After a long hiatus (thanks to a worldwide pandemic), World of Fire is finally set to return to our screens on Sunday! The hit show took a four-year break before returning for round two - but with some major changes. The BBC drama follows a group of characters across Europe dealing with the day-to-day realities of life during World War II.
So if, like us, you need a major reminder of everything that went down in season one, read on…
Let’s begin in England. Harry (Jonah Hauer-King) is in a serious love triangle, having been dumped by his girlfriend Lois (Julia Brown) before going to act as a translator in Poland. While there, he has a romance with Kasia (Zofia Wichlacz), the daughter of the family he had been staying with. However, after Poland is invaded, he marries her so that she has a way to safely return to the UK. Kasia has some other ideas and sends her brother Yan off with Harry.
When Harry returns home with Yan to be looked after by his cold (but deeply caring) mother, Robina (Lesley Manville), he reconciles with Lois, and the pair sleep together. However, she realises that he has been in a relationship while he was away and breaks up with him. It is soon discovered that Lois is pregnant, and she wants Harry to have nothing to do with their child. She welcomes the baby at the end of season one, with the help of her father, Douglas (Sean Bean), and agrees to marry a pilot, Vernon (Arthur Darvill).
As Harry returns to fight in Dunkirk, he becomes friends with another soldier, Stan (Blake Harrison). He then takes on a dangerous mission to Poland, where he becomes reunited with Kasia.
Meanwhile, Kasia is devastated when her father and mother are both killed following the German invasion of Poland, and her brother, Grzegorz, is on the run after escaping capture. She teams up with a secret network to lure out Nazis and kill them. She is eventually captured but escapes - which is when she and Harry find one another again.
Meanwhile, Grzegorz manages to get to England after being deeply traumatised following his ordeal escaping German soldiers, and reuniting with Yan. He also has an encounter with Lois’ brother, Tom (Ewan Mitchell), who is in the Navy.
MORE: World on Fire season 2: everything to know about return of BBC drama
Tom joins the Navy after attempting to avoid signing up as a conscientious objector like his father, despite not truly believing in the terms. He eventually signs up and is nearly killed on the way out of Dunkirk, leaving him injured and trapped in France. He is helped by a doctor, Webster (Brian J Smith), and a nurse Henriette (Eugenie Derouand), who help him escape out of France and into Spain.
Webster was living in Paris and in a relationship with a musician, Albert (Parker Sawyers), when the Germans occupied France. Albert is arrested and imprisoned after objecting when the Nazis take his apartment, and Webster desperately tries to free him while helping soldiers in the hospital. Meanwhile, Albert tells Webster to forget about him.
Helen Hunt also starred in season one as Nancy Campbell, an American journalist reporting on the war in Berlin. She is the aunt of Webster (though it is later implied that he is actually her son, as a result of being attacked). While in Germany, she attempts to help her German neighbours who have a daughter with epilepsy, who would be taken away by the Nazis and experimented on if she were to be discovered. Unfortunately, the worst happens, and her neighbour Claudia takes her daughter Hilda’s life and her own to stop them from taking her.
Where is Sean Bean and Helen Hunt in season two?
Several cast mates, including Sean Bean, Helen Hunt, Arthur Darvill and Brian J. Smith are missing from season two. Although their absence from the show has yet to be explained, it could be due to conflicting filming schedules after such a long break between filming the show.
While we’re hopeful to see Helen, Arthur and Brian return for season three, Julia revealed some sad news about what happened to Douglas in the show. She told Radio Times: "I think it will be a massive shock for viewers to see that Douglas, the committed pacifist, is no longer with us. He was killed when their house in Manchester was hit by a bomb in the Blitz. Luckily, Lois was out working on a shift at the time, so she survived.
"It's a horrible thing to have happened to a very peaceful man who strongly believed that the war was unjustifiable and wanted to put an end to violence - in the end, he was killed just sitting quietly at home."
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