foyles war

Is Foyle's War based on a true story?

Anthony Horowitz previously opened up about the series' origins

TV & Film Editor
October 28, 2020

Foyle's War follows Christopher Foyle as he looks into crimes committed in England throughout World War II, but is the show based on a true story? 

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While Foyle and his family, friends and colleagues are indeed fictional, the show's creator, Anthony Horowitz, previously spoken about how plenty of the show's brilliant storylines are grounded in real life, and how moving the show from Hastings to London changed the tone of the series due to harsh reality of the time period. 

WATCH: Are you a fan of Foyle's War?

In an essay for Radio Times back in 2015, the Magpie Murders author wrote: "I’ve found myself touching on stories that are often dark and disconcerting, all the more so because they are absolutely true.

He continued: "It’s only recently that [another] terrible scandal has come to light... but it seems that the Nazis were informed about a great many of the agents who were being parachuted into the Netherlands and northern France. This resulted in their immediate capture, torture and execution.

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"Although all the main players in the episode [three] – the French pilot, the head of communications, Elise herself – are based on real people, I have given them different names. I have even fictionalised the department they work for." 

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He added to The Telegraph that he worked with the Imperial War Museum to find out stories about the war for the show, explaining: "The fact that we have managed to continue so long I put down to the really extraordinary, true stories that we have found, working from the start with the Imperial War Museum.

Anthony opened up about the true stories behind the show

"It’s strange that we would never have been able to tell these stories to a mass audience if we were not seen and promoted as a 'murder mystery' show... But the greatest pleasure, for me, has been not the crimes but the way we have been able to explore this extraordinary period in British history. These are stories that deserve to be told and I’m proud that we have told so many of them.

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