Character: Lt James Wintringham
Actor: Samuel West
Episode: The French Drop

Samuel West found it fascinating to play the head of a little known spy organisation in Foyle's War.
"Wintringham is the head of the Special Operations Executive which was set up to assist the occupied nations in the Second World War. They were undercover agents dressed in civilian clothes who were dropped into France to spy, aid the resistance and help insurgent attacks.

"No one knew about it at the time, it was utterly secret. There was a debate about whether it should be allowed, because it was considered ungentlemanly and just not cricket, which is fascinating now.

"I did as much research as I could. My father always says that even if only 10 per cent is useful, the more you do, the bigger the 10 per cent. We had an extremely detailed and accurate script and I also went to see a fantastic exhibition at the Imperial War Museum. SOE history is full of fantastic stories of very brave people, many of whom were shot as spies."

Samuel's character Wintringham meets Foyle (Michael Kitchen) when he investigates the death of a man in an explosion. Wintringham tries to keep his knowledge about the case a secret.

"Wintringham is clever, committed and resolute. His heart is in the right place and he's trying to do his job to the best of his ability. The men that he's sending to France are going into very great danger and likely death, so they need to know that there is someone behind them who is strong. But his arrogance gets the better of him.

"He makes the mistake of inviting Foyle into their training school and thinks he can be controlled. Of course that's not true. He underestimates the cleverness of his adversary."

Adds Samuel: "I like flawed characters, they're more interesting. People with pure intentions aren't very fun to play. I had to grow a moustache and wear a uniform. It's not just women who like a man in uniform, it's men as well. It gives you stature and poise and certainly helps my posture.

"Foyle's War is a peculiarly good series for getting into the period. We had a very efficient director, Gavin Millar, and there's no one alive who plays an upper middle class 1940s girl like Honeysuckle Weeks. It was also great to work with Ellie Haddington as Wintringham's assistant. She's a terrific actress and I haven't worked with her since 1991 when we did The Sea for Sam Mendes at the National Theatre."

Since filming Foyle's War, Samuel has been busy, directing the world premiere of Helen Cooper's Three Women and a Piano Tuner at the Chichester Festival Theatre and starring in Doctor Faustus and The Master and Margarita at the same time.

"I love to be able to mix the two disciplines, one's objective and the other's subjective. In the New Year I'm directing another play at the Sheffield Lyceum, a production of Terry Johnson's Insignificance, about Marilyn Monroe and Albert Einstein."

Before then he is going to Dallas to perform an entertainment based on Henry V with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra - and also hopes to be able to find time to have an operation on his knee.

"I tore the cartilage in my knee when I was playing Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company. It made itself known during a sword fight and it's the worst pain I've experienced. The operation means I'll be on crutches for four weeks so I hope to get it done before Christmas."

Samuel's other TV credits include Cambridge Spies, Waking The Dead, Longitude, Hornblower and Edward VII and he has appeared in the films The Ring, Van Helsing, Iris, Notting Hill, Frankie and Johnny, Carrington and Howard's End.