Out of Colditz

David Lascelles interviewed by Kate Fenton History, family and extraordinary chance collide in this remarkable story of survival. BAFTA-winning film and television producer David Lascelles, the 8th Earl of Harewood, tells the gripping true story behind Out of Colditz. His father, George Lascelles – the eldest grandson of King George V – was among a select group of high-profile prisoners held in the notorious Colditz Castle during the Second World War. Alongside figures including the Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, and Winston Churchill's nephew, Giles Romilly, these VIP captives were considered valuable bargaining chips in Nazi hands. As Germany faced defeat, the prisoners' fate hung in the balance. Then, in an extraordinary act of defiance, SS General Gottlob Berger ignored direct orders, a decision that almost certainly saved their lives. Eighty years later, David retraces his father's remarkable journey, exploring the twists of history that shaped not only a nation's story, but his own. Had those orders been carried out, he would never have been born. Joining him in conversation is festival patron Kate Fenton, whose late husband, the actor Ian Carmichael, starred in the classic 1955 film The Colditz Story—a poignant connection to one of the Second World War's most enduring stories. A compelling event about courage, survival and the fragile chain of decisions on which history can turn.