Character: Jane Milner
Actor: Mali Harries
Episode: The White Feather, A Lesson In Murder, Fifty Ships, Bleak Midwinter
Ah, there is much that could be written about Jane Milner, the sour-faced ice-queen married to Sergeant Paul Milner, but we are a polite, meek-mannered bunch here, so we won't write a thing.
February, 2007; Publicity Release
Mali Harries was delighted to make a return visit to Foyle's War - even though her character, Milner's estranged wife Jane, meets a nasty end.
"I was in the series from the beginning so it was lovely to come back four years later. It was like jumping on a really well oiled train. Anthony Howell is an absolute gentleman and very giving as an actor so when we meet up it is a delight.
"Quite a few of the crew are the same four or five years on and I also got to wear the same little pork pie hat that I wore in the first film. It takes me through to my last appearance!"
Jane returns to Hastings hoping to be reconciled with Milner, but it does not turn out as she hopes.
"They started off in love but Jane is very selfish and treated Milner abominably. She went to live in Wales because his war wound affected the way she felt about him. She wasn't able to help him through it.
"In this episode, she comes back to try and rescue the marriage but unfortunately he has moved on. She is put out by the fact that he has met someone else.
His new relationship is calm and quiet, not exciting and tempestuous as it was with Jane. When she realises coming back to the family home is not possible, she pushes for half the house. She is headstrong and goes with her feelings.
"Then her friend is murdered and Jane thinks she knows who has done it, but before she can tell Milner, she too is bumped off."
Mali was able to bring her Welsh upbringing to the role of Jane. "I play my accent down for Foyle's War because Jane wanted to better herself and leave the accent and Wales behind. But I make sure all the Welsh names are pronounced correctly.
"I am very different from Jane, though. I am not motivated by money - she is quite hard and cold and I am not like that."
Adds Mali: "I've loved being in Foyle's War for the 1940s clothes because I am a shapely woman! The clothes are tailored for hips and boobs, rather than the modern image, and they pull you in and hold you better."
Mali's other credits include Doctor Who, May 33rd, Byron, Holby City and Final Demand. She is now working on a contemporary Welsh language drama Caerdydd, playing a young mother abandoned by her husband, and a feature film 66 (working title).