icj-1

This long ignored TV series from 1964 by the BBC is finally available again.

This used archive film that I have never seen anywhere else. Other histories of the Great War seem to reuse the same old stock footage but not here. The series starts by looking at the state of Europe immediately before the war starts. A great book that compliments this is Barbara Tuchmann's Guns of August. The war itself starts with episode 3 and the pace is relentless there after. So many moving scenes, episode 11 covers the 1916 Battle of Verdun, I doubt anyone could watch this unmoved.

My grandfather's generation fought this terrible conflict, This series shows a little of the terrible cost of this four year long war. I urge you to watch it if you get the chance.

My wife got me watching this as she is into Detective/Crime Drama and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised for several reasons. The use of actors who probably had their heyday twenty years ago was one and the stories are very well written. The show is classed as Drama but there is fun and games in there too.

James Bolam is an actor I have long rated highly and this shows he has not lost his touch. In fact the range of acting skills these people bring to the show make younger actors in the same show look shallow. The team knit well together. They make great use of the fact that they are all retired police officers who can and do ignore rules and protocols to solve supposedly dead cases.

It makes a refreshing change compared to some American shows of the same genre. I strongly recommend it.