The Passing Bells

A BBC release in commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, "The Passing Bells" is a period drama on the illusions of war and the innocence shattered and victims claimed. A sentimental story of two young men with hopes of the future who find their fates intertwined in the most fateful turn of events, the television series is a Hallmark-lite family period piece that sanitizes the brutality, vulgarity and gore of war but redeems itself with its tragic ending that highlights and magnifies the crushing reality of war where nothing is precious and a dark destiny hovers over everyone affected. See this for that alone.

Made as a co production with the BBC and Polish TV this was shown during the remembrance of the 100th anniversary of 'the war to end all wars'. The synopsis is that this is the full five years of that terrible and pointless conflict seen through the eyes of two ordinary soldiers. One is English – called Tommy (predictable I know but still a great name) the other Michael is German. It is through their 'ordinary' experiences that we are taken on a tour of World War I.

Now we do have a number of issues dealt with, the lying about your age to be allowed to walk slowly towards slaughter for King and country is covered. The gas attacks, the not wanting to be a coward (no mention of the nasty white feathers though), the food shortages, lice, playing footie in no man's land and the 'affairs of the heart'. The uniforms are good though as are the guns, and the musical score is excellent.

Now the bad bits, first off everyone speaks English with a Home Counties accent – even the Germans. The only attempt at an accent is from the Polish nurse. So it is a good job they have good uniforms or you forget which side is which. There are six half hour episodes and on the DVD they have left in all the previews of the next episode and then when it finally starts you have a montage of what previously happened. This could and should have been edited out.

Then the coincidence and plot contrivances and the sheer unbelievability of some of the antics are just a bit insulting on the intelligence. There is also an amazing lack of blood and gore which was done for a certain audience I know, but war should never be sanitised it is the first step to making it acceptable and as such is the lowest form of propaganda. Then the bits that have been 'borrowed' from 'All Quiet on the Western Front' and even the ending shot is a straight lift from the excellent master piece of French cinema 'Wooden Crosses'. If you are going to tackle such a subject matter then do it realistically and do it justice, this was a mish mash of seen before, could have done better and over sentimentality in lieu of having anything really valid or original to say.

Not too bad, and a good job sharing the emotions of the troops on both sides. BUT.... a soppy ending that even General Hospital would reject as being.... unlikely, phoney, a plea for crocodile tears, and, insulting to the intellect of the audience.

It's worth your time, but for me it goes in the category "seen it, not going to watch it again". Littlebit confusing in the beginning before I saw that one of the characters where german. They all spoke perfect english. Historical the great war was more gory, the trenches and the battlefield more of a living hell. This miniserie don't show that.

If your history of WWI was primarily from this TV show you'd probably believe that all the soldiers were 16-17 years old, widely engaged in premarital sex, and that the wars were fought almost exclusively in trenches, including right up to the very end. These are all things that yes, they did happen, but were rare, or happened at points and places in the war very different from that portrayed on-screen. At first I was concerned that the 30 minute format wouldn't allow them to tell the complex nuanced stories that were the reality of the war. By the end I was glad the stories were only 30 minutes long because they were having difficulty filling the time with anything not a blatant trope.

Even if you ignore the history there's some serious structural problems. The German soldier's girlfriend/wife is a major character in the first few episodes before entirely disappearing. All of his home front scenes are about his parents and the wife appears only occasionally as a picture. Seems a little off.

Also, you might recall that the french were a major player in WWI. Something that is sort of overlooked considering that there are almost no french characters, no french scenery, and really, that the western front is located across hundreds of miles of France is barely mentioned. Here's another specific inaccuracy: During early war when the first British reinforcements with our new recruit are deploying in the aftermath of the Marne they march through fields full of poppies. Fair enough, right? Poppies are the anglophile world's key floral symbol of The Great War. Except that after the Marne was September-October 1914 and Poppies bloom in the spring and early summer. They just didn't care.

There is nothing in this show that has not been done better, elsewhere. What there is, is weak or remarkable for its inaccuracies.