(light gentle music) - Sir James is very charming.

He was in the trenches, he was an officer.

Mrs. Chase.

He's a MI5 operative so he's used to, I would say, manipulating people in a certain way, a kind way, but to get what he wants.

He's not a bad person by any stretch of the imagination.

He's a bit of a whirlwind from the moment he arrives but he's immense fun to play.

He certainly injects some fun into the Chase family household.

- I play David, who is a fighter pilot, a Jewish fighter pilot.

He's the light of the group.

During their missions, he keeps the morale up.

We're all terrified, so just make the most of every minute you're not.

But at the same time, I just think it's pure bravery and I respect so much all the pilots back in the day because what they did was pretty remarkable.

Hello, hello.

I couldn't actually fly, but I did do a lot of research about what it felt like flying planes.

I also have a friend of mine who served in the Israeli army as a fighter pilot so I spoke to him.

and there's a book called "Life Lessons" about the Holocaust.

I've also been to the Holocaust memorials too.

So that knowledge definitely helps put yourself into that mindset.

- I play Rajib, who is an Indian officer in the British Army.

Sappers are essentially military engineers.

They're the ones that put the mines together and also the ones who find them.

I'm trying to represent an entire region of the world that I don't think has been represented in a World War II setting at this level, ever.

So that's a bit of a pressure, but there's a pride that comes along with it, and I hope I do it authentically.

It's been a lot of fun developing the character because you're kind of diving into something where there's no real reference.

And for somebody at that time who's an Indian being in the army, what's his idea of fear?

What's he scared of?

And does he really know who he's fighting for, why he's fighting?

And I think he's very clear in his head about what is morally the right thing to do.

The value of a life is the value of a life.

- My name is Miriam Schiweck, and I'm playing Marga.

(Marga speaking foreign language) Well, it was a program by the Nazis that was made to keep the race clean.

(Marga speaking foreign language) And it was to protect the Aryan race to build a new nation.

Marga, of course, thinks that she's doing the right thing.

Gertha, her best friend in this case, is a danger to this task because she wants to keep Marga away from her duties as an Aryan girl.

It's about so many different individual stories in so many different situations.

It's the whole complexity of every story that is so fascinating about "World on Fire."

(light gentle music)