Island at War

I'm halfway through this series on Netflix, and I am impressed. I never heard of the channel islands, and the fact that they were thoroughly English, and only 10 miles from Nazi French soil at the height of the Battle of Britain is a piece of history I have missed. This is a very unusual and interesting series.

I was pleased to see Joanna Froggart from "Downton Abbey". a very beautiful and talented actress, and the actress with the first name Saskia who plays Froggart's mother, is one of those heartbreakingly beautiful British actresses that eat cameras up.

Historically, the Nazis were SO bad, so incredibly evil and arrogant that it will never be politically incorrect to diss them anywhere, anytime, until, of course, American liberals decide to make it a sin to keep on dissing them. The Nazis in this series are chillingly demonic.

I liked the fact that CGI ME-109s and Stukas were shown in flybys, but as usual, the CGI boys know nothing of aircraft flight characteristics, and thus, the planes came in way too low and way too slow. Most of the explosions from the Stuka bombs were super chinzy, nowhere near as huge and destructive as a 500 lb bomb would be. This is a problem with CGI when they show combat flying and destruction---the planes look good--they just are not flying right---the flying parts are cartooney.

The Brits make great WWII movies---watch and enjoy---just admire the look of the aircraft depicted, and the look of the ladies in a great cast.

I can't believe how anyone can critisise this excellent drama. It has been the highlight of my year as far as the television is concerned. ITV have done themselves proud considering the rubbish and repeats they usually churn out! The cast was superb with acclaimed actors such as Philip Glenister of 'Vanity Fair' and 'The other bolyn girl', Joanne Frogatt who has come along way since Coronation Street and Edward Fox's nephew Laurence Fox.

The settings, the backing music and the story lines all fitted together perfectly, i just hope ITV take on board the great amount of praise they have received for this drama and commission a second series!!

I have to say, I'm not impressed. Frankly, the LWT series "Enemy at the Door," covered the same territory, only with better actors - (people who actually have and had careers) and they didn't feel the need to invent a fictional island. Anyone with even the vaguest familiarity with history, knows that the events in the real Channel Islands during World War II provide more than enough drama and controversy. Of course the production values are better for Island at War, and obviously the technology had improved since the days of Enemy (1977-1980) But they had the advantage of having a tech adviser who was actually on Guernsey during the Occupation, which helped considerably. Of the two series, in my opinion, there's no question about which is the better one- and it's not Island at War.

If you like good drama and shows about WWII, you will love this show. Every single actor is excellent and the romantic subplots are delicious. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel.

I've watched the show several times and each time have found new lines and facial expressions that add more to the characters and the plot.

I can only imagine what life on those lovely islands must have been like when occupied by the enemy but I think this show depicts it as good as possible. Yes, the Germans were "just people" until they did something to make the people realize that they WERE in control. To fraternize or not? How would I have acted in that situation. . . . Makes one think.

A glimpse of what life may have looked like during the beginning of the German occupation of the Channel Islands. This is the third production I've watched about this subject, and I rank them in the following order, as to how they tell the stories of the occupation: ENEMY AT THE DOOR - 9 (a TV series, dated but superbly written and performed, deals with the wide variety of the war time conditions, struggles and stories, giving the more fullest understanding of the occupation); THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY - 10 (my favourite movie of 2018, fantastic cast, wonderful performances, well written and told from the point of view of a small group of islanders); ISLAND AT WAR - 7 (good cast, some favourite actors, good performances but rather rambling story telling that doesn't do full justice to the potential stories and feels as though the writer didn't know how to resolve the piece). So, I highly recommend sourcing out the first two (I found ENEMY on DVD at my Library, and GUERNSEY on Netflix) and, if you enjoy the work of Laurence Fox, Sam Heughan, Joanne Froggatt, Clare Holman and Owen Teale, I found this series on DVD at my Library, as well. {Historical Drama}