UKTV’s Yesterday Commissions Doc on Dunkirk

LONDON: As part of its year-long programming event The Spirit of 1940, the UKTV factual channel Yesterday has commissioned Dunkirk: The Forgotten Heroes, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the event.

Produced by Testimony Films, the hour-long documentary will tell the unknown story of the thousands of men left behind to stop the German advance and to facilitate the famous mass evacuation across the Channel. Dunkirk: The Forgotten Heroes lets the last survivors of the historic event tell their dramatic and emotional stories.

UKTV’s director of commissioning, Jane Rogerson, said, “Dunkirk: The Forgotten Heroes will give us the incredible opportunity to tell the relatively unknown story of the men left behind. The official Dunkirk evacuation newsreels are now part of WWII folklore and while they tell an important story, its only one aspect of a complicated tale. We are in the incredibly privilege position of working with Testimony Films to capture interviews with Dunkirk’s forgotten heroes and giving a truly compelling dimension to this historic event.”

Yesterday’s channel head, Richard Kingsbury, added, “Yesterday attracts an audience of 10 million viewers a month who are fascinated by the past. This year we have seen a surge in interest in the events of 70 years ago and we will be feeding that interest with a series of original programs that mark the biggest anniversaries of 1940. The challenge in each case is to offer a new angle on familiar events and in the case of Dunkirk the program will show that some of the most amazing stories too place far from the beaches.”

Testimony Films’ Steve Humphries, who serves as an executive producer, commented, “We aim to uncover the true story of the forgotten men of Dunkirk. It’s important that their heroism and sacrifice is finally recognized.”