THE hotly-anticipated BBC1 series World on Fire is coming to your screens THIS SUNDAY. Here’s what you need to know about the gripping new seven-part drama… How can you watch World on Fire? The good news is you can watch the series VERY SOON. That’s right, the new seven-parter will debut THIS SUNDAY (29 September, […]
THE hotly-anticipated BBC1 series World on Fire is coming to your screens THIS SUNDAY.
Here’s what you need to know about the gripping new seven-part drama…
The good news is you can watch the series VERY SOON.
That’s right, the new seven-parter will debut THIS SUNDAY (29 September, 2019) on BBC1.
And will continue each week at the same time in one hour long episodes.
Filming took place across Prague, Manchester and Paris.
The drama is produced by Mammoth Screen — the same company behind Poldark, And Then There Were None and Parade’s End.
The BBC says the drama tells the story of World War Two through the lives of ordinary people.
The first series will reflect on the first year of the war.
It will start with the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and end with the Battle of Britain.
Writer Peter Bowker says: “World On Fire tells the hidden human stories within the big historical events we think we know.
“From Harry, a young English translator in Warsaw caught up in negotiations with the Nazis and trying to smuggle his Polish lover Kasia out of the country, to Lois, the girl who is waiting for him at home, a young Mancunian factory worker who will come to take all the opportunities the war can offer to live a different kind of life.
“To Nancy, a female US war correspondent who can’t find peace unless her life is at risk, to the Rossler family in Berlin, worried for their soldier son and willing to do anything to protect their disabled daughter from the attentions of the ruling Nazi regime.
Yes – creator Peter Bowker says the show is based on real stories from the war.
He says though the individual characters perhaps did not exist in their names, the storylines and characters are based on real people, going through real events.
He initially came up with the idea after becoming obsessed with the landmark 1970s documentary series, The World At War – and wanted to see if he could do something like that but on a bigger scale.
Writer Peter said: “These are the stories of the ordinary people who shaped our world.
“Stories of loyalty and brutality, courage and fear, hopes, stories of love and loss, hopes and dreams forged in extraordinary times.”
Speaking to reporters at the show’s launch, Bowker said: “They have diaries, and because of the Mass-Observation [which recorded everyday life in Britain] that went on at the time, a lot of people were encouraged to keep a diary about how they felt. So there’s a massive archive [that we used].
“So for instance, we have a character in the show who’s a young Polish woman, who’s a waitress.
“At the museum I asked ‘have you got any diaries about life in Warsaw at the time?’ and within a couple of days they found me two translated diaries of young women, one of whom was a waitress working in Warsaw.”
He said it was “immensely reassuring” that despite the exceptional circumstances, most of it would be about boys and coffee, finding good coffee, and girlfriends and boyfriends.
“People’s concerns remained the same in the war.
“They may be exacerbated by the fact that they might be about to go to war, but the big events in our life, and our motivations, remain exactly the same.”
These are the main characters in the series:
Sean opened up to RadioTimes.com about his character on the show, explaining: “Douglas is just an ordinary man except the fact that he serves as a soldier in the First World War.”
“He was shell-shocked – the victim of a mustard gas attack. He’s a pacifist and conscientious objector, he’s very clear about that and he takes it upon himself to become an activist.
“He’s ostracised in his own community for his pacifism but those are the lengths he’s prepared to go to.”
Stan is a sergeant in the British army, who Blake describes as Harry’s right-hand man, who also holds plenty of authority in his unit.
“A lot of the members of the unit respect Stan a little bit more, so Stan works as a kind of buffer between the unit and Harry, making sure that orders are actually carried out.
“We really see Stan as the soldier – he’s kind of got walls up.”
Lois Bennett is a 21-year-old Manchester factory girl and the daughter of Douglas,
Right from the beginning of the season, we learn that she has a strong passion for singing and shares a relationship with her boyfriend Harry.
“She has a lot of responsibility, she has to look after her brother and father as her mother’s passed away and she is dealing with her relationship,” Julia expressed.
“[Lois is] a strong woman who cracks on with things no matter how tough they are. She has a real passion for music and that’s something she gets to explore when the war begins – she goes to places she never would have gone with ENSA.
Nancy is a groundbreaking US journalist who reports from the German/Polish border as she gives updates on the devastating mayhem.
You may also know the Oscar-winning actress from film such as As Good as It Gets, What Women Want, Cast Away, Soul Surfer and Made About You.
Viewers will see Harry, played by Jonah Hauer-King, working in the British embassy in Warsaw.
Harry has quite the complicated love life: although being in a relationship with Louis Bennett before he relocated to Poland, he’s started seeing a waitress named Kasia.
“When we meet him we learn that he’s fallen down the rabbit hole of falling in love with two people,” Hauer-King shared.
“It’s not so much an affair as it is being in a strange position… Harry has a lot of good intentions and a lot of love and compassion in him
“But at the beginning of the series he’s also deeply flawed so I don’t want to defend him too much!”
Kasia is a waitress in Warsaw, who makes her relationship status with Harry official on the eve of war.
Things take a toll on the couple as chaos erupts, but will the two be able to keep their romance in tact – particularly since Louis still plays a part in Harry’s life.
“Everything will change for her when the war starts,” explained. “She has an amazing and very challenging journey.”
Speaking about his character Albert, Parker Sawyers gushed: “Albert is a French jazz-saxophonist in Paris.”
“He falls for an American doctor by the name of Webster O’Connor [played by Brian J Smith]. But his day job, or rather his night job, is that he’s a leader of a band on an underground circuit.”
He added: “With the story of Albert and Webster, we see that, being a black Frenchman, he’s used to racism and bigotry.”
