World on Fire, episode 4 review: heavy-handed but still an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser
The phoney war was over on World on Fire (BBC One) and the real battles had truly begun. There were firing squads and revenge killings in Warsaw. There was a full fire fight in Belgium.
The world might have been ablaze but phlegmatic Sergeant Stan Raddings (Blake Harrison) put it more prosaically. “If you could spell, you’d be an intellectual,” said Lieutenant Harry Chase (Jonah Hauer-King). Stan replied: “If I could spell, I wouldn’t be here with my arse on fire.” As if to prove his point, a howitzer landed mere yards away.
Writer Peter Bowker’s multi-stranded wartime drama cranked up another gear as it passed its halfway point. Harry, Stan and their unit fought for their lives in Flanders, where German troops outnumbered the Allied forces two-to-one. Harry initially froze but finally proved himself by taking out a Nazi sniper – albeit with a brick and a bayonet, rather than the pistol in his hand.
Back in Warsaw, the resistance activity of the rapidly hardening Kasia Tomaszeski (Zofia Wichlacz) had horrific consequences as the SS swiftly retaliated. While in Manchester, pacifist patriarch Douglas Bennett (Sean Bean) guessed that daughter Lois (Julia Brown) was hiding her pregnancy by ex-lover Harry, so met Harry’s mother Robina Chase (Lesley Manville) to discuss this delicate matter.
Over tea and cucumber sandwiches – what else? – senior cast members Bean and Manville showed their class. There was even some subtle social comedy as Douglas added five sugar lumps to his cup, while Robina looked more askance with each plop.
Bowker’s script was heavy-handed at times. Radio reporter Nancy Campbell (Helen Hunt) continues to broadcast on Exposition FM and one inevitably finds oneself more emotionally engaged with some plot-lines than others. However, as Sunday night dramas go, World on Fire is an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser with huge heart.
