WAR, in which Foyle is caught up in a visit from a young woman (his niece) whom he hasn't seen in ten years and her young son who refuses to talk after a bombing at his school kills many of his classmates and teachers. MICHAEL KITCHEN is again in good form as Foyle and the supporting cast does fine ensemble work.

Thrown into the mix are several other sub-plots, the one involving espionage and top secret classified work being the most interesting and the way it's resolved is explored in a satisfactory way.

Nitpicking aside, it's true that those working on highly classified information would hardly be working in the kind of unguarded shack displayed here, but the story involving the clever woman and the cunning way she disposes of her husband is absorbing and well done.

An appealing performance by the young boy helps a great deal, and most of the other roles are filled by very capable British actors.

Summing up: The resolution is a bit downbeat but the story moves at a quick pace and makes an entertaining treat.

Brilliant Examination of Immorality in a Moral War

[deansscreen · 4 February 2021]

Foyle encounters an adulterous couple who murder the spouse of the woman involved in the affair. Not much brilliance there, except that the couple are part of a top-secret project to invent a bomb that can destroy German dams and flood Nazi installations with a roaring wall of water. The highest military officials manage to keep Foyle from arresting the murderous couple because they mean so much to the War. Foyle quits in disgust. By the way, the bomb being invented in the show is an actual bomb that really did destroy a dam and kill not only workers in Nazi installations but countless innocent civilians caught in the path of the flood. As a German documentary later showed, one woman, for instance, woke up in her bed as she floated down the cascade created by the breaching of the dam. Somehow, she survived to tell her story. As the episode makes clear, there are questionable forces (like murder and revenge) that mix themselves into the most moral of endeavors (like the Allied cause) in human affairs. What is a moral man like Foyle to do? What are the rest of us to do in our own times as we confront the same issues in our national and international politics?

Casualties of War

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 20 November 2019]

Foyle has his work cut out in this episode. He has Milner investigating illegal gambling, a new superior officer who is visiting from London and he is another petty, mean minded bureaucrat.

Trouble rears its head when his goddaughter visits who he has not seen for some years, she brings her young son who has not talked since his school was bombed and his fellow pupils and teachers died.

A traumatic child and a disturbed goddaughter is the last thing Foyle needs but he realises that they need somewhere to stay.

There is a sinister Spaniard who has forced two youths to do some tasks for him. The same youths who helped Milner when he was attacked by two goons from a gambling den.

The main plot is Foyle has to find the murderer of a local teacher who had run up gambling debts. His wife works as a secretary in a military research centre. The head of the facility is an old acquaintance of Foyle and he wants the investigation cleared up quickly due to the important nature of their military work, developing a special kind of bomb.

I do wonder why Anthony Horowitz needed to use the development of the real life bouncing bomb as an aspect of the story. More controversial as bombing dams is now regarded as a war crime since the Geneva Convention was updated in the 1970s.

I did like how Foyle's moral compass was offended as the military and police bosses would rather compromise in the murder investigation for the war effort.

There were nice little touches in this episode. Despite his goddaughter's son suffering from shock, other school kids found war to be fun. Playing in bombed out sites. This was mentioned several times by the late film critic Barry Norman as he grew up during the war.

What a disappointment this episode was.

[donflo-2 · 2/10 · 25 February 2007]

Having previously praised the mostly accurate authenticity of this series, this one was a total disappointment. The most crass inaccuracy (how on earth did it get past anyone with half a brain?) was showing an alleged Royal Navy Captain, working at the Admiralty no less, wearing a Thin, Military Moustache!!! There were 'No' moustaches in the British Navy. A full beard OR clean-shaven. Heads should roll for that one alone! Others - A 'hush, hush' secret establishment working on a 'secret' weapon without any security at all???? No guards, overt or hidden? Doors open to anyone? Known to be saboteurs operating in the area? The saboteurs themselves, only incompetent youths? A suitcase full of sticks of explosive detonating but not killing 4 people within a few metres??? A proved hostile 'neutral' diplomat known to be organising sabotage and nothing is done??? Oh, dear, oh dear, oh dear. (145 words)

Don't believe the things you hear about this episode!

[Midsomerlover · 10 May 2007]

I really don't know where people get this, but this episode was brilliant, just like all the others. It had a good story, and it even haves a bit of a cliffhanger with Foyle resigning as a DCI. I really didn't notice anything weird or less good about it and my advice is: just enjoy the episode, and don't read the other comments here 'cause they're worthless rubbish. I am looking forward to the new series, hoping they will air it this autumn or winter, and I hope it will be a good end of the war for everyone.

Foyle's War is the greatest crime series ever (coming after Midsomer Murders)!

An illogical plot

[Bert45 · 3/10 · 7 February 2015]

Of all the Foyle's War episodes, I felt that this was one of the weakest and, as usual, was heavily dependent on Michael Kitchen's flawless performance as Foyle. I think the writer Anthony Horowitz should never have misappropriated the story of Barnes Wallis and the "Bouncing Bomb" for this episode. The Wallis/Bouncing Bomb/Dambusters story is too real and too famous to be used in such a way and surely Horowitz could have invented any kind of fictional secret weapon project to tell the story. Having done this, he added insult by portraying his version of Barnes Wallis as a moral coward taking the credit for someone else's work. There were other glaring flaws in the plot: If the weapon was being developed for a Royal Air Force raid, why was the project under the control of the Royal Navy? How could a supposedly top-secret weapon project be left with absolutely no security, to the point that two teenage criminals could simply walk into the building in broad daylight, see everything and threaten the scientists with blackmail? The ending, too, actually counted against Foyle's character. In wartime, many people were forced into making difficult choices and uncomfortable compromises for the sake of winning the war, and they had to live with those choices whether they liked it or not. Foyle, on the other hand, seemed to feel that his perfect principles outweighed the national interest. He was determined to pursue his case even if it threatened the war effort and, when he found that he couldn't, he resigned and walked away, condemning those who were left to bear the responsibility for what happened. Not everyone in wartime could enjoy such luxury of choice. For me, this undermined Foyle's character.

Disappointing

[pawebster · 5/10 · 19 April 2007]

This series sadly needs to end and soon. It was good at one time. Why didn't they quit while the going was good? The previous reviewer from Australia has aptly pointed out many of the inaccuracies and unlikelihoods of this episode.

Forget Barnes Wallace. After seeing this episode, we now know that the bouncing bomb was developed by a team of three people (two of them murderers and none of them Barnes Wallace) in an unguarded shed outside Hastings.

This was almost like something from the Famous Five.

The clichéd unsympathetic and interfering superior, de rigeur in so many detective series, plays a big part in this episode. We have to be grateful he didn't say "You're off the case!"

The good part of the episode was Foyle's struggle with his goddaughter's visit and his crisis of conscience leading to the shock ending.

supervisor not neede

[Gaslog · 25 August 2021]

Every British crime/detective series seems to have a supervisor that is ignorant and annoying...usually more interested in the politics of police work rather than fighting crime. They don't appreciate the efforts of the main characters or take credit for their accomplishments. This episode is an example. Pie In The Sky and Endeavour are also series that you want to fast foward on DVD when these characters appear.