New BBC WW2 drama, World on Fire

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by CL1, Oct 5, 2017.

  1. tmac

    tmac Senior Member

    I can't understand why this series has been praised to the skies by the professional critics. Probably because they're all as 'woke' as the ludicrous characters and even more ludicrous plot, and know little about history. That said, it's worth watching for some nice performances and scene-setting. Is that working-class terrace street where Sean Bean lives a real place, or just computer-generated? It's very impressive.
     
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  2. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    You hit the nail squarely on the head there, tmac. Everything has to have an agenda now, no matter when or where it is set; it cannot simply “entertain” or educate with those awfully annoying “facts”.

    It appears various scenes were filmed in Manchester and Wigan so I presume the terrace street is genuine. The Dunkirk scenes were filmed at Blackpool and St Annes (they don’t call me Hercule Marple for nothing, you know).

    Where was BBC1's World on Fire filmed?
     
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  3. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    As CL1 says, it keeps WW2 in the mix, at least, and hopefully our yoof will take an interest because of it.
     
  4. bexley84

    bexley84 Well-Known Member

    Aside from the historian baiting issues, I asn't particuarly enthralling.
    Watched all eight....recount....all seven, the eighth might not be any good..
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2019
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  5. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    It’s back tonight.
     
  6. Charpoy Chindit

    Charpoy Chindit Junior Member

    It sure is! The first series was one of my favourite WW2 sitcoms, but, having watched the first two episodes of this series, there is far too much sit and not enough com. At least poor old Sean Bean managed to get out before series two, but he should have taken poor old Lesley Manville with him.
    My favourite joke so far was the Hurricane pilot advising his wingman to "Eject! Eject! Eject!".
    The introduction of an Indian Army unit might provide some comedy, but so far it just irritates with lines like "Welcome to the British Indian Army". Who writes this shit?
     
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  7. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    Sitcom, love it! I opted out of watching last night myself - one of the plot lines I read beforehand described British soldiers bullying Indian troops into clearing mines. Nuff said, remote control, click…
     
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  8. Quarterfinal

    Quarterfinal Well-Known Member

    Nice detail, methought, noting the standby nightfighter pilots wearing their 'Goggles Dark Adaption':
    upload_2023-7-17_15-6-42.jpeg

    These were provided to enable the crews of night flying aircraft to become 'dark adapted' before taking off and thereby to improve their night vision during the early stages of flight ....... although the effects were instantly reversed once the wearer encountered bright light - exhaust flames, flak, searchlight beams etc.

    Etc also includes Crew Room lights, because the first thing our intrepid character does when the alarm is sounded is immediately remove them:
    upload_2023-7-17_15-10-17.jpeg

    before he even climbs aboard his aircraft. You have to wonder ......... and why wear flying gauntlets before you need them?
     
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  9. 14/264

    14/264 Active Member

    Trust me, you didn't miss much! I watched it on Iplayer, mainly to see if it was as poor as the first series. It was. There were the RAF pilots with no rank insignia, and, in at least one case, no pilots wings! It's anyone's guess what those Indian soldiers are doing there, certainly there was no explanation given, were they infantry, sappers or what? Who knows. There was also the British sergeant who referred to one of his men as 'my guy'. Really? In 1940?

    At the same time, it does have a certain horrible fascination, it's hard not to keep watching just to see what horrors the writers perpetrate next.
     
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  10. 14/264

    14/264 Active Member

    An interesting plot line in episode 5, one of the central character, Lois, a member of the ATS serving at an ATS hospital in Egypt decides she is missing her baby and is going home. I was not under the impression that members of the ATS could come and go as they pleased, were they not under military discipline? Also, were there ATS hospitals in Egypt? I would have thought that a hospital would have been RAMC and staffed by members of QAIMNS, but there did not appear to be any QA's around. It really is a remarkable series!
     
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