Keira Knightley and more stars explore family history in ‘My Grandparents’ War’
My Grandparents’ War is back for a second season.
More famous faces will discover the wartime stories of their grandparents as Channel 4’s factual series returns.
My Grandparents’ War originally debuted in 2019, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II.
Its first season featured Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown), Mark Rylance (Dunkirk), Kristin Scott Thomas (Rebecca), and Carey Mulligan (Suffragette).
The brand new episodes will be fronted by British period drama actors Keira Knightley (Atonement), Kit Harington (Game of Thrones), and Toby Jones (My Week with Marilyn), as well as popular Scottish singer Emeli Sandé.
All four celebrities will be exploring their grandparents’ extraordinary stories from conflicts that shaped the 20th Century, retracing their grandparents’ footsteps as they uncover the life and death decisions their family faced.
Channel 4 commissioning editor Madonna Benjamin commented: “I’m delighted at the range of stories and calibre of talent involved in this series.
“As well as exploring fascinating moments in seminal historical periods, what this programme does like no other is to show audiences a side of these A list stars that we rarely see, sharing with us family stories and intimate histories that are both relatable and moving.”
Executive producer Tom Anstiss added: “It’s such an honour to collaborate with Kit, Kiera, Emeli and Toby. They bring real emotional depth, compassion and deliver a fresh new insight into seismic events in social history.
“Our series is packed with jaw-dropping revelations and headline-grabbing stories. From the most controversial spying operation of the 20th Century to the fight for independence in Africa, the stars’ authored films throw the audience into riveting untold stories of our recent history.”
The second season of My Grandparents’ War was filmed in a various historic locations, from the killing fields of Kenya, to the mountains of Monte Cassino in Italy.
The new season of My Grandparents’ War is currently airing in the UK on Thursday nights on Channel 4.
It’ll premiere worldwide in the coming months on PBS in US, SBS in Australia, and CBC in Canada.
The official synopsis reads: “My Grandparents’ War delivers a fascinating new biographical insight into some of Britain’s biggest stars and explores how their grandparents’ experiences of war shaped their own lives and the world we live in today.
“Piecing together their families’ history with a treasure trove of untapped archive, historical records and family trees, testimony from the last surviving veterans and people whose own lives are inextricably linked to the stars, each film unearths untold chapters of social history and reveals the sacrifices all our grandparents made.”
Season 1 is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.