The Great War

I first saw this series when it was repeated by the BBC in the early Seventies on Sunday afternoons. I watched several of the episodes with my grandmother whose beloved brother died at the Battle of the Somme. It is one of the main reasons that I am interested in the First World War, why I became a historian and why I take groups of schoolchildren to the battlefields every year. After years of claiming it was 'out of date' and 'unshowable' the BBC have released it on video/DVD and shown it on TV on Saturday evenings. As I started to watch the first episode the hairs on the back of my neck stood up-the portentous music,Sir Michael Redgrave's melifluous narratiion, the superbly literate script by John Terraine and Correlli ('Bill') Barnett, the archive footage (even if much of it is used out of context)-it was all as I remembered it. This series provided the blueprint for many others, especially 'The World at War'. It is a timeless classic which should be seen by anyone with the remotest interest in history or a moving story superbly told. Interestingly the series was masterminded by John Terraine and, as such, embodies the then unfashionable 'revisionist' view that not all the generals (especially Field Marshal Haig)were blundering idiots who sent men cruelly to their deaths but were limited by the available technology into fighting grim attrition battles as the only means of victory. This now pretty much the academic orthodoxy-40 years after this classic series was made!

Quite simply the definitive documentary on the First World War. 26 40-minute episodes which do as much as any book to encapsulate the 1914-1918 conflict. I'd go so far as to say it surpasses the World at War (which basically copied it!) as THE television documentary. The narration is perfectly pitched, the soundtrack is stunning, and there were enough veterans from all sides to add personal insights into the war. But what I think lifts it above all other Great War programmes (apart from the length) is that it gives airtime to campaigns that simply don't get a look in normally - the Eastern Front and Palestine; there are even lengthy segments on the war at sea with some excellent archive footage. If you've got a day to spare, watch it all in one go: you'll be better for it...

This documentry explains about the start of the war,then takes you through the misery of trench war fare.This is heart breaking and informative and moving,old soldiers recall the mud ,the gas,the sheer misery of fighting in water filled trenches. One soldier explains what it was like to take part in a firing squad,the guilt and pain etched on his face. The war is covered from all aspects ,home front,the somme,gallipoli and the russian revolution.Lawrence of arabia is mentioned briefly a romantic hero in a world full of horror. The saying in Britain was that it would be over by christmas and in Germany by the time the leaves fell in autumn.People volunteered to fight in 1914 but by 1915 it was obvious this was the war to end all wars. Watch this its compelling stuff then say two prayers thank God you didnt have to fight it,and ask God that theres no more world wars ,world war 3 will be the end. This series has stood the test of time its for serious students of war. Peace to the world

This series is a PRICELESS exercise in archive footage - make no bones about it.

The series is over 10 hours long yet consists almost entirely of archive footage from all the major battles of the war, particularly the Western Front. There is the odd interview with the veterans, well and alive and indeed quite young in 1964, yet the amazing sight is the reel after reel of archive footage. Where did they get it all from? (and why is it NEVER used in any WWI film before or since? - they all use the same few stills and films over and over again).

Countless shots of the Somme battlefields, Belgium, Verdun, and everywhere!

I only chanced upon it in the library, for a cheap rental; but watch this urgently.

Another surprising impression is the sheer modernity of the whole thing - great guns, brilliant filming, great troop movements, even aeroplanes and dog fights. Footage shot from old Sopwith Camels of bomb-drops and stuff like that.

It shows the Middle East fronts, Italy vs. Austria, Romanian fronts, Russian, the whole shebang! Also has a fantastic classical score to accompany it and brilliant narration by Sir Michael Redgrave.

In the early 1960's the BBC had a very talented production team that had come together to make a nightly 'magazine' feature called 'Tonight'. They somehow became part of a project to create a series about the First World War (then still known by some people as the 'Great War').

Something of this magnitude had never before been attempted in Britain. It required a great deal of painstaking research and assembling still photographs and archive film from all over the world. More to the point, at this period, a large number of the participants were still alive and could be interviewed - the series is a priceless exercise in 'oral history'.

The principal historical consultant and writer was John Terraine, the foremost military historian of the time, and Michael Redgrave was engaged to speak the narration.

The series appeared in 1964, when I saw it as a child. It was an outstanding success, and spawned a rather weaker sequel, 'The Lost Peace'.

Then, for reasons best known to themselves, the BBC sat on the tapes. Some isolated episodes were sometimes shown at the Imperial War Museum in London, but the series was largely forgotten.

However, it has recently been re-released in its entirety as five double video packs. It should not be confused with any other series of a similar title - this remains the original and the best!