History Series / FoylesWar

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Reginald Walker from "War Games".

* AnachronismStew: Former SS officer-turned-MI5 asset Karl Strasser refers to himself as a [[spoiler:supposed]] ''Schreibtischtäter'', or "desk criminal," a term widely used to describe the bureaucrats of the Holocaust who organized the killings but did not partake in any violence themselves. However, the term did not garner widespread use in Germany until the 1960's, after Hannah Arendt used it to describe Adolf Eichmann.

* BigFancyHouse: It's a British murder mystery show and therefore required to show off some very fine manors belonging to the local Sir (or Lady) Whomever. Often the epicenter of the crimes committed, though a few are requisitioned by the War Office and turned into intelligence headquarters or medical centers.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Major Wesker in "Killing Time". He pretends to be sympathetic to Gabe Kelly and his girlfriend Mandy Dean, saying he'll help them get married and start a life in America. Instead we find out he never intended to help, and in addition to stringing them along [[spoiler:blackmailed Mandy for sex before murdering her and framing Gabe when she tried to turn the tables]].

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Repeatedly discussed when Foyle is asked (or required) to let off a murderer because they're vital to the war effort, or when the British side starts adopting morally questionable tactics, because if you're fighting the Nazis for their horrific immorality you have to be careful about which of your own principles you're willing to sacrifice. Foyle nearly always comes down on the side of doing what his job as a policeman requires regardless of the "greater good."
* HiddenInPlainSight: The spy in "Plan of Attack" is [[spoiler:Keppler, the German priest. The British agent at the mapmaking office had even dismissed him as too obvious]].

** this could be regarded as a ShoutOut to Private Godfrey of ''BritCom/DadsArmy'' who refused active service as a CO, but served as a stretcher bearer (a very dangerous job) and received a decoration for bravery, which is much respected by his fellow platoon members

** this could be regarded as a ShoutOut to Private Godfrey of ''BritCom/Dad’sArmy'' who refused active service as a CO, but served as a stretcher bearer (a very dangerous job) and received a decoration for bravery, which is much respected by his fellow platoon members

** this could be regarded as a ShoutOut to Private Godfrey of ''Britcom/Dad’sArmy'' who refused active service as a CO, but served as a stretcher bearer (a very dangerous job) and received a decoration for bravery, which is much respected by his fellow platoon members

** this could be regarded as a ShoutOut to Private Godfrey of ''Britcom/DadsArmy'' who refused active service as a CO, but served as a stretcher bearer (a very dangerous job) and received a decoration for bravery, which is much respected by his fellow platoon members

** this could be regarded as a ShoutOut to Private Godfrey of [[Television\DadsArmy]] who refused active service as a CO, but served as a stretcher bearer (a very dangerous job) and received a decoration for bravery, which is much respected by his fellow platoon members

* BittersweetEnding: "Sunflower." [[spoiler: Foyle successfully hands Strasser over to the Americans, Adam exposes his boss' machinations, and Sam is pregnant. But in the process, Foyle and Valentine destroy their careers in intelligence, Adam loses his party's confidence, and if Foyle is out of a job, then so is Sam.]]

** The ugly American stereotype is inverted with Major John Kiefer, a highly professional officer who goes to great lengths to break down the barriers between his men and the locals. When we encounter him again in "All Clear" being openly rude to his British allies, it's a clue that something is seriously wrong.

* BadassGrandpa: While never actually beating anyone up himself, whenever someone says something particularly immoral you know that Foyle is about to open a can of verbal whupass on that poor idiot.
** Supported in the episode "Fifty Ships", when Foyle took out a looting firefighter with one well-placed haymaker.
** Also supported by how protective he is of Sam -- on one occasion he chewed out his successor for not showing due respect, for not teaching his subordinate to show due respect, and for [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking upsetting Sam.]]
** Plus, y'know, the fact that he's a veteran of the Great War, who was promoted through the ranks because there was no one else left alive to lead.

* AxCrazy: The culprit in "Bleak Midwinter" [[spoiler:murders and causes the deaths of the people that might implicate him in a safe breaking scheme to avoid the attention of the police including his girlfriend, Milner's wife and, unwittingly, his partner in crime; the deaths are what bring the police towards him and in a last crazy attempt to get away, he tries to blow himself up alongside Foyle and a hostage with nitroglycerin that his girlfriend stole, not knowing that [[AntiClimax she had to denaturalize the compound to be able to move it safely]].]] TruthInTelevision regarding the [[spoiler:nitroglycerin]], considering that a compound so unstable should not be shaken as vigorously as the culprit did, a fact which [[spoiler:tipped up Foyle regarding its safety.]]

* WhamEpisode: "The Hide" takes a rather different approach to finishing the series than "All Clear" did. In "The Hide," the big reveal about Foyle is that [[spoiler:as a young soldier recovering from a wound, he had an affair with a married nurse, and the man he's spent the episode saving from being executed for treason is actually their son]]. In "All Clear," it was that [[spoiler:he can drive]].

* BlackShirt: In "Trespass", a former member of Mosley's black shirts was attempting to start up a similar organisation in post-war Britain. Although he claims to be in favour of a single European givernment, in his first speech he reveals it will be a Europe free of Jews, Slavs and other 'undesirables'. He whips a mob into a frenzy where they murder a pair of harmless Polish refugees in the mistaken belief they are Jewish.

* DomesticAbuser: There are a few throughout the series. They tend to become corpses partway through the episode.

* AssholeVictim: Gordon Drake. Not even his own wife feels sorry about his death and she was happy to hear he finally got his just desserts.

* AssholeVictim

When ITV decided to stop making the series and make two final episodes, one each for 1944 and 1945, there was rather a lot of complaints -- series creator Creator/AnthonyHorowitz certainly wasn't happy. In the event it was not only given a concluding season, ending on V-E Day, but subsequently renewed for three more seasons set in the war's aftermath; in the final two seasons, Foyle, having retired from the police force, is recruited by [=MI5=] and becomes involved in the early days of the Cold War.

** Another glaring example is an army interrogator in "The Cage" who unwittingly [[spoiler:kills the only doctor that can cure him from a deadly tick-transmitted illness endemic to West Berlin because he could single him out as a commie.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: Loads of people. Foyle particularly [[LeaveBehindAPistol gets a lot of crooks to commit suicide]] after he lays out their schemes shattered before them.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Foyle's suspect in a murder case turns out to be innocent. The supposed victim, his girlfriend, had realised that he was gay and run off, calling him "sick"...right into a lethal fall down a stairwell.

* MotorMouth: It can be something of a challenge getting Sam to stop talking.

** One episode features a countryside hotel where people try to pretend the war isn't happening.

* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: In "Invasion," there are a few misunderstandings between British and American slang--for instance a soldier asks Foyle why a girl asked him for a "rubber."[[note]]In England: pencil eraser. In America: condom[[/note]]

** Dr. Novak, when he hears the news reports from the concentration camps, because he only escaped by the luck of being at a symposium in Paris and unable to return to Poland when the Nazis invaded

** In "All Clear," Andrew returns to Hastings and tells his dad that he intends to get back together with Sam. Foyle's response is a pause, and then a plain "You were unkind to her." Sam expresses her opinion much more sharply.

** Dr. Novak, when he hears the news reports from the concentration camps, because he only escaped Poland by pure luck.
* TakingTheHeat: In "Invasion," [[spoiler:the farmer walks into the police station to confess Susan's murder because he'd told his nephew that she was cheating on him with an American soldier in the hopes that he'd rough the guy up and is horrified to discover her dead. The nephew sets the story straight, however; he had spent the evening verifiably drinking at a pub]]. Foyle doesn't press the charge of making a false confession, understanding why the man did it.

** In "A War of Nerves," [[spoiler:Hammond knows that the Talbots are going to kill him one way or another, as though he won't die anyway from detonating bombs. He arranges to return the money alone. When one of their goons shoots him, he lives long enough to say they should count it--as soon as they open the briefcase it explodes from the [=UXB=] he kept and rigged inside]]. Foyle and Milner arrive just in time to witness it.