Killing Time

There have been complaints about this episode because it brings in the issue of racism. I have spoken to numerous veterans of World War II, some of my relatives included, and it doesn't take long to realize what was expected of people of color in the military. Those men were vilified, harassed, disrespected, assaulted, and still were expected to fight for the America that allowed this. Admittedly, this is a bit of a contrived episode. It involves a young woman who does not wait for her young man to come back from battle. She has a relationship with a black soldier and the result is a baby. Things couldn't get much worse, under the circumstances. They are truly in love but, of course, the society, even in England, doesn't back off. Many of the Americans stationed in the small community, are from the South (although that is a bit overstated because those from other places are as culpable). When the young woman is murdered, her lover is blamed immediately. Foyle must sort out the motives of these people. He believes the war was fought for the freedom and dignity of all and flies in the face of all those wanting to make an issue of this relationship. It was

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.

"Killing Time" is something of a controversial 'Foyle's War' episode, leaning more towards the less than enthused. Can understand why, but to me it was still a decent episode and better than credit for. Albeit there are far better episodes. Credit is due for doing something different and addressing and tackling the disturbing and sensitive theme of racial prejudice, which was very much present then (even worse than now) and has much relevance now and still an important thing to talk about and address. The episode does boast some powerful moments regarding this and there was a real sense of how bad it was, so much so that Foyle's hardened attitude and how badly he takes it is understandable. It is also different for being set in the war's aftermath and having an even more serious tone.

Can understand why "Killing Time" won't click for some. Although racial prejudice is not a subtle subject by any stretch of the imagination, this is not a particularly subtle or dimensional portrayal of it. The good and evil lacks nuance and is too conveniently black and white (in writing not skin colour), a couple almost cartoonish, and parts of the first half does feel a bit too heavy-handed with the moralising. It is very well intended and there are some very powerful moments, the execution just could have been a little more consistent.

While still compelling and clever with some nice twists (though the ending is not one of the unexpected ones), a little more thought could have been put into the mystery. Not the mystery itself but it does occur for my liking too late in the episode and should have been introduced much earlier, as a consequence the investigating and solving felt rather rushed.

On the other hand, there has always been much admiration for 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.

Writing is intelligent, sophisticated and thought-provoking and there is enough to the mystery and what is addressed that intrigues and compels.

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 background information is so well researched and is every bit as interesting as the mystery itself. 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, with some nice touches of subtle humour as ever. Didn't find myself missing Milner that much.

Supporting cast do very well, nobody's bad but none are among the standout performances of the series.

In summary, decent but for such a great, and often more, series that didn't feel enough. 7/10 Bethany Cox

It's an intense episode, Foyle is caught up in a battle of prejudice and segregation. People fought together against fascism and Hitler, but alas once the war was over racial prejudices were still very much there.

It's such a tough watch, you cannot help but be sickened by many of the scenes, not just the prejudices, but the events surrounding the Conscientious Objector, a man not afraid to fight, but not willing to kill, the scene between him and Foyle in the pub was outstanding, one of the best moments in the show's history I've always thought.

Kitchen is absolutely incredible, as he always was, Charlotte Riley was terrific also.

It's a powerful story, 9/10.

There are much more powerful and subtle and original ways of exploring racism in WW2. This is a collection of cliches and tropes drawn from films and TV and slavishly collated into an episode of Foyle, who hardly features in it. Predictable, trite and completely unlike any episode of this normally excellent series. The characters are stereotypes and Foyle's wit and intelligence is almost entirely missing. I'm a fan, and this is the most disappointing of the entire series.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the seasons prior to this one. You couldn't have mistaken the style with anything else. Then the first episode of this season comes and it got me scratching my head. Not really Foyle's war at all, but I was hoping it was just a misstep. A temporary failure, waiting to erupt from the ashes like a phoenix... not so.

Instead the next episode, Killing Time, turned out to be a disgrace that made me not watch anything coming after it. The hope is lost. It's just another cheap attempt at virtue signalling.

Foyle has become a cartoon character and the series has turned into a modern day Marvel comic. Shame.