World on Fire viewers left in floods of tears over heartbreaking character death during ‘unnecessary’ mission
- World on Fire viewers were left in floods of tears over the character death
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World on Fire viewers were left in floods of tears last night over the heartbreaking death of one of the main characters.
The ambitious BBC1 drama, which follows characters living through the first year of the Second World War, was met with widespread praise when it first aired in 2019.
The penultimate episode of the second series aired last night, and saw Jonah Hauer-King’s character Harry and his men fighting in Africa.
However in a devastating scene, his close friend Sergeant Stan Raddings, played by The Inbetweener’s star Blake Harrison, is killed when he saves Harry from an attack from an enemy soldier.
Many of those watching were left crushed by the scene, with one commenting: ‘Not Stan. Damnit Harry, that was not a mission you needed to go on.’
World on Fire viewers were left in floods of tears last night over the heartbreaking deaths of one of the main characters
Another wrote: ‘It’s war and people die, but why Stan.’
A third added: ‘He was paranoid off the dehydration, went on a mission that wasn’t needed that got Stan killed…
‘Now Harry’s gone and shot the German and he’s going to succumb to the guilt.’
A fourth wrote: ‘Can’t believe Stan the Sarge copped it tonight.’
Another simply shared the character’s name followed by a crying emoji.
In the episode, Harry is left dehydrated and listless – and, against the advice of his fellow leaders, decides to take the men on a mission through the desert to find water.
Stan, who was also a series regular during the programme’s first season, was reluctant to join him on the mission.
However they are left stunned when the group are attacked by enemy soldiers in the dead of night.
A number of the soldiers flee in horror, but Harry and Stan remain to fight the enemy.
Many of those watching the programme were left devastated by the scene, sharing crying emojis online
When they are set upon by a soldier at close range, Stan steps out of the barricade in order to punch him – but is shot and killed in the process.
Harry desperately tries to perform CPR, but is unsuccessful in saving his friend – and the platoon are left devastated.
Harry captures the enemy soldier, and forces him to dig Stan’s grave, telling him: ‘He was my friend. You’re not fit to dig his grave.’
The two begin to fight, and Harry ends up killing him.
At the end of the episode, the group come together to say a prayer for Stan, saying: ‘Lead us from illusion to the real, lead us from darkness to light.
‘Lead us from death to eternal life.’
Speaking about the drama, creator Peter Bowker said: ‘As always, we tell stories which have an unforced and not always comfortable contemporary resonance, stories that demonstrate both human resilience and human folly and stories of ordinary lives in extraordinary times.
After embarking on a mission to find drinking water, Harry and his soldiers are set upon by enemy soldiers
When they are set upon by a soldier at close range, Stan steps out of the barricade in order to punch him – but is shot and killed in the process
Harry is left devastated by his friends death, capturing the soldier who killed him – before shooting him in a fight
“Historical drama should not be about nostalgia and I hope this isn’t how this series is regarded. It is about asking questions of the present by interrogating stories from our past.
‘And at the heart of these stories, amongst multiple perspectives, the single question remains – ‘If you had been there, what would you have done?'”
The first series of the drama was a huge hit when it aired in 2019, and it wasn’t long before a second series was announced.
Speaking about the first series, Harrison told Daily Mail that he was thrilled to be cast in a proper war drama.
He said: ‘The young actor in me was living out a dream. I’ve never had more fun on a set than when I’m running away from gunfire and explosions.’
However, the planned 2020 shoot was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
And previously speaking about the first series of the drama, Peter divulged: ‘World On Fire tells the hidden human stories within the big historical events we think we know.
Speaking about the first series, Harrison told Daily Mail that he was thrilled to be cast in a proper war drama
‘From Harry, a young English translator in Warsaw caught up in negotiations with the Nazis and trying to smuggle his Polish lover Kasia out of the country, to Lois, the girl who is waiting for him at home, a young Mancunian factory worker who will come to take all the opportunities the war can offer to live a different kind of life.
‘To Nancy, a female US war correspondent who can’t find peace unless her life is at risk, to the Rossler family in Berlin, worried for their soldier son and willing to do anything to protect their disabled daughter from the attentions of the ruling Nazi regime.
‘These are the stories of the ordinary people who shaped our world.
‘Stories of loyalty and brutality, courage and fear, hopes, stories of love and loss, hopes and dreams forged in extraordinary times.’
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