THE first episode of Granada Media’s £8.5m. Channel Island Occupation drama is broadcast on Sunday. Island at War, set in the fictional island of St Gregory, will be shown in six 90-minute episodes. ITV hopes to commission a further two series if it is successful.

The series was filmed on the Isle of Man, which was closer and cheaper for Manchester-based producer Granada.

The drama was inspired by actual events and follows the lives of three families – the Jonases, the Dorrs and the Mahys – as they struggle through the first year of the Occupation, but executives were keen not to identify with one particular island.

Wartime historian Herbert Winterflood lived in Guernsey throughout the Occupation.

‘I think that with the 60th anniversary of the Occupation coming up, it’s a good time to put something on of that nature to awaken memories and get young people interested,’ he said.

He went on to say that the use of the Isle of Man as a location instead of one of the Channel Islands was a shame.

‘I think they could have filmed it on location, especially with the bunkers and watchtowers and the museums we’ve got. They might use some shots in the final production – I think they should.’

Many islanders are worried about how true to life the drama will be and hope that the writers have not spiced things up in a way that will make the Channel Islands look bad.

‘It has got to be historically accurate,’ said Mr Winterflood. ‘We’ll have to wait and see and hope they get it right. I hope it’s not too critical of the local government during the war because I know both islands’ administrations did their utmost for the civilians. To no extent did they join forces with the Germans.

‘In Guernsey, the civilian politicians always resisted orders from the Germans if they thought it would affect island health or rations or anything like that.’

He said that creating the fictional island of St Gregory as the setting for the series was a confusing decision.

‘I don’t agree, but perhaps when we see it, we’ll understand why they’ve done it, but I’m not too happy about that,’ he said.

German Occupation Museum owner Richard Heaume is reserving judgement until he has seen this Sunday’s programme.

‘You could stamp something as fiction and do what you want but if you market something as authentic and it’s not, then we’ve got every right to complain,’ he said.

‘I can’t really say more until I have seen it. It will depend on how they detail it.’

Tony Brassell, of the Guernsey Film Commission, said he wished the producers had come here to make the series.

‘It’s disappointing, but these films tend to be made where there is the money to make them. We don’t have the funds, whereas the Isle of Man does. The Isle of Man will put money into the production but there’s not a lot we can do until we have our own film fund.

‘We promote the island as a location and quite often, films for which there is no financial constraint will be made in the best location. We have to make sure people are aware Guernsey exists.

‘This isn’t the first film to be shot elsewhere and we still get the publicity. There is a German film set here coming out in the autumn called The Rose Grower which they filmed parts of here, even though most of it was done in South Africa.

‘The bigger films would be nice but there are documentaries and other ways we can get out there.’

He too hoped that the writers had not painted a negative picture of the Channel Islands during the Second World War.

‘As long as they portray us in a good light, we get the benefit without having film crews closing roads and getting in the way.

‘Not everybody reads the credits at the end. I will be interested to see it; I look forward to seeing how they portray us.’

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* Island at War will be shown on ITV1 at 9pm.