Trespass

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.

Not everybody was enamoured with the change of pace 'Foyle's War' took when it was revived three years after its initial cancellation. Didn't mind it generally myself but execution was not perfect and few of the episodes from this two-season period were show high-point. "Trepass" however is the closest this period gets to prime 'Foyle's War' and to me it is the best episode since "The Hide". It's much better than the previous episode "High Castle", which was decent still. Like with many 'Foyle's War' episodes, on re-watch there was much more appreciation had for how well established the character development, tone and themes are and things that didn't quite connect entirely at first made more sense on re-watches.

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.

Writing is intelligent, sophisticated and thought-provoking. The story is well-paced, suitably complicated without being convoluted and is nice and twisty. Much better storytelling and quality than "High Castle" in that the denouement is unexpected, the storytelling feels more complete, Adam is not so much of a problem here (still don't care for him though), there are no overtly evil characters and there are no terrible accents. The sick boy plot strand is quite heartfelt.

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 Britain after 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, while the difficult subject of ant-Semitism has none of the heavy-handedness it could have done, much better handled than the handling of racism in "Killing Time".

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 have really appreciated her development, while Hilda and Arthur have proved to be worthy regular characters.

The supporting cast are strong all round.

All in all, a wonderful episode and one of the best of the episodes from the revival/post-war period. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Chillingly prescient story line considering what the MAGA movement unleashed in the US (one of the tag lines used by the rabble-rouser in this episode was "Make Britain Great Again.") It's one of those convoluted episodes where no one can be trusted to be who they actually are or are trustworthy. As the series neared the end I felt the character of Sam was too intrusive, although the actress still had some charm.

Well done to the writer for putting together something like this where OUR WW2 heroes arent yet home and some radical is calling for the cold blooded murder of ever Jew and foreigner living in the UK and elsewhere. Whilst evident from the outset who are the real villains, a cracking good episode has been created for those who enjoy watching the series, which is much missed given todays quality TV isnt in the same league. As always Foyle comes out with all the truths of what is going on, even though the viewer has to guess as to how he managed to get there. Thank You team. Although for me, the idea of a P M in 1946 who wanted to kills jews I find somewhat appaulling in 2021, given how his party has developed in the last 60 years!

It's easy to think about the Holocaust as an aberration, the Nazis wiping out six million people. Surely when the war was over, things went back to normal. Because a huge number of people blamed the Jews for virtually every eventuality, the bad economy, lack of jobs, lack of opportunity, things hardly ended. Foyle, once again finds himself embroiled in a case where people display their hatred and do some of the things those Germans did. It shows how easy it is to sway a population that is hurting. It was Hitler's greatest "strength." In this one, a conference is going to be held, and there are terrorist groups around (or are there). A young woman is at the center of much of this as well as a bigoted drum beater with no moral sense whatsoever. It makes that old case for free speech versus hatred spilling into the streets. Sam gets involved again, much to her husband's utter shock. Very good episode as the series winds to a halt.

An attack on a young Jewish boy at College raises Foyle's interest, particularly when the Boy's father decides not the take the matter seriously, soon after Foyle returns to the family on a very serious matter.

The second story from the end reminds me of the second story in, The White Feather, in that one we had Charles Dance playing the central character, a prominent, charismatic racist, in this one we get Richard Lintern in a similar role. It's wonderful to see how the show has changed since those days.

This is a very slick episode, beautifully produced, dramatic, engaging and thought provoking. Kitchen is awesome here. Very interesting take on the origins of The NHS.

We've gone from Nazism to anti semitism, Horowitz manages to deal with the subject very well. It's a very tricky and difficult subject, credit to him for tackling it.

Excellent, 9/10.