The Heavy Water War

This six-part 2015 Norwegian TV production—broadcast stateside on MHz—presents an invigorating dramatization of a little-known episode during World War II. After the Germans seized control of Norway in 1940, they planned to transfer the output from a heavy water-producing power plant back to Germany for use in the Nazi atomic energy program. But British forces were cognizant of the danger of allowing the Germans to proceed with nuclear experiments, so a group of exiled Norwegians were recruited and trained to lead a raid on the plant. The Heavy Water War focuses on parallel stories involving men on both sides of the conflict: Norwegian resistance fighter Leif Tronstad (Espen Klouman Høiner), who places his life and the well-being of his family in jeopardy, and Nobel Prize-winning German scientist Werner Heisenberg (Christoph Bach), whose pursuit of atomic energy research is tainted with the ethical issues of using science to produce weapons of horrifying capabilities. The series shines during the assault on the power plant, as the commandos use their extensive training to take out the German-controlled facility through brilliant stealth tactics. Also featuring British actress Anna Friel, this engaging foreign WWII drama is recommended. (P. Hall)