World on Fire’s romance, family tensions and history make for a great weekend watch

By Daisy Game, Entertainment Subeditor

Peter Bowker’s latest series follows privileged translator Harry Chase – carried with poise by new-kid-on-the-block’s Jonah Hauer-King - as his character attempts to navigate his brave new world in war-torn Europe.

Sunday evening’s first instalment of the BBC’s latest seven-piece drama promises a smaller scale focus on the events of the second world war – with a magnifying glass held over the toll that the international conflict could have on a young romance.

Torn between two women -  the quietly determined Katsia  (Zofia Wichlacz’s foray into British television) in Warsaw, and Julia Brown’s more ostentatiously ardent Manchunian Lois, Harry juggles two lives - and three hearts.

The quality of the performances varies somewhat throughout. Helen Hunt’s feisty American journalist packs particular a punch – her no nonsense attitude is a zesty addition amongst a host of characters whom otherwise risk verging ever-so-slightly towards the tame.

That being said - this rather star-studded cast featuring Sean Bean and Lesley Manville amongst others - is admirably supported by its lesser-known members. Hauer-King’s performance is solid and bright – his quietly assured Harry avoids the over-delivery-trap into which the often more ‘obvious’ BBC dialogue often leads its actors.

Helen Hunt’s feisty American journalist packs particular a punch

Such is an achievement which might, in fact, be accredited to the episode’s general approach – the quieter, less this-is-an-emotional-line-I-should-well-up attitude is to the enormous credit of the series. Whichlacz’s Katsia is calm yet determined, swaying between heady young woman in the throes of romance, and concerned, grown up sister and daughter.

The chemistry between Hauer-King and Whichlacz is a further tick in the Sunday-night-box: tripping through cobbled streets; swaying as one beneath the glow of a midnight streetlamp - Harry and Katsia tease and flirt with gentle, intimate abandon.

The glee of being young and in love, of walking arm in arm through a balmy summer eve, is showcased wonderfully by Bowker’s script: all that has yet to be lost is laid resolutely out on the table.

The chemistry between Hauer-King and Whichlacz is a further tick in the Sunday-night-box

‘Don’t move,’ instructs a grinning Harry from behind the lens of a camera, imploring Katzia’s gleefully jostling family to hold still for the flash. If only time could have been tamed in such a manner, Bowker seems to ask. All those countless dinner parties and dances in the street paused for a moment.

Soren Bay’s cinematography leads to further moments of glossy triumph – in one particularly shining minute, Hauer-King and Wichlacz nestle beneath the sheets following a night of post-nuptial celebration; they lie bathed in a cotton coloured wash; eyelashes fluttering and flicking in the morning light as soft hands trace rosy lips – Bay captures the pair’s intimacy with a wonderfully private warmth.

It’s not all roses - despite its apparently high budget there are moments of questionable nature in terms of special effects – Hauer-King spins through a shower of somehow-slightly-off explosions during the shock of a Warsaw air raid. Further to this slightly clumsy execution of a climactic moment, there doesn’t seem to be much novelty to the series as of its first episode.

Soren Bay’s cinematography leads to further moments of glossy triumph

And yet – that’s not really the point. It might not be pushing boundaries, and it may not showcase any real kind of innovation in terms of historical drama– but World on Fire is the BBC at its comfortable, familiar best.

Close the curtains, stick on the kettle, grab and blanket and dig out some tissues: the easy joy of British drama is here to wash the Autumn blues away.

Featured image courtesy of BBC

Did the wartime romance of World on Fire have you wanting to lay back and watch the next episode this weekend?