Fukushima

by BBC World Service
50
Fiction #11, Drama #5

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

The latest season is Purple Heart Warriors, a time-travelling drama about the Japanese American soldiers who became legends of US military history. Inspired by real events, it’s the little-known story of the 442nd Regiment, decorated for their bravery fighting the Nazi German army in World War Two. Narrated by Will Sharpe and written by Oscar nominee Iris Yamashita, it is told in six-parts.

Also listen to our previous season: Fukushima. This seven-part nuclear drama tells the story of the tsunami which hit in 2011. It follows the heroes who fight to contain the disaster and those whose mistakes led Japan to catastrophe.

More
Recent Episodes
  • Trailer: Fukushima
    May 3, 2023 – 02:52
  • Fukushima: 1. Tsunami
    May 14, 2023 – 27:08
  • Fukushima: 2. Emergency
    May 21, 2023 – 27:08
  • Fukushima: 3. Explosion
    May 28, 2023 – 27:11
  • Fukushima: 4. Evacuation
    Jun 4, 2023 – 27:12
  • Fukushima: 5. Invisible enemy
    Jun 11, 2023 – 27:10
  • Fukushima: 6. Legacy
    Jun 18, 2023 – 26:58
  • Fukushima: 7. Atonement
    Jun 25, 2023 – 27:05
  • Trailer: Purple Heart Warriors
    Nov 25, 2024 – 04:34
  • Purple Heart Warriors: 1. Memorial day
    Dec 9, 2024 – 27:01
  • Purple Heart Warriors: 2. ‘Buddhaheads’
    Dec 9, 2024 – 27:38
  • Purple Heart Warriors: 3. True Americans
    Dec 9, 2024 – 26:58
  • Purple Heart Warriors: 4. Screaming Mimis
    Dec 16, 2024 – 27:00
  • Purple Heart Warriors: 5. The lost battalion
    Dec 23, 2024 – 27:29
  • Purple Heart Warriors: 6. ‘Go for broke’
    Dec 30, 2024 – 26:24
  • Bonus: The making of Purple Heart Warriors
    Jan 6, 2025 – 11:03
Recent Reviews
  • jmsta29
    Disappointed
    This could have been amazing considering the subject matter. The terrible acting lets the whole series down.
  • Lord_have_mercy
    Amazing
    Fukushima is a fascinating story of cover-ups and earnest workers forced to work in the dark - literally and metaphorically. Amazing true story of man’s lack of foresight and inability to face reality. So very sad. So many ‘old’ ways followed to the detriment of all.
  • Elephantoplasty
    Fluffy novel - hard to learn much from it
    Don’t bother if you want to learn about the events around the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
  • rubimarcus
    Awful
    The worst podcast about the best subject. What a disappointment.
  • Paikea Ngati Porou
    A superb radio drama
    I didn’t initially warm to the radio-drama format of this podcast - but I am glad I was not be deterred as it brought history alive for me. The radio-drama interweaves the competing narratives and perspectives of the major players and archetypical smaller players in this extraordinary revolution. Of all the podcasts I have listened to this one had the longest fuse and the biggest impact on me. It allowed me to imagine I was listening to the main actual actors ( the Shah, US ambassador, the Ayatollah Khomeini, etc) and this brought home to me how complex, contingent and precarious were the events. Congratulations and thank you for bringing history alive.
  • Inch825
    Hard to listen to
    It’s like listening to a Persian version of The Archers
  • Redo 321
    Poor
    The subject matter deserves so much more than this. A b grade radio drama that puts melodramatic words into the mouths of figures that shaped one of the most integral moments in Middle East history. BBC should have presented a multi part documentary that utilised interviews with some of the key characters that are still alive, before those people slip from our mortal coil.
  • Peejay.Jones
    Fall of the Shah
    Like a badly written play. Boring.
  • Saeed S
    Excellent start
    Looking forward to great content from the BBC, on this world changing, albeit unfortunate turn of history.
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