Yesterday Commissions Two One-Off Docs

LONDON: The factual history channel Yesterday in the U.K. has commissioned the documentaries Love on VE Day and El Alamein: The Battle That Changed The War, as part of its ongoing Spirit of 1940s programming strand.

Love on VE Day looks at the day when Europe was finally free from war through the personal accounts of births, marriages, reunions and romantic encounters. The one-hour doc is being produced by Epiphany Pictures.

El Alamein: The Battle That Changed The War, from Available Light Productions, tells the story of the conflict through amateur films made by British and German soldiers on the front line. This is combined with newsreel footage to tell the story of the battle from both sides of the conflict.

Richard Kingsbury, the channel head of Yesterday, commented: “Our Spirit of 1940s season has helped the channel grow by 76 percent in 2010.  Yesterday has a continuing commitment to bringing fresh personal perspectives on events that we think we know about. These two new commissions encompass what Yesterday does best; great stories from the past told by real people.”

Catherine Whelton, UKTV’s commissioning editor, added; “Both Love on VE Day and El Alamein: The Battle That Changed The War are programs that place the audience right inside the moment using the testimony of the people who were there to drive the narrative. We are thrilled to be working with Epiphany and Available Light on these projects.”