Jace: I’m Jace Lacob and you’re listening to MASTERPIECE Studio.

Society standing on a precipice, looking into the abyss of the unknown. Strangers united against the unknowable outcome of a world-changing series of events. Misinformation. Politicization. Strife. And caught in the middle of this conflict: the everyday citizens of the world at large. These are the tensions that help to power the adrenaline-fueled propulsion of wartime drama World on Fire, created by Peter Bowker.

There is no singular location in World on Fire, which instead ricochets wildly around Europe to tell the stories of an interconnected group of soldiers, widows, mothers, waitresses, RAF pilots, singers, nurses, and refugees. The stories of these disparate individuals unite to paint a vivid and often turbulent picture of the first year of World War II.

Season 1 of World on Fire follows characters in Warsaw, Manchester, Berlin, and Paris, as normal life in the interregnum period is quickly corroded by the destruction and violence of the Nazis. It becomes clear that no one in Europe is safe from the tyranny of the Third Reich.

 

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Nancy’s Broadcast: The German High Command has given Warsaw a peace proposal. If it doesn’t surrender in the next 12 hours, then it will be bombed without mercy for the following 12.

 

But all is not lost. We know from the history books that there were many brave men and women — in Britain, France, Poland, and elsewhere — who stood up to the Nazis, who resisted, and many who made the ultimate sacrifice. World on Fire is a series that shows us just what humanity is capable of — both good and evil — and reminds us that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

It’s been more than three years since MASTERPIECE aired Season 1 of World on Fire in 2020 — and there’s been a global pandemic in the meantime, so you’ll be forgiven if you don’t remember exactly what happened in the first season. But rest assured: we’ve got you covered.

If you haven’t yet seen Season 1 of World on Fire, you can catch up on all seven episodes by streaming them on PBS Passport. With Season 2 of World on Fire just around the corner, let’s go back to the beginning and make sure we’re all caught up on every stolen glance, every failed mission, and every one of Robina’s withering comments as we prepare to parachute back into World on Fire…

 

Episode 1

It’s March, 1939 in Manchester, England. Although World War II won’t officially begin for another six months, the pre-war tension is palpable. In the midst of a frenzied rally for the fascist political group the Blackshirts, we meet Harry Chase, played by Jonah Hauer-King, and Lois Bennett, played by Julia Brown, protesting the rally in song.

 

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Crowd: Blackshirts. Blackshirts. Blackshirts. Blackshirts…

Harry & Lois: Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, singing low. Bye, bye, Blackshirts.

Crowd: Shut up!

 

Harry works as a translator, and Lois is a factory girl and jazz singer. The young couple is very much in love, but circumstance is about to drive them apart as Harry is assigned to Warsaw, Poland for work, leaving Lois and his home behind.

 

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Harry: I love you.

Lois: You say that, and it’s lovely, but it doesn’t really make any difference, does it?

Harry: It makes all the difference.

Lois: You’re going away, I’m not. Your world, mine.

 

Also heading to Warsaw is American war correspondent and journalist Nancy Campbell, played by Helen Hunt. As she drives along the Polish-German border, she sees something on the side of the road and pulls over. It’s several dead Polish men in uniform with bullet holes in their heads. From a distance, she spots the German army camped out in the forest and narrowly avoids being shot herself. When Nancy gets back to Warsaw, she gets on the air to inform the public of what she’s seen.

 

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Nancy’s Broadcast: The world has averted its eyes to the buildup of German troops along the German-Polish border, and Hitler’s threat to take Danzig by force. The Poles have bicycles, the Germans have tanks. Make no mistake, the Nazi party is a master of illusion. And the greatest illusion of all is that they are seriously negotiating for peace. This is Nancy Campbell, American Radio International from Warsaw.

 

Harry settles into life in Poland and becomes romantically involved with local waitress Kasia Tomaszeski, played by Zofia Wichlacz. In this momentary quiet before the storm, the young couple enjoy a brief yet beautiful romance in pre-war Warsaw, riding bikes together and dancing at night. They become very close, very quickly, and Kasia introduces Harry to her family.

Meanwhile, back in Manchester, Lois continues working in a factory and singing in various jazz clubs around town. She lives at home with her father Douglas, played by Sean Bean, a shell shocked World War I veteran and now pacifist, and her sarcastic brother Tom, played by Ewan Mitchell, who is doing all he can to avoid going to jail. 

Although Lois ended things with Harry before he left, she still waits for the letters he promised to write. But after a few months of silence, she begins to worry, and checks in with Harry’s mother, the steely and patrician Robina, played by Lesley Manville.

 

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Lois: I’m sorry to call on you like this. I just wondered if you’d had any news from Harry? About Harry?

Robina: No, but he’s my son, so I’m not as surprised as you are.

 

Back in Poland, the German Army threatens to invade Danzig. Kasia’s brother Grzegorz, played by Mateusz Wieclawek, and father Stefan, join the Polish Army and head to Danzig to defend their country. After a day or two of fighting, it’s clear the Germans have them outnumbered. Stefan walks out towards the German troops waving the white flag of surrender. But the Nazis offer no mercy and shoot him dead where he stands. Grzegorz manages to escape along with another Polish soldier named Klaus.  

Journalist Nancy Campbell knows that after Danzig, the Germans will target Warsaw next. She warns those around her to get out while they still can. 

Nancy fears for Europe beyond Poland and urges her American nephew, Webster — played by Brian J. Smith — a physician in Paris, to head back home to Texas. But Webster, who is thoroughly enjoying the city and his new romance with Afro-Parisian saxophonist Albert Fallou — played by Parker Sawyers — dismisses her warnings as he doesn’t think Paris is under any threat. Nancy also urges Harry, a British citizen, to leave Warsaw as soon as he can. And she insists he take Kasia with him.

 

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Nancy: You’re going to have to marry her aren’t you? That way she gets papers to travel with you. The game just got bigger. Did you?

 

Nancy leaves Warsaw and heads to Berlin, where she continues reporting on the war. And in just a matter of days, her predictions come true. 

 

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Radio Announcer: Henderson has sent a telegram from Berlin—Danzig has fallen. The Germans are sweeping across the country, and they’re heading here to Warsaw.

 

In a moment of panic, Harry rushes to the cafe where Kasia works. A bomb goes off in the street and sends him hurtling through the cafe door. 

 

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Kasia: Harry! Hey, Harry? Are you hurt?

Harry: Will you marry me?

 

Episode One ends at a train station with Harry waiting for his new wife, Kasia. They plan to flee Warsaw together. But when Kasia arrives, she’s brought her little brother Jan along.

 

CLIP

Harry: We need to get on.   

Kasia: Take my case. I’ll just say goodbye to Jan.

Harry: Alright.

Kasia: I’m sorry.

Harry: Kasia!

Kasia: I’m sorry. Take care of him okay? Take care of Jan. If you love me, you will take care of Jan.

 

Episode 2

At the start of episode two, Harry and Kasia’s brother Jan — played by Eryk Biedunkiewicz — arrive in Manchester, England, where life carries on as usual — a very different setting to war torn Poland. Harry and Jan head to Harry’s house, where they receive a characteristically cold greeting from his mother, Robina. Since Harry never wrote home while he was away, Jan’s presence is an unexpected surprise to her. 

 

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Robina: Were you all given a child to take home as a leaving present? Is that the traditional way in Poland?

Harry: Jan won’t be the only refugee. Not while Britain stands by and lets the Nazis rampage over Europe.

 

Lois and her friend and accompanist Connie — played by Yrsa Daley-Ward — audition for ENSA at Connie’s urging. The experience would provide them with opportunities for travel, new audiences, and exposure beyond the jazz clubs in Manchester. Connie is very excited at the prospect, but Lois has a lot on her mind, especially with Harry back in town. 

 

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Connie: And when it’s all sorted with Harry, you’ll be clear to join ENSA.

Lois: You never give up, do you?

Connie: No, and neither should you. This is our chance, Lois. We’ve got to take it.

Lois: I don’t know, Connie. I’ve got my dad and he’s not well. And Tom…well, he’s Tom.

Connie: You can carry on making excuses, or you can do something for yourself for once. You know you want to.

 

Harry and Lois reunite during one of Lois’s sets at a local music club. She’s overjoyed to see him, but Harry is a little more reserved. Their visit is brief, and they plan to talk more in depth soon.

Back in Warsaw, things are getting progressively worse. The Nazis have fully invaded the city, there are constant bombings, and Polish citizens are dying in the streets. Kasia and her mother Maria make arrangements to leave the city, but before they can escape, a German soldier shoots Maria in the head, leaving Kasia all alone. 

 

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Nancy’s Broadcast: Warsaw is all but destroyed. Warsaw has surrendered and with it, Poland has fallen. The might of the German Army and Air Force has proved too much, as it may prove too much for any European neighbor that stands in its way.

 

Harry travels to the diplomatic offices in London where he works, to try and get any news about Warsaw and contact Kasia. Not only are his efforts unsuccessful, but he’s dismissed from his position as a translator due to his conduct. 

Back at home, Jan and Robina do their best to figure out how to coexist. Robina, a self-declared lousy mother figure, gives him various puzzles and things to keep him occupied. Lois stops by for a visit and helps Jan with a puzzle. Soon after, Harry arrives. 

 

CLIP 

Lois: He’s clearly very fond of you

Harry: I stayed with his family when I first arrived. The father, Stefan, died in Danzig. The brother Grzegorz has been missing since. The sister stayed behind to look after Maria, her mother. So, I don’t know if he’s got any family left to be honest.

 

Lois picks up that Harry isn’t being fully honest with her, and concludes there must be another love interest in Harry’s life. Lois decides to abandon any hope of a future together, but not before they sleep together in Harry’s car.  

 

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Lois: I gave you my heart, Harry! And you betrayed me in the snap of some Polish knicker elastic. So please don’t get confused about me giving you my virginity, because that was just something I had to get out of the way.

Harry: Lois, I…

Lois: The sister!

Harry: What?

Lois: The family you went to stay with. You told me all of their names, apart from the sister. You couldn’t bring yourself to say her name in front of me. You couldn’t bring yourself to say her name.

 

And now that her situation with Harry has been “sorted,” Lois is set to get out and do something, as is her brother Tom.  

 

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Douglas: The Navy? The bloody Navy? You can’t even steer a Pedalo.

Tom: Well, at least it’s not the Army, hey? And I’m not going to prison so…

Douglas: I must be stupid. I thought you’d actually become a pacifist, really believed in it.

Tom: Yeah, I don’t really believe in anything for long, dad.

 

Harry also decides to join the fight and enlists in the English Army. 

Back in Poland, Kasia is finally reunited with her brother Grzegorz, who made it back to Warsaw after escaping the Nazis in Danzig. He shares the news of their father’s death, but when he asks Kasia about their mother, she can’t bear to tell him the truth. Grzegorz and Klaus soon depart, as they must continue to run from the Nazis. Kasia, enraged by all that she’s seen and experienced, joins the underground Polish resistance.  

Episode Two ends with Kasia giving a chilling pep talk to members of the Polish resistance. This scene marks a turning point for her as she says goodbye to the old Kasia, and steps into her new identity as a ruthless resistance fighter. 

 

Episode 3

Episode Three opens with Harry stationed in Northern France, Kasia working in the cafe in Warsaw, and Lois on the road with ENSA. Lois’s brother Tom is on board the HMS Exeter somewhere in the South Atlantic, searching for the infamous German battleship, the Admiral Graf Spee. Tom and Lois’s father, Douglas, follows along at home, anxiously waiting for any news.

 

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Nancy’s Broadcast: …the deadliest of Hitler’s Kriegsmarine has been involved in a number of skirmishes with merchant ships. There is a feeling that the Allied forces are simply hoping that the inevitable will never come to pass.

 

Harry, now a second lieutenant, does his best to get his bearings. And it soon becomes clear he’s not quite as experienced as his loyal sergeant Stan Raddings — played by Blake Harrison.  

 

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Stan: Just to say, I don’t think the lads are that keen to see proper action, sir.

Harry: So my attempt at camaraderie was…

Stan: Oh, it was a good try, sir. But maybe try your jokes out on me first, sir.

 

Back in Warsaw, Kasia continues serving the Nazis that frequent her cafe. In the evenings, she meets with the other members of the Polish resistance to plot against the German occupiers. They develop a plan for Kasia to use her charm to lure the Nazis away, one by one, to some dark secluded alleyway or building, and then shoot them in the head.  

Out at sea, Tom’s ship eventually locates the Admiral Graf Spee and they go into battle.

 

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Tom: What’s the story, sir?

Officer: All you need to know is she’s sunk nine of ours, and we’re not going to be the tenth. Get on with it!

Tom: You got it!

 

There are casualties and injuries on both sides, but Tom remains unharmed, though thoroughly shaken. 

Harry and Lois can’t seem to avoid each other as Lois is assigned to perform at Harry’s camp in Northern France. He’s excited to see her, but she makes it very clear that her feelings towards him haven’t changed.

 

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Lois: Why are you here? What have you come to say?

Harry: Gives me the chance to say I’m sorry. I just wonder if you could ever forgive me and maybe we could one day be a… I don’t know. We could at least just be pals again.

Lois: I’m not glad. We can’t be pals. Got to get ready for the show so…

Harry: What is it, what can I do?

Lois: Just go away Harry.

 

In Berlin, Nancy’s neighbors, the Rosslers, do their best to hide their daughter Hilda’s epilepsy. Although the family is German, they fear the Nazis will take Hilda away for being — in their eyes — genetically “inferior.”

In Poland, Grzegorz and Klaus continue to narrowly outrun the Nazis. But each escape is closer than the last. 

In Manchester, Robina and Jan celebrate his birthday. Robina gives him a photo album to help him with his English. As they go through some basic English familial words, Jan inadvertently reveals something to Robina about her son, Harry.

 

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Jan: My father. Husband?

Robina: Yes, very good, yes. Your mother? Wife.

Jan: Harry, Kasia. Husband, wife.

Robina: No. Robina and Harold, husband and wife.

Jan: And Harry and Kasia, husband and wife.

 

Back in France, as Lois and her fellow ENSA crew leave the camp, Harry learns secondhand that Lois is pregnant with his child. 

Episode Three ends with Kasia and Tomasz, another member of the Polish resistance, making their first Nazi kill.

With Poland gone, Germany now turns its attention to the west and heads for Belgium and France. What will this mean for Harry and his men stationed in Northern France? And how will Webster accommodate the influx of refugees in his hospital? That’s coming up after the break. 

 

MIDROLL

 

Episode 4

Germany has now fully taken over Poland and the situation in Europe grows ever more bleak. At the start of Episode Four, the Nazis march west towards Belgium. Harry and his men, along with other Allied troops, also head to Belgium to hold off the Germans.

 

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Nancy’s Broadcast: Are the Germans better equipped than their opponents? Yes, without doubt. They are better equipped, better prepared, but most ominously, 136 German divisions advanced into Belgium and Holland with Allied troops numbering just half that. The question is, will Louvain suffer the same fate as Warsaw?

 

In Paris, Webster’s hospital is filling up fast with refugees. Although the Nazis have yet to invade Paris, their foreboding presence can already be felt. 

 

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Webster: There are more wounded coming from the front line in Belgium all the time. We’re running out of beds. Who are they?

Henriette: They’re Jewish. The woman is heavily pregnant. They were attacked in the street. They were too scared to go anywhere else.

 

Henriette — played by Eugenie Derouand — a nurse who works for Webster, is also Jewish and fears for her own safety. Feeling the pressure of the imminent Nazi invasion, Henriette tells Webster that her papers are forged to hide her identity. He’s very grateful for her help at the hospital and keeps her secret safe. Webster’s lover Albert also feels the German threat when he finds his apartment door smeared with pig blood in the shape of a Nazi swastika. 

 

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Webster: I thought you’d be safe here. You should come stay with me.

Albert: I’ll never be safe anywhere in this world, Webster. People have got plenty of choice of what they might want to hate me for.

 

In Poland, Kasia and Tomasz carry on luring and executing Nazis. Everything usually goes as planned, but in one instance Kasia is forced to make her first kill when Tomasz shows up late. 

In Belgium, Harry’s troops find refuge in an abandoned building, and are soon ambushed by Nazis. Harry freezes under pressure, but loyal Stan has his back once again. 

 

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Stan: What are the orders, sir? Sir, what are the orders?

Harry: I don’t know.

Stan: Look at me, sir. Look at me! The order is that we get out of here and fall back now, sir. It needs to be now sir, yeah? Maybe sooner than now, sir.

 

Harry and his troops make it out and head back to Northern France where they take shelter in an abandoned mansion.

Grzegorz and Klaus continue to outrun the Nazis and eventually cross paths with the British Army. They join them and soon engage in a shootout with the Germans in the forest. Klaus is shot in the head, and Grzegorz is devastated.   

Back in Britain, Tom returns home safely and confides in his father, Douglas, that he’s not going back to the Navy. Having been through battle, Tom now wants to join his father as a pacifist. Douglas, as you’ll remember from Episode Two, was very opposed to Tom joining up in the first place. So naturally, Tom expected his father to be supportive of his decision not to go back. 

 

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Douglas: I think you should go back.

Tom: You want me to go back? To war? That you hate.

Douglas: No, I don’t want you to go back. I just think that you should.

Tom: Because it’s me?

Douglas: And because it’s me. They will use you to get at me. And they won’t register you in a million years.

Tom: You don’t know that, Dad.

Douglas: If the peace movement accepts any lad who goes AWOL, then it will make us look as though we’re encouraging deserters, not genuine conscientious objectors.

 

It’s not easy, but Douglas tries to do the right thing with his children. And in an effort to do right by his pregnant daughter Lois, Douglas meets with Robina to work out the reality of their children having a baby together. But Lois wants nothing to do with Harry or his family. 

 

CLIP 

Robina: Does Harry know?

Lois: Yes, Harry knows. And I’ll say the same thing to you that I said to him. I don’t want or need anything from you.

Douglas: Love, don’t…um…

 

By the end of this episode, Tom reluctantly agrees to go back to the Navy. 

Episode Four concludes with the Nazis once again ambushing Harry and his troops. They try to fight back but are outnumbered and decide to flee. 

 

Episode 5

Like Episode Four, Episode Five offers little hope for the future of Europe.

 

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Nancy’s Broadcast: It comes as little surprise, but with no less horror to the rest of Europe that Belgium, like Poland before it, has fallen. The Allied forces have failed to overcome the might of the Blitzkrieg campaign, being far outnumbered, and many British troops now find themselves cornered. It seems they have little choice but to head to the coast, many taking the same route as thousands of displaced civilians.

 

Harry and his men are among this mass of British troops and displaced citizens heading towards the coast. Along the way, they take in a small group of shell shocked, helpless British soldiers and lead them to a field hospital somewhere in France. 

Lois and Connie carry on with their ENSA tour. At their next gig, Lois meets a pilot named Vernon — played by Arthur Darvill — and the two hit it off.

Back in France, Harry, Stan, and the rest of the men keep hitting roadblocks and various obstacles on their way to the coast. They decide to rest in a bombed-out city square a few miles from the beach. Harry remains loyal to the shell-shocked troops they picked up, but Stan feels differently. 

 

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Stan: Are you still sure this lot’s worth killing yourself over? We’ve got them to the coast. They’re as safe as any of us. They have as good a chance as any of us—better, probably. They’re already mad, we’re just getting there.

Harry: I’m going to try and get some food. When I come back, I want you gone.

 

Tom is assigned to the beaches of Dunkirk where he, along with other Navy personnel, help evacuate the British and Allied troops. Kasia’s brother Grzegorz is fortunate enough to find a spot on one of the lifeboats. During the evacuation, the Germans fly over and bomb the beach as well as inland where Harry and his men are. 

 

CLIP

Nancy’s Broadcast: The British Tommies at Dunkirk are still fighting. They will not be rolled over. My sources in the German military tell me that even their own men call the British “stubborn bulldogs.”

 

Harry and the rest of his men finally make it to the coast a few days later and evacuate. Episode Five ends with Nancy Campbell helping her neighbor, Uwe Rossler, dispose of the body of a Nazi employee that he killed — an employee who put his daughter’s life in danger. 

 

Episode 6

The Nazis continue their rampage in Episode Six, and seamlessly move into Paris. The Parisians don’t resist the Nazi invasion, and so the city remains largely un-bombed.

 

CLIP

Nancy’s Broadcast: With Paris now under the control of the Nazi authorities, German troops having entered the city on 14th June, unchallenged, the German authorities have effortlessly settled into the city.

 

Harry returns safely home in this episode, as does Lois. But a telegram reveals that her brother Tom is missing. We soon learn that he was injured in the Dunkirk bombings and was taken to a Parisian hospital to be treated by none other than Webster and Henriette. Tom isn’t too happy about being in a city crawling with Nazis, but Webster and Henriette have plans to help him escape. 

 

CLIP

Webster: Listen, I’ve talked to a couple of French guys who are setting up an escape route. They can help you. You go across the Pyrenees into Spain, Spain to Gibraltar, then home from there.

Tom: I get lost walking home from Belle Vue, mate.

 

In Manchester, Harry and Lois get together for the first time since France. And Lois makes it very clear that Harry will have no part in their child’s life.

 

CLIP

Harry: Lois, I…

Lois: No! You’re married. And you didn’t tell me. I only came here today to tell you to stay away.

Harry: And what will you tell the child when they ask where their dad is?

Lois: There’s a war. I’ll tell them you’re dead.

 

Lois isn’t totally without the option of support. Vernon, the pilot she met in the previous episode, expresses his feelings to her and offers to support her and the child. Lois is shocked and flattered. 

Back in Paris, Webster returns home after a long day at the hospital and finds his apartment has been taken over by the Nazis. He rushes to the jazz club where Albert is playing that night but can’t find him anywhere, and soon learns that he’s been arrested. The next day, Webster visits Albert in prison.

 

CLIP

Webster: I can’t do this. What happened, how has this happened?

Albert: What happened was I objected to my home being invaded. What happened was I am Black and French. And what happened was they can do what the hell they like.

 

In Berlin, the Rosslers, Nancy’s neighbors, get into trouble with the Nazi government. They’re brought in for questioning and are asked about Hilda and her epilepsy. After returning home, the mother and daughter commit suicide to avoid being later executed by the Nazis. Uwe is devastated. 

Episode Six ends with Harry being recruited for a special mission. 

 

CLIP

Major Taylor: You will be dropped with the equipment here just over the Polish border. First contact will be with a farm due south, where you will meet with our Polish resistance contacts, who have escaped Warsaw. Local resistance is using it as a safe house.

Harry: If I fail to make contact?

Major Taylor: Improvise. The drop will probably kill you anyway.

 

Episode 7

Episode Seven opens with Harry preparing for his secret mission to Poland. Days away from departure, he’s told to get his affairs in order, should he not return. 

In Paris, Webster still has hope he can get Albert out of jail. But Albert knows this is just wishful thinking.

 

CLIP

Webster: I…I don’t understand why you’re being like this. I…I know it’s hard.

Albert: No, you don’t. That’s just it, you don’t know, you can’t know. The queers in here with me, they know. The Blacks in here, they know. The Jews, the scum, that’s me, that’s us. I’m the one in the cage here. You can walk out whenever you like. And I’m telling you, don’t ever come back, Webster.

Webster: Albert.

 

There are big developments for Lois in this episode as she goes into labor during a concert and gives birth backstage. Days later, Vernon shows up at her house and proposes. Lois says she needs time to think it over. 

In Warsaw, Kasia and Tomasz are caught by Nazi soldiers. Kasia is taken prisoner, and Tomasz is executed. The following day, Kasia, along with other Polish prisoners, is led to the city square to be publicly executed. But fortunately, a bomb goes off nearby and Kasia manages to escape. 

In Manchester, Douglas takes Jan to see his brother Grzegorz, who is being treated for shell shock at a nearby hospital. This is the first time they’ve seen each other since before the war.

 

CLIP 

Jan: How many Germans did you kill?

Grzegorz: I don’t know.

Jan: When you go back and fight, you must take me. I will kill more.

Grzegorz: You know I may not go back and fight. I may stay here.

Jan: But you’ll get better. And then you can fight.

 

In Poland, Harry eventually makes it to the safe house where he is to meet the Polish resistance fighters. He gets there first and waits for them. When they finally arrive, he’s shocked to see his wife, Kasia, amongst the resistance members. They’re both overwhelmed with emotion and happy to see each other, but so much has changed. 

 

CLIP

Kasia: The girl you fell in love with, she isn’t there anymore. I try to find her, and she isn’t there.

Harry: You still love me. And I love you.

Kasia: And that counts for so little. Really, it does.

Harry: It is all that matters.

Kasia: No. I think the world just proved you wrong Harry. And it is dangerous to think like this.

 

The next day while Harry and Kasia prepare to leave, they’re ambushed by Nazis. As they flee, Kasia fatally shoots a Nazi soldier in the chest. 

Through this violent but necessary act, Harry now sees the new Kasia, very different from the girl he fell in love with before the war. 

As Season One comes to a close, we’re left wondering what this means for their relationship, and for their survival. The fate of Europe hangs in the balance.

 

In three weeks, the war continues, this time with some new faces and new locations. But all is not equal as the allied forces band together to fight fascism… 

 

CLIP

Captain Briggs: The Italians have scattered the route between us and them with landmines. So for the purpose of this mission, I’d like you to consider yourself a single unit. Albeit that one of you are British and the other, uh, not so.

 

Season Two of World on Fire begins Sunday, October 15, 2023, at 9PM Eastern. Support your local PBS station and stream Season One with PBS Passport. Visit pbs.org to learn more.