In 1940, France was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany.  Hitler next set his eyes on England, but before he could invade he wanted to capture several small islands in the channel, appropriately known as the Channel Islands.  Faced with the might of the German army, and still stinging from the defeat at Dunkirk, England pulled out the small contingency of troops that were stationed on the islands and let the Germans take them uncontested.  This became the only section of the British Isles to ever come under Nazi command.  ITC made a dramatic miniseries about this occupation in 2004:  Island at War.  This series in now available in a three DVD boxed set.  The DVDs have good audio and video, but unfortunately the show itself isn't as engaging as it should be.

The program is set on the fictitious island of St. Gregory; an amalgamation of the three real channel islands of Jersey, Guernsey and Sark.  Starting soon after the fall of France, the show follows the lives of three families living on St. Gregory, and how the Nazi invasion effects them.

Senator James Dorr is a local government official who has the most interaction with the German in charge, Baron Von Rheingarten.  The Baron want this to be the "perfect occupation" without resistance or bloodshed.  Mrs. Mahy is a local shop keeper with two teenage daughters who despises the Nazi's and has no interest in cooperating with them.  Then there is Police Constable Wilf and his wife.  They have sent their children off to England, only to discover that their son didn't get on the ship and ran back home.

When the Nazis first arrive, it seems like they don't want to stir up any trouble, though they established themselves as an occupying army.  As time goes on however, things get worse for the inhabitants of this small and seemingly insignificant island.

When I first received this show, I was hoping that it would be a historical examination of what actually happened in 1940.  The fact that the program was set in a fictitious island, and filmed on the Isle of Man rather than the actual Channel Islands themselves, gave me some cause for concern but I still thought that this would be an educational and enlightening show.  Instead, I was treated to kitchen-sink melodrama, that was fairly run of the mill.  By the end of the first episode I was able to what was going to happen to certain characters.  Events occur to make the plot more dramatic, not because it is historically accurate.  It's fairly easy to pick out which women are going to data German soldiers for example.

Not only was the plot predictable, but there were several glaring historical errors that really make it hard to suspend your disbelief.  I'm no expert on WWII, but I know the basic facts of the conflict.  When a German pilot says that his goal, and everyone else's in the German Army, is to avoid going sent to the Eastern Front I had to shake my head.  This is supposed to be a historical drama, they should know when the invasion of Russia started.

There are other consistency errors that also made it hard to enjoy the show.  The invasion takes place in the summer, and at one point someone comments about how hot it is at night.  Two days later a man gets wet at night and complains how bitterly cold it is, then catches a fever.  This is just laziness on the part of the writers, and reminds the viewer that events are there to serve as plot devices, not for historical accuracy.
 
The acting was fairly standard.  While I was elated that the actors managed to avoid many of the stereotypes often found in such programs, I was also dismayed that they weren't able to draw me into the story.  I never seemed to care about any of the character's plights.  That was the biggest flaw for me.  I can forgive a lot if I can relate to the characters, but in this show I couldn't.

Audio:

The English stereo soundtrack is very good and fits the program.  While the audio isn't terribly dynamic, it is clean and clear.  There is no distortion or audio defects making this a nice sounding disc.  There are no subtitles.

Video:

The widescreen anamorphically enhanced image looks nice.  The colors of the beautiful countryside are bright and vivid, and the detail is fine.  Digital defects are at a minimum.  A nice looking set.

Extras:

Most of the extras included with this set are text based.  There is a piece on the historical background, covering the fall of France to Nazi forces, the taking of the islands and the place they played in the war.  Several of the main actors give their thoughts on the script and subject matter, and there is also a photo gallery and cast bios.

Final Thoughts:

While I really enjoy documentaries and historical dramas, I didn't think this one was very good.  It played up the drama too much at the expense of the history.  The characters weren't two dimensional stereotypes, but they weren't interesting either.  While it wasn't bad, it just wasn't that good either.  If you are interested in the subject, renting it would be best.