My sharp eyes and attention to detail spotted several things that suggested this was filmed some time ago, and maybe left on the shelf for some reason. OK, just the one, petrol being £1.13 a litre! Does anyone know when this was made?
shareGood spot on the petrol price, mkaes it seem like it must be ages ago with the prices now!
Just googled historic fuel prices and that the if we assume £1.13 was about average that would put it as early 2010. Also noticed that Will's hire car was on a 59 plate so definitely after 2009.
Just to confuse things though, when Maggie gets shown the ipad with the news of Foyle's death and Will's arrest the report is dated November 2012 but I guess that shot would've been easy to edit to make the date closer to air date....
Thanks for the research chamoiscreme! My wife had noticed the 59 plate on the hire car, and you'd think that it would have been a newish car so yeah, late 2009/early 2010?
Yogibear, my daughter-in-law is a TV producer, (Alison Loose, Last Tango In Halifax back this week!) so I'll ask her how these things happen.
I work in TV also - I know these kind of errors slip through the cracks quite easily.
It is strange that a TV series filmed only a few months ago has errors that give the impression of having been made some time ago, though.
The iPad was introduced in April 2010.
So there's that.
I was born in the house my father built
The Escape Artist was filmed earlier this year; 25th January - 22nd March 2013. So no, it was made and broadcast with barely any gap. I don't know why those incongruities are there.
shareWhen was the script written? Were there a few years between the script being finished and the writer getting someone to pick it up for development?
Feel free to visit the board I own at http://z6.invisionfree.com/boardwitheverything :)
Some, but the things that made people wrongly think the series had been filmed some years before broadcast (petrol prices and car licence plates) wouldn't have been in the script.
shareWhen I see film crews they often have a fake license plate where the plate would normally be with the legal license plate (per the filming jurisdiction) lower so it can be cropped out of the shots. Or sometimes it's in the back window.
It seems completely logical that they either physically covered up the 2013 gas pump and license plate or digitally replaced them with what was in existence in 2011.
1. Why was Foyle's credit card cloned? How was that used in the plot?
2. How did he know that Foyle's girlfriend would have him cremated?
Both seemed odd to me.
1) He used the credit card info to trace Foyle's holiday rent I assumed.
2) I think this point seemed out of step with the episode and you are absolutely right, it is puzzling.
3) If you follow me through to my conclusion the date it was set is important - because in Scots law double jeopardy became limited in 2011.
My conclusion is speculative but elegant. Consider the following points. He made a point of saying he understood Scot's law. Much was made of the point he was in Scotland which made no difference to the plot. He was attempting to get Foyle to confess per English law (which has an exception to the double jeopardy provisions). He spoke to the female barrister while the jury was out rather than after conviction. It appears to be set some time before the end of 2011.
My conclusion is that one ending filmed or planned or written had the rather pertinent legal point that Scot's law and English law is different. I think rather than respond to her description of the evidence that could nail him by saying he was cremated, I think the original plan was to have him say that double jeopardy law is different in scotland so extra evidence wouldn't make a difference - he couldn't be tried again on acquittal. But my guess is that the test audiences found the point a bit too legalistic so they concluded it in a less satisfying way. But it does explain why to set a whole portion of the film in scotland (why not england? Why not france?), the knowing reponse to to the judge that he is fully aware of the difference in the law, the dramatic final scene before the verdict - much more timely if the verdict means he can't be tried again (there would be no need for her to try and race up to scotland to confront him if it was in england as we have a way of trying defendants again even if acquitted), and it explains why it seems to be set in 2011 or before - as after that the law comes in line with english law.
Indeed thinking about it I wonder if it was written pre-2011 and they had to change the plot to fit the current law.
I think his attempt to get Foyle to confess was merely to establish a less damning reason than premeditated murder for his going to where Foyle was staying to confront him. It was also geared to get Foyle to attack him, so that he would have a reason to use his knife.
Under Scots law he could be found "not proven," which would have been an easier verdict to get than "not guilty."
Also, apparently Scotsmen make a habit of always carrying their knives, while Englishmen don't, so a Scottish jury was more likely to find it plausible that he happened to have a knife on him.
Semper Contendere Propter Amoram et Formam
Could it be an observation on how much tax is paid on a litre of petrol, before you actually start paying for the petrol/diesel?
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