Channel 4 Commissions WWI Doc

LONDON: Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) has been commissioned by Channel 4 to produce a new documentary, WWI: Finding the Lost Battalions, which follows the search to reveal the identities of some of the war’s unknown soldiers.

Channel 4 and DSP have been given exclusive access by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to document the exhumation of the remains of WWI soldiers found in six unmarked mass graves. The doc also chronicles their re-burial in the new Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, the first to be built for 50 years. The one-off production further presents the stories of three British families who hope to find out if their relatives are among the 250 bodies found.

Julia Harrington, the commissioning editor at Channel 4, said: “WWI: Finding the Lost Battalions is a fascinating forensic story and also hugely moving, shedding light on the Great War in a way I’ve not seen before.”

Julian Ware, the head of special projects at Darlow Smithson Productions, added: “WWI was fought almost a century ago, yet there are thousands of soldiers still unaccounted for. Through the use of modern technology, the harrowing fight that took place in Fromelles will be pieced together, giving voice to the journeys of fallen veterans.”