Wartime Britain Collection

Three stories of wartime heroes in one place! Winner of two BAFTA® Awards, Housewife, 49 features Victoria Wood (Hetty Wainthrop Investigates) and Emmy® nominee David Threlfall (Patriot Games) in the true story of a woman's life as wife and mother on the home front. Starring James Wilby (Gosford Park), Clare Holman (Prime Suspect 6) and Philip Glenister (Life on Mars), Island at War is the surprisingly haunting Masterpiece drama about the Nazi occupation of Britain's Channel Islands. Sir Michael Gambon, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Imelda Staunton and Michael York star in Harold Pinter's The Heat of the Day: a woman is caught between a man selling secrets to the enemy and another with vicious intentions.

The Heat of the Day
Many people have fled the city, and those who stayed behind find themselves thrown together in an odd intimacy born of crisis. Stella Rodney is one of those who chose to stay. But for her, the sense of impending catastrophe becomes acutely personal when she discovers that her lover, Robert, is suspected of selling secrets to the enemy, and that the man who is following him wants Stella herself as the price of his silence. Caught between these two men, not sure whom to believe, Stella finds her world crumbling as she learns how little we can truly know of those around us. SDH
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Housewife, 49
Crack open a diary penned during one of the most uncertain times in British history-the dawn of World War II. This compelling drama is based on the true story of Nella Last's wartime recollections. Nella (Victoria Wood, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates), trapped in an unhappy marriage and dreading the departure of her beloved son to the front, turns to her diary to survive. As Nella embraces her wartime volunteer work and meets the formidable Mrs. Waite (Stephanie Cole, Waiting for God), she finally overcomes the issues that kept her imprisoned for years. Screenplay by the leading actress, Victoria Wood.

Island at War
How would you feel if Nazis infiltrated your picturesque homeland? For five long years beginning in 1940, Hitler's forces occupied Britain's Channel Islands. For families on the islands, life changed overnight and forever.

This Masterpiece Theatre drama draws on the wartime experiences of three families: the well-off Dorrs, the middle-class Mahys and the working-class Jonases. Heart-pounding suspense mixes with unexpected romance, even as the hostile Nazi invaders impose their will on every aspect of daily life. This widely heralded production stars James Wilby (Gosford Park), Clare Holman (Prime Suspect 6 ), Philip Glenister (Calendar Girls) and Saskia Reeves (Dune).

Recommended for mature audiences.

The Heat of the Day

Directed by Christopher Morahan
Written by Elizabeth Bowen, Harold Pinter
Produced by June Wyndham-Davies
Original Music by Ilona Sekacz
Film Editing by Andrew Sumner
Costume Design by Jane Robinson

Housewife, 49

Directed by Gavin Millar
Written by Victoria Wood, Nella Last
Produced by Piers Wenger
Executive Produced by Michele Buck, Damien Timmer, Victoria Wood
Original Music by John Lunn
Cinematography by Cinders Forshaw
Film Editing by Matthew Newman
Costume Design by Charlotte Holdich

Island at War

Directed by Peter Lydon, Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Written by Stephen Mallatratt
Produced by Sita Williams
Executive Produced by Andy Harries
Original Music by Geoffrey Burgon
Cinematography by David Higgs
Film Editing by Tony Cranstoun, Edward Mansell
Costume Design by Lyn Avery