Overview

• New Channel 4 documentary documents the Channel Islands’ 1,774-day Nazi occupation after British troops withdrew in 1940.
• The series blends actors voicing islanders’ diary entries with rare archive footage to recreate daily life under German rule.
• Resistance efforts feature Claude Cahun’s covert leaflet drops; Frank Falla’s Guernsey Underground News Service broadcasting BBC updates.
• The film examines moral complexities of life under occupation, including “jerrybags” relationships; civilian informants; local collaborators.
• It uncovers Nazi propaganda tactics, from staged heiling photographs to the Jersey bailiff’s role in Jewish deportations; subsequent appeals for clemency.