Tony Robinson's World War 1
Documentary, War & Politics • 2015 • 48m
Episode 1
Tony Robinson unpicks the Great War using a unique archive of 3D photographs taken in the trenches at the time. These incredible images have never been broadcast before in their original format and many have been sourced from private collections all over the world. In the first of four programs Tony uses them to tell the story of how the war started and how it destroyed Britain's professional army in under five months.
Episode 2
In episode 2 of our series Tony Robinson asks whether the men who lost their lives at battles during WW1 were lions led by donkeys, or whether a brutal war of attrition was the only option available to those in command. Using 3D images that were taken at the time Tony connects with the men that were killed and the landscapes in which they fell. He explores the stalemate of trench warfare through 1915 and 1916 and examines the cutting edge technologies that were used to try and make breakthroughs. And discovers why we ended up at the bloodiest slaughter in British military history – The Battle of the Somme.
Episode 3
In the third episode of World War 1 in 3D, the Battle of the Somme is now in full swing but the Western Front is still locked in stalemate. All that bloodshed and slaughter is leading to huge pressure on both sides. And the Allies and Germany are transforming themselves into ever more powerful killing machines – creating unprecedented technological innovations, in an attempt to break the stalemate. Losing millions of men on the battlefield and living under attack from the air at home, the British were forced to become more stoic. But as we entered the modern world, were we losing our humanity?
Episode 4
This is World War One as you’ve never seen it before. It seems unbelievable but there are thousands of 3D photographs taken of the First World War, yet none of them have ever been shown on TV in their original format. This fourth episode through the aid of these remarkable 3d photographs, looks at the final year of the conflict – 1918. After lengthy stalemate in the trenches, the Western Front suddenly exploded into life. Germany risked everything with one final push for victory .But the Allies fought back. And, after four years of playing catch up, British tactics and technology finally defeated the German war machine. This is the story of how we finally won the First World War.
Cast
Reviews
This is a first rate documentary series about World War I, aka The Great War. At the time it was the third documentary series I had watched about World War I in a few week period. I placed it in between the other two as far as quality and entertainment value. Tony Robinson does a pretty good job as presenter, speaking with enthusiasm and a latent curiosity to find out what caused the war and how it was fought. Many times Robinson comments on the splendid 3D pictures taken during the war, long available but never before viewed on television. Perhaps I missed something, but they seemed like regular black and white pictures to me. Perhaps if they had been compared with other pictures there would have been more clarity or depth on display, I don't know. One good thing this program does has to do with the experts documentaries like this always use to discuss the subject. Usually you see authors or university professors, but here they used experts in the field, many who held jobs to do with their expertise. I found them to be more knowledgeable than usual. One change that may have helped the presentation has to do with the reading of soldiers' journals and diaries. Robinson did all of the reading, and it might have been more effective if they had other actors read these entries to break up Tony Robinson's voice-over. In any case, it is a historical series well worth watching.
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