Love AND WAR

LESLEY MANVILLE on what to expect as her sweeping saga returns

- SEAN MARLAND

WORLD ON FIRE

NEW SUNDAY, 9PM, BBC1 DRAMA (BOX SET, BBC iPLAYER)

Bombs will fall, bullets will fly and brave young heroes from across the globe will continue their fight for freedom as BBC1’s wartime epic World on Fire returns for a second series after a four-year hiatus.

Written by Peter Bowker (The A Word), the acclaimed drama tells the story of World War Two through the eyes of ordinary people, and the new six-part run will again explore beyond the streets of Britain, taking viewers into occupied France and Nazi Germany as well as the brutal sands of the North African desert.

Picking up the action in late 1940, British soldier Harry Chase (played by Jonah Hauer-King) arrives home to Cheshire with his new bride, Polish resistance fighter Kasia Tomaszeski (Zofia

Robina Chase (Lesley Manville).

Meanwhile, Lois Bennett (Julia Brown) – Harry’s ex-girlfriend and mum of his baby daughter, Vera – is now working for Manchester’s ambulance service, where she spends her evenings helping those caught up in the air raids.

Here, Lesley, 67, tells us about the drama ahead for fan favourite Robina…

After a successful first series, shown from September until November 2019, production on season two was delayed because of the pandemic. How does it feel to finally be back?