World on Fire, BBC One

BBC One has announced World on Fire, a new Second World War drama written by award-winning screenwriter, Peter Bowker. The seven-episode series will follow in the footsteps of recent films Dunkirk and Suite Française by focussing on a range of characters and plotlines to tell the ‘hidden human stories within the big historical events we think we know’.

Starting with the invasion of Poland, ending at the Battle of Britain, and depicting characters from both sides, the series has already been billed as a ‘landmark’ of British television.

The BBC has given us a tantalising introduction to some of the characters. From Harry, ‘a young English translator in Warsaw caught up in negotiations with the Nazis', to ‘the Rossler family in Berlin, worried for their soldier son and willing to do anything to protect their disabled daughter from the attentions of the ruling Nazi regime’, World on Fire, said Peter Bowker, will tell 'the stories of the ordinary people who shaped our world’.

Such an ambitious range of characters and settings would be alarming if it wasn’t for Peter Bowker’s excellent track record. In Bowker’s hands, sensitive, painful tales become touchingly, beautifully realised. His gift for capturing human relationships in a way that is both raw and unpretentious has been proven time and time again in dramas such as The A Word, Occupation, and Marvellous.

With filming beginning across Europe and screening set for next year, it will be fascinating to see how Bowker tackles the gargantuan task of re-telling such a crucial part of our history.

We cannot wait.