Peter Bowker’s 2019-23 serial keeps its camera on the non-combatants: Jonah Hauer-King’s British translator turned SOE agent, Zofia Wichłacz’s Polish Resistance courier, Julia Brown’s ENSA singer turned ambulance driver, Parker Sawyers’s Black jazz musician trapped in occupied Paris, and Helen Hunt’s American radio reporter filing from Berlin until the truth becomes treason. Their paths cross, diverge, and occasionally collide as Europe’s map is redrawn by invasion, evacuation, and deportation.
Budget shows in the locations, not the body count. Prague doubles for Warsaw’s September 1939 bombardment; a Liverpool dockyard stands in for Dunkirk’s mole; Belfast’s Victorian streets become Manchester during the Blitz. Cinematographers Mika Orasmaa and John Lee shoot handheld in natural light, letting the ash settle on costumes rather than on the lens.
BBC One commissioned the drama in October 2017, began shooting in November 2018, and wrapped the first block in March 2019 across Chester, Lytham St Annes, and Lyme Park. COVID stalled the second run for two years; when cameras rolled again in July 2022, only six episodes were ordered instead of the usual seven, and the cancellation notice arrived in August 2023, leaving the characters forever suspended in 1941.
Production Details
BBC One / 2 Seasons / 13 Episodes / 2019 - Present
Created by: Peter Bowker
Showrunner(s): Helen Ziegler, Peter Bowker, Lucy Richer
Writer(s): Peter Bowker
Producer(s): Chris Clough
Music: Dan Jones
Main Cast
Jonah Hauer-King as Harry Chase
Julia Brown as Lois Bennett
Helen Hunt as Nancy Campbell
Zofia Wichłacz as Kasia Tomaszeski
Lesley Manville as Robina Chase
Brian J. Smith as Webster O'Connor
Parker Sawyers as Albert Fallou
Tomasz Kot as Stefan Tomaszeski
Eryk Biedunkiewicz as Jan Tomaszeski
Ewan Mitchell as Tom Bennett
Mateusz Więcławek as Grzegorz Tomaszeski
Max Riemelt as Schmidt
