BBC Unveils Four-Year WWI Commemorative Programming Plan

LONDON: The BBC has outlined its four-year programming roster that marks the World War I centenary, calling it the "biggest and most ambitious pan-BBC season ever undertaken."

The season will begin in early 2014, with events spanning until 2018. The lineup will kick off with Britain's Great War on BBC One, a four-part doc series presented by Jeremy Paxman that will explore how Britain and the lives of the British people were changed by the conflict.

The BBC will be bringing together historians and experts to reveal the complicated political alliances and the sequence of events leading up to the war. In this regard, there are two one-off programs planned for BBC Two: The Necessary War, presented by Sir Max Hastings, and Niall Ferguson's The Pity of War.

Four programs on BBC Two will look at the first World War and its legacy from a different point of view. Gallipoli will present a look at the British Empire's most humiliating episode of WWI, featuring an exclusive interview with Rupert Murdoch about his father's role as the whistle-blower who told the world the truth about the botched campaign. Long Shadow will feature historian David Reynolds looking at the conflict's impact on politics, identity and national memory. Historian David Olusoga will tell the story of the war from the perspective of the hundreds of thousands of Indian, African and Asian troops in The World's War. In 1964, the BBC filmed hundreds of hours of interviews with veterans of WWI, resulting in a 26-part landmark series, The Great War. A new film, My Great War, has been compiled based on the unseen archived footage. BBC Four Collections will also publish a selection of the original interview recordings in their entirety on the BBC iPlayer.

The human side of war will be war will be explored as well through a range of programming. This includes the drama The Ark for BBC One, which tells the story of frontline medics. The Passing-Bells, another BBC One drama, looks at the war through the eyes of two very ordinary young men. The three-part factual drama 37 Days for BBC Two retells of the events leading up to the war. BBC Three will explore the bravery of young soldiers in Our World War, also a factual drama. Teenage Tommies for BBC Two will present the stories of Britain's boy soldiers. Neil Oliver will look at the devastating effect of the machine gun by focusing on a group of recruits in The Machine Gun and Skye's Band of Brothers.

These are just some of the highlights of the four-year commemoration.

Director-general Tony Hall said: “This season is going to have a profound impact on the way we think about World War One. On television, on radio and on digital, we’ll be exploring how this conflict, above all others, shaped our families, our communities, our world—and continues to influence us today.’’

Adrian Van Klaveren, the controller of the World War One Centenary, continued: "With over 130 specially commissioned programmes and around 2,500 hours of programming, the BBC will be shining a spotlight on the First World War across all of our services. What we offer over the coming four years will be much more than a chronological historical record. We are setting out to broaden people's understanding of the war and to commemorate and remember those who died. Through documentaries, drama, news coverage, children’s programmes and arts and performance, we will tell well-known stories from fresh perspectives and original stories so far untold.

“The bbc.co.uk/ww1 portal will bring together the BBC’s TV and Radio programming, news and features alongside exclusive, in-depth and interactive Online content. We want to provide audiences with a truly interactive and more personal story of the war, and introduce a range of digital formats and features that deepen understanding and challenge preconceptions. We are connecting content from across BBC Online, partner organisations and the wider Internet, allowing audiences to explore the topics that matter to them and curating a lasting legacy for generations to come.”