CTVA
The Classic TV Archive - UK Documentary Series
    The Great War (BBC) (1964)  -   World War One (CBS) (1964-65)   
The Great War  (1964 Series)  
Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by:
references:
BBC Radio Times
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THE GREAT WAR
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BBC Television Production
by the "Tonight" team

UK WWI Documentary Series 1964 26 episodes x 40/45 min

Premise:
First broadcast on the BBC in 1964, "The Great War" was the definitive film
account of the world-shattering events of World War I (1914-1918)
- a landmark history series widely regarded as a documentary masterpiece.

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################# filmed 1964 ##############
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[--] To introduce the series there is a specially made programme,
"That Was the Great War That Was",
exploring the enduring power of this television masterpiece.

[01] The Great War: (debut episode)
The first episode is a scene setter charting how German
flexing of industrial power and military muscle set
alarm bells ringing in Britain and France

[02] The Great War: FOR SUCH A STUPID REASON TOO
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in
1914 was a shot that rang around the world. The path was
set for war ...

[03] The Great War: WE MUST HACK OUR WAY THROUGH
Why the German expected to win the war in 40 days

[04] The Great War: OUR HATS WE DOFF TO GENERAL JOFFRE
The successes and failures of the British forces during the
first battle at Mons, and the contribution of the French
Commander-in-Chief General Joffre who refused to give
way to the advancing army.

[05] The Great War: MAY LAST A LONG TIME
How allied forces stood firm to halt the German advance,
gaining victory at the Battle of the Marne.

[06] The Great War: SO SLEEP EASY IN YOUR BEDS
Tough times for the Royal Navy.

 [07] The Great War: WE AWAIT THE HEAVENLY MANNA
As war continued into 1915, the French and British struggled
with the demand for shells and artillary.

[08] The Great War: WHY DON'T YOU COME HOME AND HELP
***** no synopsis *******

[09] The Great War: PLEASE GOD SEND US VICTORY
A look at the ill-fated British naval expedition to take the
Dardanelles in 1915, which resulted in thousands of men
being slaughtered on the beaches of Gallipoli.
The mission was brilliantly filmed in Peter Weir's 1981
classic movie "Gallipoli"

[10] The Great War: WHAT ARE OUR ALLIES DOING?
It's 1915 and with the Russians suffering heavy losses, the
outlook looks bleak ....

[11] The Great War: HELL CANNOT BE SO TERRIBLE
The Battle of Verdun, one of the bloodiest conflicts in history,
which continued with almost non-stop violence for 10 months
during 1916

[12] The Great War: FOR GAWD SAKE DON'T SEND ME
How Lord Kitchener's famous appeal produced two million
volunteers to join the Battle of the Somme.

 [13] The Great War: THE DEVIL IS COMING
The events of 1916, a year in which both sides made heroic
efforts to achieve victory.

[14] The Great War: ALL THIS IS OUR DUTY TO BEAR
Both sides had made heroic efforts, yet by the end of 1916
both sides had nothing to show but staggering losses

[15] The Great War: WE ARE BETRAYED, SOLD, LOST
Charting attempts to rally the French Army for a spring offensive
and bring about a breakthrough in 48 hours.

 [16] The Great War: RIGHT IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN PEACE
A look at how two the most important events of 1917, the October
Revolution, which brought the Communists to power in Russia, and
the American's entry into Europe's war.

[17] The Great War: SURELY WE HAVE PERISHED
Exploration of the 1917 Battle of Passchendaele also known
as the third battle of Ypres, during which British troops
fought alone as one of the wettest Summers in Flanders' history
turned the fields into muddy quagmire.

 [18] The Great War: FAT RODZYANKO HAS SENT ME SOME NONSENSE
This epic series turns to Russia and the short-lived democracy
brought about by mass strikes and demonstrations.

[19] The Great War: THE HELL WHERE YOUTH AND LAUGHTER GO
A look at the experiences of soldiers on the Western Front and the
effect it had on the human spirit

[20] The Great War: ... ONLY WAR, NOTHING BUT WAR
Out of the first World War grew the modern idea of the states
responsibility for its citizens and the concept of managing an
economy as one vast business.

[21] The Great War: IT WAS LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD
Documentary charting the German offensive of 1918, which saw a last
desperate gamble to achieve victory before the bulk of the American
army arrived in Europe.

[22] The Great War: DAMN THEM, ARE THEY NEVER COMING IN?
An insight into the German counter-attack of May 27, 1918.

[23] The Great War: WHEN MUST THE END BE
How the first Allied counter-attack against the Germans on July 17, 1918
led to the turning point in the war.

[24] The Great War: ALLAH MADE MESOPOTAMIA - AND ADDED FLIES
Insight into the war in the Middle East and how leaders tried to find
victory through campaigns in Egypt, Palestine and Mesopotamia.

[25] The Great War: THE IRON THRONES ARE FALLING
An account off the collpase of Germany's allies who left them
fighting alone, after Bulgeria were routed in Serbia in September 1918

[26] The Great War: AND WE WERE YOUNG (final episode)
The final phase of World War I, which saw the Armistice come into effect
11th November 1918

################# The Great War ##############
### typical end credits from one episode ####
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The Great War: episode #14 ALL THIS IS OUR DUTY TO BEAR
Both sides had made heroic efforts, yet by the end of 1916 both sides had nothing to show but staggering losses

Typical End Credits:
Historical & Research Consultants:
John Terraine, Correlli Barnett, Barrie PiH, Alistair Horne, Victor Bonham Carter, John Williams
Historical Researchers:
Audrey Parry, Harold Shuckman, Jerome Kuehl, Alexander Barrie, Assisted by Max Hastings
Film Researchers:
Eric Davidson, Jean Vigne, Robin Mendelsohn, William Maloney, Marya MacLoughlin, Basil Maros,
Myrtle Virgo, Anne Descendre, Jeffrey Edwards,
Photographic Research: Doris Bryen, Assisted by Jill Kersey
Eye Witness Researcher: Julia Cave, Assisted by Anne Broadway
Supervising Film Editor: Barry Toovey
Film Editors: Ian Calloway, Pam Bosworth, Norman Carr, Peter Helas
Dubbing Editors: Brian Keene, Geoffrey Fry
Sound Effects: Bill Read
Sound Mixer: Robert Saunders
Dialogue Director: Nicholas Garland
Map Artist: John McWatt
Rostrum Camerwork: Caravel Films Ltd.
Directed by Richard Bigham
Film Processing: Kay Film Laboratories
Unit Manager: Rex Hipple
Assistant to Producers: Anne Jarvis
Associate Producers:
John Terraine (Britain), Ed Rollins (Canada), Tom Manefield (Australia)
Producers: Tony Essex, Gordon Watkins
A BBC-TV "Tonight" Production

################# The Great War ##############
#################### extras ##################
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The first extra is ~ 56 minutes and contains footage and pictures recorded
at that time
The second extra is ~ 12 minutes, a scrolling text says at the start :

"The following silent film was a United States official war film used in
the first world war to help instruct U.S. troops.
The 83rd Division is trained in the use of the bayonet, in hand-to-hand
combat and familiarised with the Chauchat machine gun.
The Soldiers then drill with rifles , field artillery, trench mortars and gas
masks."

################# The Great War ##############
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The First World War
Wark Clements / Hamilton Film Partnership Production
in association with  Southern Star &  Channel Four (UK)
Executive Producers:
Andrew Lapping (Hamilton Film Partnership)
Simon Willock (Southern Star)
Alan Clements ( Wark Clements)
Series Narrated & Produced by Jonathan Lewis

1.3 [--] The First World War : GLOBAL WAR

1.4 [--] The First World War : JIHAD

1.5 [--] The First World War : SHACKLED TO A CORPSE
 
1.6 [--] The First World War : BREAKING THE DEADLOCK
 
1.7 [--] The First World War : BLOCKADE
 
1.8 [--] The First World War : REVOLUTION

1.9 [--] The First World War : GERMANY'S LAST GAMBLE
 
1.10 [--] The First World War : WAR WITHOUT END 
Produced & Directed by Corinna Sturmer


Shadows of The Great War
 
Secrets of World War One
Secrets of World War I (1 of 5)
Secrets of World War I (2 of 5)
Secrets of World War I (3 of 5)
Secrets of World War I (4 of 5)
Secrets of World War I (5 of 5)

World War On in Colour

 The Great War in Colour