WWII: Hell on Earth

Documentary History War 2020

The greatest manmade event in history was also the most lethal; we tell the story of the Second World War from a perspective that recognises these overwhelming facts and war as a human experience.

Director: Chris Bamford, Serge Ou

Photos

Episodes

EP 1

We Are At War

We begin at the start of the German invasion of Poland and the segregation of Jews into ghettos; Mussolini joins Hitler in his fight, and Winston Churchill is appointed as…

EP 2

We Shall Go On

Germany continues to build its empire in Europe, occupying Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium; Churchill rejects any attempt at an armistice.

EP 3

Infamy

The UK is isolated as German forces occupy Europe; 17,000 trains carry German armies towards the Soviet Union; with Operation Barbarossa, Hitler launches Vernichtungskrieg, a war of annihilation.

EP 4

A Dream Of Great Success

After Pearl Harbor and their triumphant sweep across southeast Asia, Japanese armies celebrate their victory, but confidence is shaken four months later at the Battle of the Coral Sea.

EP 5

I Shall Never Look Back

The war enters its third year with battlefields in Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Asia/Pacific region; the Battle of Midway, with its irreversible consequences, is a victory for the…

21 Sep 2026 21:00

EP 6

Rattenkrieg

The war grows more savage from the Indian border in Burma to China, which has been at war with Japan since 1937; in Europe, Hitler renews his assault on the…

22 Sep 2026 21:00

EP 7

The Shame Of Returning Alive

Facing a Soviet army that grows stronger and pushes German forces back across the lands they occupied - and facing devastation of German cities by the Allies - Goebbels issues…

23 Sep 2026 21:05

EP 8

Endless Numbers

No surrender before defeat - the bloodiest months of the war are still ahead. A Soviet surge pushes German forces back to within 30 kilometres of the Polish border.

24 Sep 2026 21:00