The First World War

A very interesting and detailed WWI series which is based on the excellent book. The series consists of 10 episodes.

Call to o Arms Under the Eagle Global War Jihad Shackled to a Corpse Breaking the Deadlock Blockade Revolution Germany's Last Gamble War Without End

The series uses a mixture of narration, maps, archive pictures, archive videos and also filming from the battlefields as they exist today. The series gives a good deal of focus to the eastern front which not all British TV programmes do. The series also makes excellent use of first hand diary accounts of ordinary people such as a 12 year old Serbian girl fleeing her country or a Belgium boy living in his now occupied town to give you a taste of how it was experienced by those who were there. While nothing will probably ever top the 1964 series this comes close. The program attempts to explain the causes of the war and the forces which kept the enemy countries locked in mutual embrace for so long.

The music in the series is also superb, it also goes on into 1919-1921 examining the way in which those affected continued to reflect on it. The series also rightly acknowledges the results of the war a communist Russia, a contained Austria and Germany, a powerful position for the USA and also what it failed to achieve.

The series for me also manages to convey the mass scale of the suffering without falling into the usual trap of blaming all of this on bad tactics by the leadership.

There have been some pretty good documentary series on World War One - like the BBC's '1914-18' and 'The Great War,' which inspired 'The World at War' - but this Channel Four series is the best ever. Unlike almost all of the others it gives you a look at the WORLD war aspect of it, not just focusing on the Western Front or (like most poor US documentaries) on the last year when America was involved, you also see the war in Russia, in Arabia, in Africa to get a real sense of the scale. Unlike 1914-18 it takes a chronological look at the war, but does it in a riveting way: the first episode plays like a thriller, while others are like tragedies. And it doesn't fall in for clichés or easy targets. It dispels a lot of myths along the way (for example, did you know the assassinated Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand was anti-militarist and had actually prevented war breaking out several times? I didn't) and holds your attention throughout. And the haunting end title music written by a composer who died in the war is unforgettable.

One of the greatest TV shows ever, it's a crime this is so little known and failed to win any major awards. It's on DVD and if you've any interest in the subject at all, it's the only WW1 doc you need to buy.

All aspects are very good. Music, narration, animation and script. Best WW 1 doc by far.

Given my love of history, the cataclysmic, foolhardy nightmare that this represents was something I wanted to investigate further. Video could add a dimension that even a brilliant book could not illustrate.

Lucky me, and fortunate viewer, who took the time to watch this dazzling miniseries! I rented this a few days after the UK's last veteran, and world's oldest man, passed away. He had been in many ways a guardian, helping others comprehend the nightmare, and was so forgiving as to insist on adding German pallbearers at his funeral, age 114.

The miniseries is expansive (as others have mentioned), fascinating, and most importantly, brings the horror to life (and death). A great compliment - it had me racing back to read more about the conflict, especially the myriad ideas on WHY it began.

There are so many memorable scenes! The use of personal memoirs, and the film footage, then and now, are wonderful.

Most highly recommended!

I had to write this comment because the person whose comment I saw first was absolutely ridiculous, saying that this documentary is slanted and biased toward a British point of view. I disagree.

I watch everything I can about WWI & WWII, and have been repeatedly dissatisfied with most WWI doc.s because they are too few and often do not even attempt to take on the monumental task with such depth as did this series. Specifically, I recall thinking to myself several times how honest and objective the documentary was.

I came away from the series with an understanding of the gray aspects of all the sides concerned and their respective actions (sometimes ethically questionable, sometimes not - on all sides). This war was not like WWII in many ways, not as clear cut, not as linear. Each nation, each major player, had its own entry and mode of operating during the war, which differed as time passed. No one was clearly the knight in shining armor, nor does this documentary propose such a thing, though the players involved at the time may have. I dare say it would not hold your attention for ten episodes if it was not masterfully nuanced in its portrayal of this under-studied, seldom understood war. This series satisfies the desire to know the time line in much deeper detail, spans many countries, people, and reminds the viewer to try and see the story unfold from the perspective of the contemporary.

Wonderfully produced. A must see.

10 out of 10 !