This Near-Perfect 2-Part Historical Drama Is One of TV’s Most Ambitious WWII Series

While the most popular titles about World War II are movies, including classics like Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List, a handful of TV shows have gone on to also portray the dark chapter in world history. Among them is World on Fire, a BBC series that first released in 2019 and was abruptly cut short after two seasons. The series, led by The Little Mermaid‘s Jonah Hauer-King, depicted a series of compelling and at times heart-breaking storylines from the early days of the war.

In its two-season run, the series received some major critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, World on Fire not only has a 92% average score from critics, but received an impressive 100% for Season 2. So, while the series has yet to receive worldwide recognition, there’s no doubt that it’s one of the most ambitious, and critically acclaimed, WWII TV shows out there.

What Is ‘World on Fire’ About?

Set in the earlier days of WWII, World on Fire follows the intertwining fates of ordinary people in Britain, Poland, France, Germany, and beyond, as they grapple with the effects of war on their everyday lives. Among them is Hauer-King’s character Harry Chase, a British translator working in Warsaw when the war breaks out. In addition to his convoluted love life, the series follows his character as he’s recruited to become a soldier, and later rises through the ranks of army intelligence. Other important characters include Kasia Tomaszeski (Zofia Wichłacz), a Polish waitress who joins the Polish Resistance against Nazi occupation, and Helen Hunt‘s Nancy Campbell, an American journalist risking her own life to expose the Nazi truth and propaganda in Berlin.

In each of the intertwined stories, not only does World on Fire paint a picture of what the war meant to all kinds of people, but the series also shines a light on some of the lesser known and overlooked moments of the war, including the Battle of Danzig in Poland and the Battle of the River Plate near Uruguay. In Season 2, World on Fire kicks off in the chaos of October 1940. This time around, viewers see how the Great War makes its way to Britain with Harry and other pilots like him revving their engines to defend the skies over Manchester. The series, created by Peter Bowker, also stars Lesley Manville, Sean Bean, Eryk Biedunkiewicz, Julia Brown, Yrsa Daley-Ward, and Parker Sawyers.

‘World on Fire’ Is a Must-Watch Historical Drama

From the critics’ reviews alone, World on Fire surely joins the list of must-watch TV. Among the highlights in the reviews are the performances on the show, notably Hauer-King, Bean and Manville. “Sean Bean has made a career out of playing noble leaders like Boromir in Lord of the Rings. But he’s wonderful here as a working-class pacifist whose mind World War I shattered,” writes one review. “The best thing about the show is the great Lesley Manville’s performance as Robina,” asserts another review. On the show, The Crown actress plays Robina Chase, Harry’s mother. “A believable and craftily comic portrayal of a woman who reluctantly lets down her guard in response to the war.”

Most of all, critics praise the series’ perspective of showing individual emotional stories from their characters, and letting their experiences depict the atrocities of the war. After all, while statistics can go long in describing the horrors that happened during that time, the personal, heartfelt stories show them expertly instead. “World on Fire is, at times, unbelievably cheesy – but the characters’ broad strokes make for high-drama entry points into the true horrors of the historical narrative,” wrote one review.

With all that said, while World on Fire came to an end after Season 2, the series remains as one of the BBC’s most ambitious and critically acclaimed series on WWII. By using heartfelt character arcs to tell multiple stories, the series succeeds in not only being an emotional drama, but also an action-packed war series about the atrocities and realities of war.