"Island at War" (2004) TV mini-series

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Directors:

Peter Lydon
Thaddeus O'Sullivan

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

23 January 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Period: Second World War. A quiet channel island community is thrown into turmoil by the invasion forces of Nazi Germany.

Plot Keywords:

TV Mini-Series | Nazi Occupation | WWII

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Saskia Reeves	...	Cassie Mahy (6 episodes, 2004)
Owen Teale	...	PC Wilf Jonas (2 episodes, 2004)
Julia Ford	...	Kathleen Jonas (2 episodes, 2004)
Sean Ward	...	Colin Jonas (2 episodes, 2004)
Clare Holman	...	Felicity Dorr (2 episodes, 2004)
James Wilby	...	Sen. James Dorr (2 episodes, 2004)
Benjamin Whitrow	...	Bailiff Francis La Palotte (2 episodes, 2004)
Sean Gallagher	...	Sheldon Leveque (2 episodes, 2004)
Joanne Frogatt	...	Angelique Mahy (2 episodes, 2004)
Samantha Robinson	...	June Mahy (2 episodes, 2004)
Caroline Strong	...	Margaret (2 episodes, 2004)
Stephen Mallatratt	...	Vicar (2 episodes, 2004)

Runtime:

UK:540 min (including commercials) (6 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Castletown, Isle of Man

Company:

Granada Television

Goofs:

Anachronisms: One of the daughters sings in the nightclub at the beginning "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree." It wasn't written then, and not until 1942. Further, its entire message is from an American girl to her American GI during the war. That apple tree is somewhere in rural America. Not in the Channel Islands. This scene takes places a year or two prior to America even entering the war.

Quotes:

Oberleutnant Flach: [ironically] Inconvenient, isn't it, war?

Movie Connections:

Features Jud Süß (1940)

cynical

I think that many people are being very cynical about this. i think nowadays people have the misconception that everything that they watch must be original and groundbreaking. Island at war is a nice wee drama, you don't have to think about what is happening it is all there in front of you. Do people really want to be watching things that stimulate the mind NO i think is the answer to that, especially not on a Sunday night. The acting was all of a very good quality and i have to say i feel it says a lot about the story as prestigious actors such as james wilby being in it. I think it also showed a true outlook on times in the Nazi occupied channel-islands, as it didn't make it seem ridiculously awful, it didn't make all the Germans seem like extremist nazi's it showed them as humans, also as much as people may not like to believe it but British women and German men did get together it was inevitable. Over all i thought that island at war was no masterpiece but it was very nice and easy watching of a Sunday and people shouldn't be so critical of it