The World at War



         


The World at War was a Thames Television documentary television series that assessed many aspects of World War II, the events that led up to it and those that followed in its wake. The series was narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier. There are 26 hour-long episodes (52 minutes excluding commercials; in the UK it was screened with only one central break). The score was written by Wilfrid Josephs. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, The World at War was placed 19th.

Producer Jeremy Isaacs asked a historian to list fifteen key campaigns of the war and devoted one episode to each. The remaining eleven episodes were devoted to other issues such as home life in Britain and Germany, the experience of occupation in The Netherlands, and the Nazis' use of genocide.

Some footage and interviews that were not used in the original series were later made into additional hour or half-hour documentaries narrated by Eric Porter. These are included in the DVD set of the series.

The series was originally transmitted on the ITV network in the United Kingdom between 31 October 1973 and 8 May 1974, and it has subsequently been shown around the world; the most recent repeat showings in the UK have been on BBC Two. The series is often viewed as the definitive television history of the Second World War, although at the time of its production many aspects of the war remained secret — such as the code-breaking activities at Bletchley Park.

The 26 episodes were:


Points to add: names of key interviewees, transfer of archive footage to 16mm, extensive use of colour footage, influenced by BBC "Great War" series (see World War I)






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