Jan 12 2015 update: Foyle’s War to end. Scroll down for the full announcement.

“I’M a huge Foyle’s War fan.

“I’ve seen every episode and have given dozens of box sets of it away at Christmas to various relatives and friends.

“Now they’re all just dying to see the new series because they’re big fans too and they know I’m going to be in it. It’s a special thing.”

Frasier star John Mahoney talking to me in the car park of Nantwich Town Football Club in Cheshire on a chilly day in January 2014.

‘The Dabbers’ play in the Evo Stik Premier League. But that’s not why we’re here today.

John and I are sitting in his location base trailer during a break from filming Foyle’s War in a very grand house not far away.

In truth, it’s a special thing for me to finally meet the actor who played Marty Crane in one of the greatest sitcoms of all time.

And astonishing to realise that – at 74 – this is his very first role in a British TV drama.

“It is amazing,” he agrees. “I’ve just never been asked.”

Chicago-­based John plays Andrew Del Mar, a retired Texas oil tycoon and former chairman of Global American Oil.

Now ailing and bedbound in the London home of his son Clayton (Nigel Lindsay).

He appears in High Castle, the first of three new Foyle’s War films – series eight – on ITV at 8pm this Sunday (January 4 2015).

John and I went on to talk about many things, including those Frasier years.

Together with his memories of working with Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin.

Not forgetting Eddie – ex-cop Marty’s dog.

While regular cast members Honeysuckle Weeks (Samantha Stewart) and Daniel Weyman (Adam Wainwright) also had some fascinating things to say.

Click on the link below to read my interviews for ITV with John, Honeysuckle and Daniel.

Foyle’s War 2015 Wylie ITV Interviews

Jan 12 2015 update:

What I haven’t been able to report until today is that this is the final series of Foyle’s War.

ITV confirmed the news in the press release below:

ITV, Eleventh Hour Films and Acorn Productions today confirmed that the award-winning drama series Foyle’s War, starring Michael Kitchen, will air its final episode on Sunday 18 January 2015 at 8pm on ITV.

Writer and creater, Anthony Horowitz OBE, has penned the iconic Foyle’s last ever case, Elise, which sees award-winning actor, Michael Kitchen star as one of television’s favourite detectives, Christopher Foyle, Senior Intelligence Officer for the secret service, MI5, for the final time in this two-hour drama.

In the dramatic finale to the much loved series, Foyle must re-examine Hilda Pierce’s top secret role during the war within SOE (Special Operations Executive) following an assassination attempt on her life outside MI5. SOE French section sent many agents behind enemy lines and Foyle suspects the shooting may be connected to the hunt for a traitor within SOE called Plato who could have been behind the deaths of nine agents in France.

Anthony Horowitz first thought up the idea of Foyle’s War in 2000 and has scripted twenty-four two-hour films. Foyle’s War has travelled from the start of the war to Dunkirk, the Blitz, VE Day and the Cold War with secret intelligence, Soviet spies and the atomic bomb. Along with the murders and mysteries, Foyle’s War has explored many remarkable stories including the quiet heroism of the SOE, the genius and original thinking of the men and women behind the bouncing bomb, the development of plastic surgery and the invention of radar.

Anthony Horowitz said: “It feels a terrible wrench to say goodbye to characters I’ve lived with for more than fifteen years. But the truth is that I’m not sure there are any more stories to tell and anyway it was always my intention to end on a high note and I think this year’s episodes are the very best we’ve done.

“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved with Foyle’s War and I’m very grateful to the audience that has stayed with us for so long. I’ve had a good war.”

Jill Green, Executive Producer Eleventh Hour Films said: “We have made twenty-eight successful feature length films-a huge body of work-with the quality rising every year. So it is good to be closing on a high, and having the time to now offer our loyal audiences new dramas.

“Michael Kitchen, Honeysuckle Weeks and several crew have been with us for every episode across a fourteen year period….so particular thanks again to them.”

The cast joining Michael Kitchen for the final episode includes series regulars Honeysuckle Weeks, Daniel Weyman, Ellie Haddington, Tim McMullan and Rupert Vansittart, with guest stars Katherine Press, Emma Fielding, Tony Clay, Leo Gregory and Conleth Hill.

ITV’s Director of Drama Steve November said: “We are very sad to be saying goodbye to Foyle’s War after so many amazing years, but delighted that the finale is so rich and mesmerising. Christopher Foyle has been a classic ITV hero and we are indebted to Anthony Horowitz for creating him and writing so many original stories for him, to Michael Kitchen for bringing him to life so brilliantly and to Eleventh Hour Films for consistently impeccable production.”

Michael Kitchen has played, the enigmatic, Christopher Foyle since 2002. The first episode of Foyle’s War, The German Woman, was broadcast on 27 October 2002.

Elise is produced by John Chapman (The Street, Cracker, The Lost Prince), directed by Andy Hay (New Tricks, Waking the Dead, Silent Witness) and executive produced by Jill Green (Injustice, Vexed, Collision) and Nicole Finnan (Jane Eyre, Mistresses, Monarch of the Glen) on behalf of Eleventh Hour Films.

Foyle’s War is produced for ITV and Acorn Productions by Eleventh Hour Films, the production company founded by executive producer Jill Green.

Acorn Productions Limited is an RLJ Entertainment Inc company, itself a leading distributor of British Television in the US. Acorn Productions owns and manages the rights to the Foyle’s War brand.

Production photos by Robert Viglasky. ITV Drama Foyle’s War Official Site Frasier Nantwich Town FC Ian Wylie on Twitter