When The War Is Over: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Across five episodes, Rachel explores the game-changing songs, iconic paintings, blockbuster films, best-selling books, jaw-dropping artworks and spine-tingling performances that have helped transform Australians' understanding of our five major wars: World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Afghanistan and the Australian Wars.

A descendent of WWI veterans at Gallipoli, Rachel visits key battlegrounds across the globe – in Türkiye, Vietnam and Thailand. Back in Australia, she meets artists, veterans, curators and historians, exploring the unheralded role of art in war, both in the midst of battle and for the generations that follow. From Jimmy Barnes belting out Khe Sanh to Ben Quilty's haunting portraits of Afghanistan war veterans, this is a richly layered series about the real-world impact of art on all of us, on both a personal and national level.

When The War Is Over is a provocative and moving examination of how art challenges our myths, memorialises trauma, and redefines heroism, and importantly, the series confronts the legacy of the Australian Wars, an often-overlooked chapter in Australia's war history.

Series details

• Title: When The War Is Over
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Premiere date: 2025-11-18
• Status in TVmaze: To Be Determined
• Web channel listed by TVmaze: ABC iview
• Network country: Australia
• Typical episode runtime: 28 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 87428

Cast and credited roles

• Rachel Griffiths — Presenter

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2025-11-18; final listed air date 2025-11-18; episode order: 5.

Source and licence

Adapted from When The War Is Over on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.