''The World at War'' is a 26-episode British documentary

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

that chronicles the events of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It was produced in 1973, at a cost of £900,000 (), the most expensive factual series ever produced. It was produced by

Jeremy Isaacs Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs (born 28 September 1932) is a Scottish television producer and executive, opera manager, and a recipient of many British Academy Television Awards and International Emmy Awards. He won the British Film Institute Fellow ...

, narrated by

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...

and included music composed by Carl Davis. The book, ''The World at War'', published the same year, was written by

Mark Arnold-Forster Mark Arnold-Forster, DSO, DSC (16 April 1920 – 25 December 1981) was an English journalist and author. He is best remembered for his book ''The World at War'', which accompanied the 1973 television series of the same name. Early years H ...

to accompany the TV series. ''The World at War'' attracted widespread acclaim and now it is regarded as a landmark in British television history. The series focused on a portrayal of the experience of the conflict: of how life and death throughout the war years affected soldiers, sailors and airmen, civilians,

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

inmates and other victims of the war.

Overview

Jeremy Isaacs had been inspired to look at the production of a long-form documentary series about the Second World War following the BBC's broadcast of its series '' The Great War'' in 1964. However, the BBC series, which had been produced in collaboration with 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 ...

, featured a mix of contemporary film footage from the period, and film recreations, which soured relations between the BBC and the Museum. As a consequence, Isaacs was determined to have his programme be as authentic as possible. ''The World at War'' was commissioned by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

in 1969. The government had halved its levy on television advertising revenue, with the proviso that the money which the independent television companies saved must be reinvested in programmes. Isaacs persuaded Thames to use the money to pay for the production of his Second World War documentary. The series took four years to produce, at a cost of £900,000 (), a record for a British television series. It was first shown in 1973 on ITV. The series featured interviews with major members of the Allied and Axis campaigns, including witness accounts from civilians, enlisted men, officers and politicians. The interviewees included Sir Max Aitken, Joseph Lawton Collins, Mark Clark, Jock Colville,

Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government fo ...

, James "Jimmy" Doolittle, Lawrence Durrell, Lord Eden of Avon, Mitsuo Fuchida,

Adolf Galland Adolf Josef Ferdinand Galland (19 March 1912 – 9 February 1996) was a German Luftwaffe general and flying ace who served throughout the Second World War in Europe. He flew 705 combat missions, and fought on the Western Front and in the Defenc ...

, Minoru Genda,

W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...

, Sir Arthur Harris,

Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in co ...

Brian Horrocks Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks, (7 September 1895 – 4 January 1985) was a British Army officer, chiefly remembered as the commander of XXX Corps in Operation Market Garden and other operations during the Second World W ...

Traudl Junge Gertraud "Traudl" Junge (; 16 March 1920 – 10 February 2002) was a German editor who worked as Adolf Hitler's last private secretary from December 1942 to April 1945. After typing Hitler's will, she remained in the Berlin ''Führerbunker'' unt ...

, Toshikazu Kase, Curtis LeMay, Vera Lynn, Hasso von Manteuffel,

Bill Mauldin William Henry Mauldin (; October 29, 1921 – January 22, 2003) was an American editorial cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work. He was most famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers, as represented by th ...

John J. McCloy John Jay McCloy (March 31, 1895 – March 11, 1989) was an American lawyer, diplomat, banker, and a presidential advisor. He served as Assistant Secretary of War during World War II under Henry Stimson, helping deal with issues such as German sa ...

, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, Sir Richard O'Connor, J. B. Priestley, Saburo Sakai,

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, h ...

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality ...

Charles Sweeney Charles William Sweeney (December 27, 1919 – July 16, 2004) was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and the pilot who flew ''Bockscar'' carrying the Fat Man atomic bomb to the Japanese city of Nagasaki on Augu ...

, Paul Tibbets,

Walter Warlimont Walter Warlimont (3 October 1894 – 9 October 1976) was a German staff officer during World War II. He served as deputy chief of the Operations Staff, one of departments in the ''Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (OKW), the Armed Forces High Comma ...

, Takeo Yoshikawa and the historian Stephen Ambrose. In the programme ''The Making of "The World at War"'', included in the DVD set, Jeremy Isaacs explains that priority was given to interviews with surviving aides and assistants rather than recognised figures. The most difficult person to locate and persuade to be interviewed was Heinrich Himmler's adjutant Karl Wolff. During the interview, he admitted to witnessing a mass execution in Himmler's presence. Isaacs later expressed satisfaction with the content of the series, noting that if it had not been secret, he would have added references to British codebreaking at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

. In a list of the

100 Greatest British Television Programmes The BFI TV 100 is a list of 100 television programmes or series that was compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), as chosen by a poll of industry professionals, with the aim to determine the best United Kingdom, British television pr ...

which was compiled by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

during 2000, voted for by industry professionals, ''The World at War'' ranked 19th, the highest-placed documentary on the list.

Episodes

The series has twenty-six episodes. Isaacs asked

Noble Frankland Anthony Noble Frankland CB, CBE, DFC (4 July 1922 – 31 October 2019) was a British historian who served as Director General of the Imperial War Museum. Education Frankland attended Trinity College, Oxford from March 1941 to May 1942, and th ...

, director of the Imperial War Museum, to list fifteen main campaigns of the war and devoted one episode to each. The remaining eleven episodes are devoted to other matters, such as the rise of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, home life in Britain and Germany, the experience of occupation of the Netherlands, and

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...

. Episode one begins with a

cold open A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In Amer ...

describing the massacre at the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane by the '' Waffen SS''. The same event is referenced again at the end of Episode twenty-six, accompanied by the "

Dona nobis pacem Dona nobis pacem (Latin for "Grant us peace") is a phrase in the Agnus Dei section of the mass. The phrase, in isolation, has been appropriated for a number of musical works, which include: Classical music * " Dona nobis pacem", a traditional ro ...

" (Latin for "Grant us peace") from the Missa Sancti Nicolai, composed by

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have le ...

. The series ends with Laurence Olivier saying "Remember".

Broadcast history

The series was originally transmitted on the ITV network in Britain between 31 October 1973 and 8 May 1974, and has been shown around the world. It was first shown in the US in syndication on various stations in 1974. WOR in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

aired the series in the mid-1970s, although episodes were edited both for graphic content and to include sufficient commercial breaks. PBS station

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

in New York broadcast the series unedited and in its entirety in 1982 as did

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

in the late 1980s. The Danish channel DR1 first broadcast the series from August 1976 to February 1977 and it was repeated on

DR2 DR2 (DR To) is the second television channel operated by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) in Denmark. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more "highbrow" programmes than the more mainstream and popular DR1. Like ...

in December 2006 and January 2007. The History Channel in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

began screening the series in its entirety in April 2007. It repeated the entire series again in August 2011. The Military History Channel in the UK broadcast the series over the weekend of 14 and 15 November 2009. The Military Channel (now

American Heroes Channel American Heroes Channel (formerly Military Channel and originally Discovery Wings Channel) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries pr ...

) in the United States aired the series in January 2010, and has shown it regularly since.

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

in the UK transmitted a repeat run of the series starting on 5 September 1994 at teatime. In 2011, the British channel Yesterday started a showing of the series and it has been shown continuously since. The series was shown in full on SABC in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

in 1976, one of the first documentary series broadcast after the launch of the first television service in South Africa in January 1976. The series was shown in Australia in 1975 and has been shown on various TV stations at various times since then. It has also been shown on Australia's Pay TV Provider Foxtel in the early 2000s and a number of times since. Each episode was 52 minutes excluding commercials; as was customary for ITV documentary series at the time, it was originally screened with only one central break. The episode "Genocide (1941–1945)" was screened uninterrupted.

Additional episodes

Some footage and interviews that were not used in the original series were later made into hour and half-hour documentaries, narrated by Eric Porter. These were released as a bonus to the VHS version and are included in the DVD set of the series, which was first released in 2001. # Secretary of Hitler (Disc 15- # From War to Peace (Disc 15-2) # Warrior (Disc 16) # Hitler's Germany The People’s Community (Disc 17) # Hitler's Germany Total War (Disc 18-1) # The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler (Disc 18-2) # The final solution Part One (Disc 19) # The final solution Part Two (Disc 20) # The Making of the Series: The World at War # Making of the Series - A 30th Anniversary Retrospective # Experiences of war # Restoring the World at War

Home media history

The series was released in various territories on VHS video as well as on 13 Laservision long-play videodiscs by Video Garant Amsterdam. In 2001–2005, DVD box sets were released in the UK and US. In 2010, the series was digitally restored and re-released on DVD and Blu-ray. In the latter case the image is cropped from its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio down to 1.78:1, to better fit modern widescreen televisions. The restored series was re-released on DVD and Blu-ray in its original aspect ratio in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2016. From 2004 to 2005, A&E Home Entertainment, under licence from Thames, talkbackTHAMES and

FremantleMedia International Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Production company, television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by ...

released all 26 episodes of the series on Region 1 DVD, uncut, uncensored and remastered. Episode 1. Secretary of Hitler (Disc 15–1) Episode 2. From War to Peace (Disc 15–2) Episode 3. Warrior (Disc 16) Episode 4. Hitler's Germany The People's Community (Disc 17) Episode 5. Hitler's Germany Total War (Disc 18–1) Episode 6. The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler (Disc 18–2) Episode 7. The Final Solution Part One (Disc 19) Episode 8. The Final Solution Part Two (Disc 20) Episode 9. The Making of the Series: The World at War Episode 10. Making of the Series - A 30th Anniversary Retrospective Episode 11. Experiences of war Episode 12. Restoring the World at War

Books

The original book ''The World at War'', which accompanied the series, was written by

in 1973. In October 2007, Ebury Press published ''The World at War'', a new book by Richard Holmes, an oral history of the Second World War drawn from the interviews conducted for the TV series. The programme's producers shot hundreds of hours of interviews, but only a fraction of that recorded material was used for the final version of the series. A selection of the rest of this material was published in this book, which included interviews with

, Karl Wolff (

Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

's adjutant),

(

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's secretary),

( USAAF bomber pilot and Hollywood star),

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

, John Colville (Private Secretary to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

), Averell Harriman (US Ambassador to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

) and Arthur ''"Bomber"'' Harris (Head of RAF Bomber Command).

References

External links

* Complete series at archive.org https://archive.org/details/the-world-at-war-1973 * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:World at War, The 1973 British television series debuts 1974 British television series endings 1970s British documentary television series British military television series Documentary television series about aviation Documentary television series about World War II English-language television shows ITV documentaries Television shows produced by Thames Television Television series by Fremantle (company) Japan in non-Japanese culture Anthony Eden