It's 1942 Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Otto Frank (Iain Glen) brings his wife Edith (Tamsin Greig), his daughters Margot (Felicity Jones), and Anne (Ellie Kendrick) to hide in a secret annex above his food and spice warehouse. They must keep quiet during the work day. Only the office staff Miep Gies (Kate Ashfield), Bep Voskuijl (Mariah Gale), Mr Kugler (Tim Dantay), and Mr Kleiman (Roger Frost) know the secret. The Franks are joined by Hermann Van Daan (Ron Cook), his brash wife Petronella (Lesley Sharp), and their son Peter (Geoff Breton). The final addition is dentist Albert Dussel (Nicholas Farrell) who becomes Anne's roommate. In the confined space, the personal conflicts mount. The Allies are closing in and freedom is almost at hand.This is like the Titanic. The sinking is inevitable but the story is still so compelling. Anne's modern humanity is undeniable. The performances are pitch perfect. Each character is well-defined and engaging. Ellie Kendrick is terrific in the lead. The mini-series ends with their capture. It makes no speculation about their informer. Their tragic ends are spelled out in text. I guess their horrific endings are subject for another time.

My Mother always told me the story of Anne Frank when I was a child, she told me about a young German Jewish girl who hid from the Nazi's in Amsterdam with her family and kept a diary during World War 2. For some reason she never told me( or I just didn't remember ) what happened to her in the end. Not ashamed to say the end of this series very nearly destroyed me, probably the saddest scene in any film I have ever watched. Ellie Kendrick is the best Anne I have seen. Unlike Anne Frank: The whole story this series contains direct quotes from Anne's diary. It only follows Anne's time in hiding, unlike Anne Frank: The whole story which deals with Anne's life before hiding, during hiding and after capture.This is an important series that should be seen by all. It changed my life.

The Diary of Anne Frank (2009) tells about the experiences of Anne Frank and seven other people, who had to go hiding.It was all because they were Jews and Adolf Hitler was a psychopath.He and his Nazi regime.The story is told in five half-hour episodes.Ellie Kendrick was a very good pick to play Anne Frank.Geoff Berton is great as Peter Van Daan (Pels).Felicity Jones is marvelous as Margot Frank, who would have turned 85 a week ago.Iain Glen is terrific as Otto Frank.Tamsin Greig is great as Edith Frank.Nicholas Farrell is excellent as Mr Dussel (Fritz Pfeffer).Lesley Sharp and Ron Cook do great work as Petronella and Hermann Van Daan.Tim Dantay is brilliant as Mr Kugler.And so is Roger Frost as Mr Kleiman.Mariah Gale is wonderful as Bep Voskuijl.Kate Ashfield is superb as Miep Gies, their lovely helper.This Good Samaritan sadly lost her life at 100 on January last year.This gives a very realistic picture of the events.It's horrible to watch when the Gestapo arrives.You cry when Anne is shaking, unable to tie her shoes, and Dussel helps her.The relationship between Anne and Peter is beautifully portrayed.And the words of the actual diary sound very good.I read the diary about eight years ago, and it is one of the best things I have ever read.Right now I'm reading Carol Ann Lee's Anne Frank 1929-1945.If they would have left Anne to go on with her life, she could be a famous writer now.But her fate, her Jewish fate was to die at age 15.

I have seen many versions of Anne Frank's story and I was really impressed by the quality of this version. The first good point is how is portraited Edith, it's the first time we can see how panicked she was when arrived in the annex. The second good point is the reaction of Otto by a personal letter written to him by Anne, something that had never been shown before.Thumbs up to Ellie Kendrick, the best Anne Frank so far and Lesley Sharp as Petronella. Lesley Sharp delivered the best Mrs. van Daan just as described in Anne Frank's Diary.I'm looking forward to the DVD!