Name: Anthony Horowitz
Position: Creator and Writer
Episode: All Episodes
Anthony Horowitz believes it is crucial that Foyle's War should honour the heroes of World War Two.
"Foyle's War is set at a time when people were very heroic and gave their lives for the country. It is our job to respect what they did and get it right and not write stories that belittle the war effort in any way. There are lots of people from that time still with us."
To portray the period accurately, Anthony spends a long time researching the background to each script.
"I start with the date and where we are in the war and basically read around what's happening at the time. Typically for any episode I'll read three or four books on each of the subjects we feature, the arrival of the Americans being one. As I read, I pick up little snippets of information which may be unrelated but nonetheless give me ideas and lead me to other stories and subplots.
"Every story we tell is based on truth, possibly excepting the murders themselves. I always think of the murders being the engine of the script - the reason for it but not the heart of it.
"People do like the fact that we discover so many unusual and interesting stories. It's easy enough to study war in terms of dates and manoeuvres and battles but for me the war comes alive in the everyday detail. I love reading contemporary accounts and diaries. The government was always asking individuals to write down their feelings and those voices are still here."
Anthony tried to find a new way of approaching the arrival of the GIs in Britain for the first film, Invasion.
"I found it difficult to treat the American soldiers in a way that was different and fresh. They were obsessed with girls and were young and into cigarettes and gum and stockings and whipping it up. To write about them accurately I did have to use language and phrases that are almost too well known.
"That said, our story covers ground that hasn't been done before, particularly how the engineers came out in advance and huge aerodromes were built on British land, it was like an invasion. People were living in fear of the Germans but it was the Americans who invaded.
"While I was reading about the Americans I happened upon illegal alcohol on the bases and that became a subplot. It was a serious issue at the time - people were being driven mad or blinded by the stuff."
The development of anthrax as a weapon formed the background for the second film, Bad Blood. "Just a mention of anthrax in one book led me to start researching it. As often happens with Foyle's War, some of the resonances across the years were fascinating. The belief in the 1940s that the Germans had tested anthrax on the Paris Metro and London Underground brings us slap bang to the present day."
Alongside the wartime plots, Anthony enjoys developing his three main characters Foyle (Michael Kitchen), Sam (Honeysuckle Weeks) and Milner (Anthony Howell).
"A long-running series allows you to explore and reinvent and discover more about your characters. That's true of all three of them, although Foyle least of all because his role in life is to be somewhat stalwart and an unchanging force for good in a changing world. But even he has had to live through the absence of his son.
"Sam has fallen in and out of love, and even Milner who would typically just be the sidekick and ask the questions has had a lot going on. There's romance and tension for them."
Anthony is now working on the next series of Foyle's War.
"The first one takes place in Christmas 1942 although it's not exactly a Christmassy episode. Unusually it's not a murder-mystery, it's more of a thriller involving a psychotic and unpleasant central character."
Anthony is married to Foyle's War executive producer Jill Green and his other television credits include Midsomer Murders, Poirot and Murder in Mind plus the feature film The Gathering.
He is also a prolific children's author whose books sell in more than 30 countries around the world. Stormbreaker, the first book in his Alex Rider series, has been made into a family feature to be released in July 2006, starring Mickey Rourke, Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Alicia Silverstone and Stephen Fry, and a new book Raven's Gate was published in 2005.
January, 2006; Publicity Release
Anthony Horowitz believes the strength of Foyle's War is that the stories it tells are grounded in truth.
"I'm so pleased it is a success and I like to think it strikes a chord with people because it is honest television. You're not in fantasy land, you are in a very real world. Foyle's War revisits a period that is very much part of all of us and there's a sense of pride in our achievement as a nation and in what we did in the war.
"We tell true stories about what went on during the war and we are still finding new things to say. The work of the Special Operations Executive and plastic surgeon McIndoe - these are things that people might not know about. I think historical truth married to detective stories gives the series huge appeal."
Anthony was not daunted by the challenge of writing three new Foyle's War films.
"Murder mysteries are themselves hard to write but then you must add in history, sociology and a moral dilemma to the plot. There is a strange knack to doing the scripts. I have about 60 books in my studio and I visit the British Library all the time and it's such a rich area that I am constantly finding new ideas.
"Our burns unit has both horrific injuries and a revue where a matron and patient sing to each other in fancy dress, which is something we haven't seen before on Foyle's War, and it gives it a very fresh look. We explore everything that is available and keep trying to put in new material that will stop the series just being people talking in rooms."
Set against the dark times of the war is the central character of Foyle (Michael Kitchen), who with his team provides the moral backbone of the series.
"Perversely, we are always showing Britain at its worst in story after story. There are thieves, murderers, black marketeers, swindlers and racketeers, but Foyle, Milner, Sam and Andrew are all good people," says Anthony.
"Foyle is not a stereotype, he is a recognisable figure who comes from a huge tradition of middle-aged authority figures whom one can trust. He is a rock - solid, reliable and successful - and yet there is sadness in his life. Love seems to have passed him by since the death of his wife and he fears for the moment his son might die as a pilot, yet he never complains. His loneliness is one of the most attractive parts of his character.
"Foyle is still drawn towards military service and he can't help feel that he is left behind. He doesn't let things eat away at him but he always wants to do more and he never loses the faint absurdity of solving crimes during a war, which still haunts him a bit. But because he always does a wonderful job he is a victim of his own success."
Anthony is thrilled with the way Michael Kitchen has brought his character to life.
"Michael for me is one of the most superb actors on television and he has the most wonderful, expressive eyes. He makes Foyle easy to be with and always very warm. Foyle is attractive and there is a very wry wit to him and as the series has progressed he seems to have more humour, particularly in his relationship with Sam. It's breathtaking to watch Michael play him."
With commissions taking the series to 2006, Anthony is already working on new cases for the enigmatic detective.
"I won't run out of stories but how long the series lasts depends upon the actors involved and the audience. My creed would be to take it to 1945, have a VE day story where everyone is celebrating and some poor sod is left in Hastings with a dead body. You can work out who that would be!"
Anthony is married to Foyle's War executive producer Jill Green and his other television credits include Midsomer Murders, Poirot and Murder in Mind plus the feature film The Gathering. He is also a prolific children's author whose books sell in more than 30 countries around the world.
October, 2004; Publicity Release
Anthony Horowitz, the creator of Foyle's War, believes World War Two offers a rich backdrop for TV drama.
"The Second World War is still with us and people who fought in it are still alive. I think it makes for a richer drama than something contemporary, and it's more interesting than writing about murder alone. But Foyle's War is not really about the war - it is much more about the people and how their lives were affected by it.
"Being a detective on the home front, when there are thousands being killed at war presents Foyle with a moral dilemma. It's a problem defending society and you can't say that it's ok to murder just because it's happening in Europe.
"During the war, there was great opportunity for crime thanks to the blackouts, there were crimes of passion because of infidelity, and a huge black market industry. Families were broken up, people were displaced and if a bomb went off, there could be looting. It's an ideal background for a detective series."
The setting is the south coast of England. "The geography itself is interesting - offering us beaches, ports and seaside towns as well as working villages, farms, castles and manor houses.
"And although the period is historical, it still has relevance today. We built a huge internment camp at more or less the same time that William Hague was talking about internment camps on the south coast for refugees."
Anthony is no stranger to murder stories, having written Murder in Mind, Poirot and Midsomer Murders.
"I think murder is popular because we have a killer instinct as early primates and like to see it from a distance. A magazine once called me a serial killer, saying how many people I had 'killed' over the years. But I think a murder-mystery has to rest on good storytelling. I am fascinated by puzzles and I like my dramas to be intellectual puzzles, just as viewers like to solve them for themselves.
"Foyle's War is a drama first and a murder-mystery second. I would say it's more egg in the sponge than icing on the cake when you have a murder amongst all the developing characters. In the first film, everyone asks why Foyle is bothering to investigate the murder of a German woman. In that way, the murder and the war are totally entwined."
Anthony undertook detailed research in order to create the setting and characters in Foyle's War - his first original detective series.
"I have always been interested in the Second World War period. I had great help from the Imperial War Museum in terms of research. I hope people feel the dilemmas that face Foyle and understand that the emotions and situations were out of the ordinary. However, it's a piece of entertainment, not a history lesson.
"Foyle is a widower with a son, Andrew, in the RAF. Andrew is leaving home and they say goodbye, knowing it could be forever. Milner, his sergeant, has a leg blown off and is a troubled character - his life and his marriage are now imbalanced. And the third member of the team is Sam, Foyle's driver. Before the war, women were not very independent. Sam is young and becomes his driver in a very male world."
Anthony was delighted with the casting of MichaelKitchen in the leading role.
"Michael is a magnificent actor. He studied the script, brought notes to the set and knew his lines perfectly. He had total command of the character and is calm and focused - a total professional.
"He is intimidating as the character, authoritative and intuitive - all good qualities for Foyle which he can play so well. But he underplays it. He can give so much in his eyes, and in one scene he tells the whole story through his eyes."
Anthony also watched the performance of another actor closely. "My 10-year-old Cassian is also in the first film, playing William. He plays the piano and gives a star performance!"
September, 2002; Publicity Release