Jeff Pope and Xavier Marchand score the World War II drama “Castle of the Eagles.”

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jeff Pope (“Philomena”) and Xavier Marchand of “Nautilus” producer Moonriver TV are collaborating on “Castle of the Eagles,” a six-episode limited series based on the true story of Allied prisoners of war staged a daring prison break from a fortified Italian castle during World War II.

The duo will present the project to an industry audience in Rome during the MIA Market, taking place from October 14th to 18th.

Castle of the Eagles, written by Pope and based on the book of the same name by Mark Felton, is produced by Marchand for Moonriver and Pope for his production label Etta Pictures, part of ITV Studios. “Harry Potter” star Jason Isaacs, who played Cary Grant in the four-part ITV biopic “Archie,” written by Pope, stars.

The series begins in 1943, as war raged across Europe and about two dozen Allied soldiers and officers were imprisoned in Castello Vincigliata, a nearly impregnable fortress high above the Tuscan countryside that had been converted into a prison by Italian dictator Benito’s fascist army became Mussolini.

The estimated prisoners include two British Knights of the Empire, an air marshal, and twelve generals and brigadier generals – some of the highest-ranking officials captured and imprisoned during World War II. They are joined by two brigadier generals from New Zealand who were captured by Italian troops in Libya during Mussolini’s North African campaign.

No ordinary soldiers, the POVs hold some of the Allied Forces’ most valuable secrets – including the knowledge that the British cracked Enigma, Nazi Germany’s near-unbreakable code for transmitting top-secret messages. If the prisoners are transferred to Adolf Hitler’s Gestapo, World War II – and the fate of Western civilization – could be at stake.

“The stakes were high,” said Pope, who heads ITV’s non-fiction drama department. The screenwriter, who won a BAFTA in 2006 for the two-part ITV drama See No Evil: The Moors Murders, said the series would not only tell the gripping story of the prisoners of war’s miraculous prison break, which required them to dig tunnels under the prison See the fortress walls – but explore the complex forces driving the war effort and reshaping the political landscape in Europe.

“It’s a lot of things in one. It’s a thriller. It’s a psychological drama. There is also a social commentary in the way the Nazis and Italian captors are examined,” Pope said. “We also look at extremism and how it can divide people… It’s full of action and drama in the traditional sense. But it underpins everything [are broader themes] we want to explore.”

Former eOne Features production president Marchand described “Castle of the Eagles” as “a beautiful story of male camaraderie.” “It’s a very emotional piece about older men trying to get back into the war effort,” he said. He added that the show’s creators hope to find an Italian co-producer or broadcast partner during MIA, with an eye on filming on location in Tuscany.

The experienced producer founded his London-based production Moonriver in 2016, whose successes include “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Paramount+ and Showtime’s adaptation of Amor Towles’ bestselling “A Gentleman in Moscow,” and “Nautilus,” the Captain Nemo origin story inspired by Jules Verne’s “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” which will be by AMC and Prime Video released.

Marchand also executive produced the 2018 Laurel and Hardy biopic Stan & Ollie, written by Pope – a project that paired the award-winning screenwriter with the veteran producer for the first time.

“[‘Castle of the Eagles’] was born from it [‘Stan & Ollie’]“Because Xav and I spent a lot of time together working on what was a real passion project for both of us,” Pope said. “I think we both have a passion for the early 20th century. Even if they don’t seem like bedfellows… Stan and Ollie’s heyday was just before World War II. It’s an era that interests us.”

The series is reminiscent of iconic World War II dramas such as John Sturges’ “The Great Escape,” in which Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough starred as Allied prisoners in the daring escape of several hundred prisoners of war from a Nazi prison camp.

A key difference from “Castle of the Eagles,” however, is that most of the high-ranking officers who escaped from Castello Vincigliata were, according to Pope, “probably about my age.”

“While The Great Escape depicted young officers at the peak of their physical powers, here it was older men, many in their fifties and sixties, who…had to prove something to the world and to themselves about their physical prowess,” and how they refusing to accept the fact that they were older,” he said.

“The idea of ​​escape is something that is fundamental to all of us. But then having a world and characters to play in that were so unusual and so different from other escape films: all of that put together, I found it irresistible.”