ZDF Studios and World Media Rights to co-produce "The Lost Women Spies"

ZDF Studios revealed details about the six-part docu-drama series, "The Lost Women Spies" a brand new co-production from ZDF Studios and World Media Rights. “'The Lost Women Spies' follows in the footsteps of War Gamers, our co-production for Curiosity Stream in 2023, about the women who worked out the U-boat tactics in WWII," Nikolas Hülbusch, Director Unscripted, ZDF Studios said. "Both titles explore the history of women in that war and has the same style and feel.  As War Gamers was a huge success internationally, we know that there is a genuine demand from viewers wanting to discover more about women in war.”

Currently in production, the six-parter about the fate of British female spies in WWII, is scheduled for completion in March 2024. World Media Rights (WMR), the London based production company, is renowned for producing award-winning docu-dramas. Long-standing partners with ZDF Studios, who own a share in WMR, their joint productions include "Greatest Events of World War Two in Colour," "The Road to Victory," "War Gamers" and "The Lost Pirate Kingdom" amongst others.

In April 1942 Churchill and his cabinet took a controversial decision: they would ignore the UK’s laws banning women from combat and send female agents to the front line in France. This proved an immense challenge. Vera Atkins of the Secret Operations Executive (SOE), had to find women that would pass as French, train them as spies and parachute them into occupied France. Many of them never came back.

In the year 2000 boxes containing top secret files were found in a garden shed in Cornwall. They detailed the lives of Britain’s first female agents who were sent to the frontline during the Second World War. The papers were collected and hidden away by British spymistress Vera Atkins. In keeping the secret files Atkins would have been in contravention of the Official Secrets Act.

Vera knew that sending women to the front line was illegal in World War Two. But Churchill so desperately needed agents who the Nazis would not detain in France that he ignored the law and sent them anyway. Vera selected the woman spies, trained them and saw them off at the airfields. Eventually she was horrified by the consequences of what she had done. The women’s fate was covered up by the British authorities as many of them had suffered so horribly at the hands of the Nazis. By the end of the war the British military’s attitude was that they wanted to see the back ‘of this disgusting business’ as soon as possible and closed down Vera’s spy operation, and told Vera to keep it all out of the press.

But Vera wanted the real story of her women spies to be told. Also she wanted it known that, after the war ended, she went looking for all of her lost women spies. She was unable to tell the real story of her spies in her lifetime. But when she died she let it be known that all her records had been sent to her sister’s garden shed in Cornwall. Now WMR Productions has got hold of Vera’s files and, for the first time on TV or Film, can tell the true story of her agents…and of the spymistress who led them. A true story that has remained a secret for over fifty years.

"Due to ZDF Studios’ support and vision we can now tell this unknown story of the Second World War for the first time," Alan Griffiths, CEO of World Media Rights said. "There are very few series about what happened after the war ended and, in many ways, the aftermath was as horrifying as the war itself, particularly for Vera Atkins."