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Dramas

Immersive storytelling from the BBC World Service. The home of original drama.

World Service,16 episodes

Episodes

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Purple Heart Warriors
Trailer: Purple Heart Warriors
Time-travelling drama about the Japanese American legends of US military history
25 Nov 2024,4 mins
Purple Heart Warriors
Purple Heart Warriors: 1. Memorial day
In Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, a young American is transported back to World War Two
09 Dec 2024,27 mins,
Purple Heart Warriors
Purple Heart Warriors: 2. ‘Buddhaheads’
Ken goes to a Japanese American internment camp and is shocked at what he sees
09 Dec 2024,28 mins,
Purple Heart Warriors
Purple Heart Warriors: 3. True Americans
The battalion heads for Europe and Ken is desperate
09 Dec 2024,27 mins,
Purple Heart Warriors
Purple Heart Warriors: 4. Screaming Mimis
Ken and his Japanese American comrades experience the horror of World War Two combat
09 Dec 2024,27 mins,
Purple Heart Warriors
Purple Heart Warriors: 5. The lost battalion
With half of the men lost, the most dangerous battle of all awaits
09 Dec 2024,28 mins,
Purple Heart Warriors
Purple Heart Warriors: 6. ‘Go for broke’
The 442nd take on the Nazi enemy
09 Dec 2024,27 mins,
Purple Heart Warriors
Bonus: The making of Purple Heart Warriors
Behind the scenes. Find out how our drama, inspired by real events, was born
06 Jan 2025,11 mins
Fukushima
Trailer: Fukushima
A drama about losing control in Japan’s nuclear emergency
03 May 2023,2 mins
Fukushima
Fukushima: 1. Tsunami
Japan’s nuclear plant is hit as an immense wave surges past defences and floods reactors
15 May 2023,27 mins
Fukushima
Fukushima: 2. Emergency
Japan battles to maintain control in the face of nuclear disaster
22 May 2023,27 mins
Fukushima
Fukushima: 3. Explosion
A massive explosion rocks the stricken power plant. Can the reactors be cooled?
29 May 2023,27 mins
Fukushima
Fukushima: 4. Evacuation
The reactors are unstable. A “suicide squad” of older workers is sent inside
05 Jun 2023,27 mins
Fukushima
Fukushima: 5. Invisible enemy
“We are at war….” Politicians seize control
12 Jun 2023,27 mins
Fukushima
Fukushima: 6. Legacy
Years after the disaster, one of the “suicide squad” questions his heroism
19 Jun 2023,26 mins
Fukushima
Fukushima: 7. Atonement
A former energy company executive seeks atonement for not preventing the disaster
26 Jun 2023,27 mins