If all else fails when it comes to making new TV shows, pumping out period dramas set in World War Two is always the way to go. Just look at Apple TV’s latest Band of Brothers follow-up Masters of the Air. What makes the BBC’s World on Fire so unique, however, is that it doesn’t focus on those in the thick of battle but on the lives of civilians caught up in the fallout of the war around the world.
Recommended VideosWith its talented ensemble cast and international scope, following characters in everywhere from England to Warsaw to Northern Africa, World on Fire is easily one of the most acclaimed WW2 dramas made in recent times. Of course, the one problem with it is that — like many British TV shows — its episode counts are minuscule and new seasons take an age to get made. Given that, there’s one question we really want to know: will get World on Fire receive a third season?
Is World on Fire getting a season 3?
To date, the BBC has yet to officially commission another season of World on Fire. However, this isn’t necessarily a cause for concern, as the primary motivator for this series has always been high-standards over speed. Certainly, there’s plenty more for the show to explore. While the first season covered March 1939 to July 1940, season 2 took place between October 1940 to May 1941. So there’s 3.5 more years of the war still to document.
In fact, if creator Peter Bowker has his way, World on Fire will run for a further four seasons in total. The EP revealed to RadioTimes.com in 2019, when the first season debuted, that he had various, multifaceted storylines already planned out until season 6.
“I know what happens over six series for the main characters,” he teased. “If you pitch a show, people will often ask, ‘What happens in series 4, episode 3? What happens to this character?’ You’ve got to know and not be English about it.”
Of course, Bowker’s long-term plans all depend on whether more seasons actually get the greenlight. It is an unfortunate fact that ratings for season 2 were considerably down from season 1. For instance, the series premiered was watched by 6. 30 million in the U.K. while season 2’s opener only drew in an audience of 3.85 million. This is still a perfectly respectable rating for British network TV in the 2020s, however.
Season 2 concluded in August 2023, but the fact we’ve yet to get any season 3 news isn’t as alarming as it may seem. There was an enormous four-year gap between the release of the first and second seasons, after all. Although the pandemic no doubt made a significant impact on that delay. Another reason for the hold-up could simply be the busy schedules of its cast. Lead Jonah Hauer-King is enjoying a career boom right now, post his role in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, with a role in Doctor Who coming up.
Aside from Hauer-King, it’s slightly difficult to say which other cast-members could return for season 3, as there were considerable differences in the ensembles of seasons 1 and 2 — Sean Bean and Helen Hunt did not return after the first run, for instance. That said, given where season 2 ended, we would anticipate Lesley Manville, Julia Brown, Zofia Wichłacz, Mark Bonnar, and Gregg Sulkin to return at least.
World on Fire season 3 is yet to officially happen, but the good news is that it isn’t officially not happening yet either. The bad news? It’s entirely possible, if new episodes are on the way, that they won’t air for a long while yet. At best, a release of somewhere in 2025 seems feasible. At worst, either 2026 or 2027.
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