PBS sets World on Fire with ITVSGE

Jonah Hauer King in World on Fire

US public broadcaster PBS has boarded ambitious Second World War drama World on Fire, due to premiere late this year on the UK’s BBC1, as a coproducer.

World on Fire will air as part of the pubcaster’s Masterpiece strand after it sealed a deal for the 7×60’ series with distributor ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVSGE).

ITV Studios-owned UK prodco Mammoth Screen is producing the show, which is written by Peter Bowker (Eric & Ernie, Blackpool) and stars Helen Hunt (As Good as it Gets, Mad About You), Sean Bean (Broken, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings) and Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread, Mum).

PBS Masterpiece is joining the project as a coproduction partner, keen to repeat the success it has had with fellow Mammoth Screen/ITVSGE period dramas Poldark and Victoria.

ITVSGE has also secured a number of pre-sales for World on Fire in other territories. Those to have acquired the show include BBC First Australia, TVNZ (New Zealand), M-Net (Africa), SVT (Sweden), NRK (Norway), DR (Denmark), YLE (Finland) and Viasat World (Central and Eastern Europe). Second-window rights for the show have also been acquired by SBS Australia.

The multi-stranded drama tells the story of the Second World War through the lives of ordinary people from all sides of the conflict. Season one is set amid the creeping horror of the outbreak of war during its first year.