Also back is the wonderful and offbeat Honeysuckle Weeks as his former driver, Samantha. Not returning is Anthony Howell as Sgt. Milner. That's because the show has progressed in time and moved a few years ahead from the seaside village of Hastings to London in the early 1950s. Where once Foyle felt frustrated by not being allowed into the national service during World War II and having to remain a local police detective, now he's recruited by MI5 for a new war, the Cold War, specifically because they could use someone with police skills. Foyle is reluctant, distrustful of their methods -- but he warily agrees to come out of retirement.
There's a wonderful line of dialogue at the end of the first episode when an officer in M15, Hilda Pearce (played by Ellie Haddington), makes her play to bring Foyle aboard. She was a very minor character from the earlier series of the show -- appearing in only three of the previous 22 episodes -- but whose role has been expanded now that the British Secret Service has become central. She's a fascinating, wildly manipulative, secretive, deceptive older woman who says to Foyle, "I need someone here I can trust." He looks at her pointedly, and in as understated a way as possible (as always for Kitchen), says, "The feeling is mutual."
The first episode back was a bit more mystery-driven than earlier Foyle's, but that might be because of having to set up the new premise. Or it might be the nature of the beast, with the Cold War and MI5 being at the center now. However, it's still the characters and the drama, more than the mystery, that drives Foyle's War. And it's impressive how all the central participants -- starting with writer-creator Horowitz and star Kitchen -- have kept the show as rich, smart and familiar and yet fresh as they do.