Helen Hunt in the cast, series looks at WWII in Britain, Poland, France, Germany and the U.S.

Pasadena, Calif. — The PBS World War II drama World on Fire premieres April 5. PBS calls the show “an adrenalized, emotionally gripping and resonant World War II drama that follows the intertwining fates of ordinary people in five countries as they grapple with the effects of the war on their everyday lives. Set in Britain, Poland, France, Germany and the United States, the events of the seven-hour series take place during the first year of the war.”

The cast includes Helen Hunt, Sean Bean, Lesley Manville, Jonah Hauer-King and Blake Harrison. Hunt plays an American journalist reporting from Warsaw and Berlin as fighting erupts.

PBS has committed to a second season of the series, which falls under its Masterpiece header.

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World on Fire aired in the UK in the fall of 2019.

World on Fire is a Mammoth Screen (part of ITV Studios) production for the BBC and Masterpiece. It is written by Peter Bowker, developed by Mammoth’s Creative Director Rebecca Keane, and executive produced by Bowker, Damien Timmer and Helen Ziegler for Mammoth Screen, Lucy Richer for the BBC, and Rebecca Eaton for Masterpiece.

Hunt’s character is inspired by American war journalist William Shearer and U.K. war journalist Claire Hollingworth.