The Great War (documentary)

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''The Great War'' is a 26-episode documentary series from 1964 on the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The documentary was a co-production of the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

, the

British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

, the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governmen ...

and the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

. The narrator was

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elec ...

, with readings by

Marius Goring Marius Re Goring, (23 May 191230 September 1998) was a British stage and screen actor. He is best remembered for the four films he made with Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in '' A Matter of Life and Death'' and as Julian Cr ...

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He w ...

Cyril Luckham Cyril Alexander Garland Luckham (25 July 1907 – 8 February 1989) was an English film, television and theatre actor. He was the husband of stage and screen actress Violet Lamb. Career The son of a paymaster captain in the Royal Navy, Cyril Lu ...

, Sebastian Shaw and

Emlyn Williams George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor. Early life Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flints ...

. Each episode is long.

Production

Royal Irish Rifles ration party Somme July 1916

In August 1963, at the suggestion of

Alasdair Milne Alasdair David Gordon Milne (8 October 19308 January 2013) was a British television producer and executive. He had a long career at the BBC, where he was eventually promoted to Director-General, and was described by ''The Independent'' as "on ...

, producer of the BBC's current affairs programme ''Tonight'', the BBC resolved to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the

with a big television project. The series was the first to feature veterans, many of them still relatively fit men in their late sixties or early seventies, speaking of their experiences after a public appeal for veterans was published in the national press. Those who appeared in the series included

Edward Spears Major-General Sir Edward Louis Spears, 1st Baronet, (7 August 1886 – 27 January 1974) was a British Army officer and Member of Parliament noted for his role as a liaison officer between British and French forces in two world wars. Spears was a ...

Henry Williamson Henry William Williamson (1 December 1895 – 13 August 1977) was an English writer who wrote novels concerned with wildlife, English social history and ruralism. He was awarded the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 for his book ''Tarka ...

, Horace Birks,

Benjamin Muse Benjamin Muse (April 17, 1898 – May 4, 1986) was an American lawyer, soldier, diplomat, newspaper publisher, author and politician. He briefly served as a member of the Virginia Senate (switching allegiances from the Democratic to the Repub ...

, Melvin Krulewitch, George Langley,

Keith Officer Sir Frank Keith Officer, (2 October 1889 – 21 June 1969) was an Australian public servant and diplomat, best known for his postings in ambassadorial positions around the world. Life and career Keith Officer was born on 2 October 1889 in Toor ...

Douglas Wimberley Major-General Douglas Neil Wimberley, (15 August 1896 – 26 August 1983) was a British Army officer who, during the Second World War, commanded the 51st (Highland) Division for two years, from 1941 to 1943, notably at the Second Battle of El ...

Charles Carrington Charles Carrington (1857–1921) was a leading British publisher of erotica in late-19th- and early-20th-century Europe. Born ''Paul Harry Ferdinando'' in Bethnal Green, England on 11 November 1867, he moved in 1895 from London to Paris where h ...

Egbert Cadbury Major (Honorary Air Commodore) Sir Egbert "Bertie" Cadbury (20 April 1893 – 12 January 1967) was a British businessman, a member of the Cadbury family, who as a First World War pilot shot down two Zeppelins over the North Sea: '' L.21'' on 2 ...

Euan Rabagliati Cuthbert Euan Charles Rabagliati, , (1 January 1892 – 6 January 1978) was a British soldier, pilot, race car driver and intelligence officer. He served in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) during the First World War and is credited as being the firs ...

, Robert Cotton Money,

Richard Talbot Kelly Richard Barrett Talbot Kelly (1896–1971), MBE, MC, RI, known to friends and colleagues as 'TK', was a British army officer, school teacher, and artist, known especially for his watercolour paintings of ornithological subjects. Early life ...

Norman Demuth Norman Demuth (15 July 1898 – 21 April 1968) was an English composer and musicologist, currently remembered largely for his biographies of French composers. Biography Early life Demuth was born in Croydon, Surrey, at 91 St James' Road. On lea ...

Walter Greenwood Walter Greenwood (17 December 1903 – 13 September 1974) was an English novelist, best known for the socially influential novel ''Love on the Dole'' (1933). Early life Greenwood was born at 56 Ellor Street, his father's house and hairdres ...

and

Cecil Arthur Lewis Cecil Arthur Lewis (29 March 1898 – 27 January 1997) was a British fighter ace who flew with No. 56 Squadron RAF in the First World War, and was credited with destroying eight enemy aircraft. He went on to be a founding executive of the Br ...

. The small number of Germans who appeared included Stephan Westmann and Gustav Lachmann. Others who were interviewed by the BBC but not featured in the series included Norman MacMillan, Mabel Lethbridge, Edgar von Spiegel,

Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was a ...

Martin Niemöller Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller (; 14 January 18926 March 1984) was a German theologian and Lutheran pastor. He is best known for his opposition to the Nazi regime during the late 1930s and for his widely quoted 1946 poem " First they ca ...

John Shea John Victor Shea III ( ; born April 14, 1949) is an American actor, film producer and stage director. His career began on Broadway theatre, Broadway where he starred in ''Yentl (play), Yentl,'' subsequently winning his first major award, the 1975 ...

Hans Howaldt Hans Howaldt (12 November 1888, Kiel – 6 September 1970) was a successful and highly decorated German U-boat commander in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I and also active in World War II. By the end of World War I he was promoted Ka ...

William Ibbett Commander William Ibbett (21 June 1886 – 28 June 1975) was an English submariner, and later a BBC Radio broadcaster. Life Ibbett was born in 1886 at Oxted, Surrey, England. After growing up in Wiltshire,Transcript of Desert Island Disc ...

Marthe Bibesco Princess Martha Bibescu (Martha Lucia; ''née'' Lahovary; 28 January 1886 – 28 November 1973) also known outside of Romania as Marthe Bibesco, was a celebrated Romanian-French writer, socialite, style icon and political hostess. She spent her c ...

Philip Joubert de la Ferté Air Chief Marshal Sir Philip Bennet Joubert de la Ferté, (21 May 1887 – 21 January 1965) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the 1930s and the Second World War. Early life Joubert de la Ferté was born in Darjeeling, India t ...

and Eric Dorman O'Gowan.

Title sequence

The series title sequence used a

rostrum camera A rostrum camera is a specially designed camera used in television production and filmmaking to animate a still picture or object. It consists of a moving lower platform on which the article to be filmed is placed, while the camera is placed above ...

to create a montage of three images, the first showing a silhouetted British soldier standing over the grave of a comrade, the camera first focuses on the cross, where the almost imperceptible words IN MEMORY are glanced, the second shows a uniformed, skeletal corpse by the entrance to a dugout. The final image shows a lone British soldier, looking directly into the camera apparently surrounded by corpses, which is a montage of several images combined for dramatic effect. The original image of the staring soldier, showing him surrounded by fellow soldiers rather than corpses, was taken from photograph Q 1 in the

photograph archive but has been described as having quickly become symbolic of the First World War. This title sequence was set against the series theme music, composed by

Wilfred Josephs Wilfred Josephs (24 July 1927 – 17 November 1997) was an English composer. Life Born in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, the fourth and youngest son of Russian and South Shields Jewish parents, Wilfred Josephs had his first musical studies in Ne ...

and performed by the BBC Northern Orchestra.

Episode listing

The episode titles are taken from quotations, the origins of which are shown in parentheses. With few exceptions, successive blocks of episodes are devoted to each year of the war: episodes 1–6 to 1914, 7–10 to 1915, 11–14 to 1916, 15–19 to 1917, 20–23 and 26 to 1918. Two "Extra" episodes exist on the dual-layer DVD edition: # "Voices from the Western Front" # "The Finished Fighter"

Musical score

The music for the series was composed by Wilfred Josephs. It was performed by the

BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...
conducted by George Hurst. His expressive yet unsentimental score was widely acclaimed at the time and many have recalled the strong contribution it made to the series. In August 2007, ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'' columnist Ian Jack remembered how at the start of each episode Josephs' "ominous music ushered the audience into the trenches". Much use was made of 20th century symphonies, including Shostakovich's 11th Symphony and

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

' '' Sinfonia Antartica'.

Reception

Each episode of ''The Great War'' was seen by an average audience of over eight million people, a 17 percent share of the estimated viewing population. The fourth episode, the most popular of the series, reached an audience of over eleven million (22.6 percent of the audience).

Awards

The programme won a Bafta Special Award in 1964. Following transmission of the series by the Republic of Ireland's national TV station, Telefís Éireann, ''The Great War'' won a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

at the 1964 presentation ceremony in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

First World War centenary

On 16 October 2013, fifty years after the release of the series, the BBC announced that unshown interview material, recorded during the making of ''The Great War'', will be used in a new programme, ''My Great War'', to be shown as part of the BBC's programmes during the

First World War centenary The First World War centenary was the centenary of the First World War, which began on 28 July 2014 with a series of commemorations of the outbreak of the war organised across the continent of Europe, and ended on 11 November 2018 with the cent ...

. The programme was first broadcast on 14 March 2014 and entitled "I Was There: the Great War Interviews".

DVD releases

There appear to be two releases as of mid-2007, both in the UK, both Region 2. The audio has been remastered. The first shows copyright 2001 and consists of five volumes, each housing two DVDs (single-layer). On the cover descriptions there is no mention of the Extra episodes The other shows copyright 2002 and consists of seven DVDs – six containing the original 26 episodes and one with the two Extras. These discs are dual-layer. It is distributed by DD Video.

Notes

Footnotes

References

Books * Journals * * * * Websites *

External links

How the Great War Was Lost - and Found
(The review wrongly implies the score for the series was either indebted to, or written by

Sir William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

, whom it also erroneously cites for the score of ''

Scott of the Antarctic Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

'', written by

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

.)
''The Great War'', Episode 6
*
IWM Interview with Euan Rabagliati, who appeared in "We Must Hack Our Way Through"

IWM Interview with Frederick Atkinson, who appeared in "Our Hats We Doff To General Joffre"

IWM Interview with Ernest Amis, who appeared in "So Sleep Easy In Your Beds"

IWM Interview with Joseph Murray, who appeared in "Please God Send Us A Victory"

IWM Interview with Richard Talbot Kelly, who appeared in "What Are Our Allies Doing?" & "Surely We Have Perished"

IWM Interview with Horace Birks, who appeared in "The Hell Where Youth And Laughter Go"

IWM Interview with Herbert Sulzbach, who appeared in "And We Were Young"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great War Jacob's Award winners 1964 British television series debuts 1964 British television series endings 1960s British documentary television series British documentary television series Documentary films about World War I Documentary television series about World War I Cultural depictions of Gavrilo Princip Cultural depictions of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria BBC television documentaries about history during the 20th Century BAFTA winners (television series)