The BBC has released the launch trailer for its World War One season to mark the Centenary of the conflict.
A variety of television and radio programmes will mark the 100 year anniversary between 2014-2018, with the BBC’s Great War Controller, Adrian Van Klaveren, describing it as “the biggest and most ambitious pan-BBC project ever commissioned”.
More than 2,500 hours of programming has already been planned across television, radio and online for local, national and international services.
Highlights of the World War One season include:
Drama
The Ark – Sarah Phelps’ drama tells the story of front line medics during the First World War.
The Passing-Bells – A drama set during the conflict and told through the eyes of “two very ordinary young men who enlist in a war they expect will be over within months”.
Great War Diary – The series tells the story of 1914-18 solely through the eyes of those who lived it, with 25 broadcasters from around the world working on the project.
Documentaries
Britain’s Great War – Presented by Jeremy Paxman, this series about the First World War will explore its impact on Britain and the British people.
Teenage Tommies – Fergal Keane will present a programme focusing on those boys under the age of 18 who enlisted during the conflict.
Gallipoli – A two-part documentary which aims to provide “a fresh look at the British Empire’s most humiliating episode of World War One, the Gallipoli campaign”.
Radio
1914 – Day By Day – Historian Margaret MacMillan presents a daily programme from June to August 2014 on BBC Radio 4 chronicling the road to war in 1914.
Voices Of The First World War – This documentary series “tells the story of the war through the experiences of those who fought it and lived through it”, and will be broadcast in short seasons throughout the commemorative period.
Real Time World War One on the Jeremy Vine Show – The programme will present a “real-time journey through voices and music of World War One”, with features including hearing “breaking news” of events from Britain and the Continent.
Historical debate & discussion
The Pity of War – Niall Ferguson will present a 90 minute debate which argues that Britain’s decision to enter the war was a “tragic error”. The programme will invite questions from the studio audience.
The Necessary War – Sir Max Hastings will tackle “why the British were right to enter World War One and oppose Germany’s war aims”.
To War – Mark D’Arcy reports from Westminster on the Parliamentary speeches and political manoeuvrings which resulted in Britain’s entry into the First World War.
To read more details of the BBC’s World War one season, click here.
Images courtesy of the BBC
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News