For some reason it's on BBC2 and not BBC4 but the concept of looking at the WW2 through young German eyes is terrific and about time too.

I'm rooting for all 5 of our protagonists.

It's taken long enough for people to realise races are never all good or all bad but that the vast majority is caught in the middle. I really like Germans and have many German friends. Their only shared problem (I have arguments with them on this) is - they are so obedient. Which means a very clean, very successful country but liable to obey the wrong people.

agree with those statements and have had 2 German backpackers work for me.

The temperament is so similar to the Brits it's uncanny- except for maybe the work angle. They do and we don't. Or we didn't used to.

Geoffrey Robertson (not a brush with fame this time, known him since we were teens) told me once his wife Kathy Lette's books sell just OK in the UK but she's a best seller in Germany because they like the ribald humour and especially love them because she sends up the Brits.

# The last German lad who worked for me refused to drive my car in Sydney because he was terrified of the aggressive traffic even though he happily cruises down the autobahns. Aggressive driving- something Ozzies inherited from the UK.

Not sure about the driving Hedda; I've witnessed some truly appalling accidents on German Autobahns. When they go fast, they go ridiculously fast. But I find the UK habit of thinking Germans have no sense of humour very odd. I have many laughs with my German friends. Just like every other nationality you get some good and some bad but the majority are decent and that's not been reflected in anything I've seen about WW2. In many ways the Germans had a terribly difficult time in the war, hating their own leaders yet having to obey them.

And worse, having to get on with every day life (like the tailor's father). Rather like today in the UK - watching the false allegations industry explode, the media encourage it, the law back it yet not daring to speak up against it (without being accused of being pro paedo by Twits).

Episode Two - still gripping. I love seeing the German side of things. Had to wait for a load of old (coloured) balls to finish - an hour late!