Watch first trailer for ‘Poldark’ producer’s new WW2 drama ‘World on Fire’

The BBC has unveiled the first trailer for World on Fire.

Set during the first year of World War II, the upcoming period drama series comes from the makers of Poldark and The A Word creator Peter Bowker.

The seven one-hour episodes will begin with the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and end with the Battle of Britain in 1940.

World on Fire started filming in Prague in the Czech Republic last year, later shooting in Manchester, England and Paris, France.

Watch the trailer:

World on Fire premieres in the UK on BBC One this autumn, marking 80 years since the outbreak of World War II, and the series will air in the US at a later date on Masterpiece on PBS.

The all-star cast is led by Oscar-winner Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets), Sharpe star Sean Bean and English actress Lesley Manville (Mum, River).

Also appearing are Blake Harrison (A Very English Scandal), poet and actor Yrsa Daley-Ward (Today Will Burn), Ansu Kabia (The Long Song) and Ewan Mitchell (The Last Kingdom), Jonah Hauer-King (Little Women), Julia Brown (The Last Kingdom) and Tomasz Kot (Cold War).

Writer Peter Bowker previously commented: “World On Fire tells the hidden human stories within the big historical events we think we know.

“From Harry, a young English translator in Warsaw caught up in negotiations with the Nazis and trying to smuggle his Polish lover Kasia out of the country, to Lois, the girl who is waiting for him at home, a young Mancunian factory worker who will come to take all the opportunities the war can offer to live a different kind of life.

“To Nancy, a female US war correspondent who can’t find peace unless her life is at risk, 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.

“These are the stories of the ordinary people who shaped our world. Stories of loyalty and brutality, courage and fear, hopes, stories of love and loss, hopes and dreams forged in extraordinary times.”