Foyle’s War

Series eight, episode two
Foyle’s war may be Cold these days, but it entails no less drama and tragedy. Indeed, from emigré Jews to Soviet agents, things are now distinctly lively in his neck of the woods. Tonight, a troika of dead Russians lands on his doorstep. Along with a missing local girl, a by-election, a demobbed special forces soldier at a loose end and a mini-Guantanamo in a nearby stately home, our hero has plenty to be going on with.

Foyle is very reminiscent of a post-war George Gently: patient, humane and animated by a vague sense of melancholy. But as always, this show hits far harder than your average period police procedural. Full of nuance and polemical undertones (this week concerning Labour’s post-1945 remodelling of our relationship to the state), it’s ITV’s classiest Sunday evening offering by a country mile. Highly recommended.