Foyle's War

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Factual error: Foyle is subordinate to an Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, but Hastings had its own force (merged with other Sussex forces 1943-47) and the Met had no jurisdiction outside London.

Show generally

Factual error: Foyle is a Chief Superintendent. But the series is set during the Second World War and the rank was not introduced until 1949.

The German Woman - S1-E1

Factual error: The episode is in May 1940. The ship in the photo that causes the arrest of Thomas Kramer is a King George V class battleship. The lead ship of the class was commissioned 11 Dec 1940.

The German Woman - S1-E1

Factual error: In the sequence where Michael runs over the innkeeper Judd, the car which comes up behind Judd has very bright headlights with the characteristic three spokes towards the centre. At that time, all cars had to have masked headlights as could be seen elsewhere, including on the earlier shots of the green SS Jaguar outside the pub in daylight. Also, when the car lights are first switched on, it looks as if the later Hartley (louvered) masks were used rather than the early hooded type.

Eagle Day - S1-E4

Factual error: Foyle's son is assigned to be a target for radar tracking, and he is assigned a Spitfire. However, the aircraft depicted is a four-bladed model, which didn't exist in 1940.

goofyfoot

Fifty Ships - S2-E1

Factual error: In the scene when Foyle meets the Home Guard colonel, Letwin, the colonel, has his Sam Browne belt slung over his left shoulder which is totally wrong, especially for an officer risen to field rank. Apart from being intended to provide support for the officer's sword (even if not worn and even if his service revolver is likely to induce sagging), the belt slung over the left shoulder will obscure medal ribbons. Horror of horrors.

Macxlii

Fifty Ships - S2-E1

Factual error: One of the wall pictures in the departure hut in the penultimate scene appears to show passengers boarding a Comet jet airliner, introduced in the early 50s.

The French Drop - S3-E1

Factual error: When Sam reads the newspaper, one article claims that 254 people were killed in a Paris air raid. This episode takes place in February 1941, when Paris was already occupied by the Germans, and England did not bomb Paris. Oddly enough, this same article appears in a previous episode.

goofyfoot

Enemy Fire - S3-E2

Factual error: While repairing Mary Wrenn's lights Gordon Drake says "Someone fused the ring main with a 3 amp fuse." It was February 1941 but ring mains were not introduced until 1947. (00:14:50)

FredGray

Bad Blood - S4-E2

Factual error: In this episode - in 1942 - streptomycin is used to cure anthrax infection. But streptomycin was first isolated in 1943, and first used successfully - on Sen. Bob Dole - in 1946.

Jim Vijay

Casualties of War - S5-E2

Factual error: The naval captain in this episode has a military mustache as prescribed by army regulations. The Royal Navy regulations, however, prohibited separate mustaches and beards - if facial hair was worn, a "full set" of beard and mustache with the beard joined to the mustache was mandatory, and that to be grown to the commanding officer's satisfaction within six weeks.

Macxlii

The Eternity Ring - S8-E1

Factual error: While this episode is set in 1946, early in the London street scenes a red Routemaster bus is prominently featured. The first of these buses was not delivered to London Transport until 1956.

The Eternity Ring - S8-E1

Factual error: The episode takes place in 1946. Numerous scenes are shown in which the public buildings are clean. In 1946 they were soot streaked and grimy black and white from generations of coal fires and pollution. In addition one street scene has a street sign on a pole with a modern graphical notice on it rather than a worded notice of the time. Also, in the same scene the street name plate has a rather updated type face.

Macxlii

The Eternity Ring - S8-E1

Factual error: Eternity Ring is set in 1946. Samantha was accused of spying because she was seen with a man outside The Old Vic. She admits seeing a play there but not the play alleged (Henry V instead of The Cherry Orchard). The Old Vic was bombed in the Blitz and was closed from 1941 to 1950.

The Eternity Ring - S8-E1

Factual error: Foyle is disembarking from a trans-Atlantic voyage from a ship which, in long shot, is painted in Union-Castle line colours. This line served African ports, not the USA. Their ships had lavender-coloured hulls from the mid-50s.

Enemy Fire - S3-E2

Continuity mistake: In episode 2-4 "The Funk Hole " which takes place in the fall of 1940, Andrew states to Sam that his mother died when he was eight years old. In this episode (Feb to June 1941), Foyle is looking at his wife's grave; it shows his mother died in 1932, which would have meant Andrew was born in 1924, and only 16 in 1940, far too young to be a Spitfire pilot. Also, his commanding officer states "the younger pilots look up to you, Andrew", before one of the "younger" pilots (age 19) is badly burned in a crash in Andrew's plane.

More mistakes in Foyle's War

DCS Christopher Foyle: The uniform suits you.
Andrew Foyle: Thanks. I wish I could say the same about your dressing gown.

More quotes from Foyle's War

Among the Few - S2-E2

Trivia: The fuel station features metal miniblinds in several scenes. These did not become available until the early 1940s and would aluminium be diverted from airplane production to blinds?

More trivia for Foyle's War

Invasion - S4-E1

Question: Why in the episode of the unexploded bomb in a children's playground was the bomb referred to in weight using kilograms? Did they refer to bombs in the 1940s in kilograms or pounds? (01:14:34)

Answer: They are using the accepted names of the bombs. During World War 2 the Germans used the metric system and produced bombs ranging from 50kg to 2500kg. Referring to the weight of the bombs in pounds (or fractions of tons) risked confusing the situation and would require someone to understand how to convert from imperial measures to metric, not an easy thing to do when under stress.

More questions & answers from Foyle's War

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