Our World War (TV series)

Our World War is a British television drama series based on eyewitness accounts of the soldiers who served in the First World War. The series was inspired by the 2012 BAFTA-winning series Our War. The series shows how the war affected people on the battlefield.

Our World War
GenreFactual
Written byJoe Barton
Theme music composerJon Opstad
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of series1
No. of episodes3 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)Colin Barr
Producer(s)Dan Tucker
Running time60 minutes
Production company(s)BBC Productions
Release
Original network
Picture format16:9 1080i
Audio formatStereo
Original release7 August (2014-08-07) –
21 August 2014 (2014-08-21)
External links
BBC website

Production

Joe Barton, the writer of the series, based this drama on first hand accounts of what happened during the First World War.

The series makes use of modern film techniques like fixed, body-mounted cameras and overhead battle scene animations, alongside a modern soundtrack featuring artists such as PJ Harvey, to attract a new audience. While some reviewers described this as "powerful"[1] and "beautiful",[2] others felt it trivialised the subject matter[3] and would quickly date.[4]

Parts of episode one were filmed at The Historic Dockyard in Chatham, Kent which doubled as the British HQ in Mons.[5]

Episode list
No.TitleDirected byWritten byAir date
1"The First Day"Bruce GoodisonJoe Barton7 August 2014 (2014-08-07)
Two weeks after war is declared, the 4th Battalion of The Royal Fusiliers set up defences around the Belgian town of Mons. They expect to march beyond the town's bridges the next morning. Little do they know, however, the German army has already reached the other side of the canal.
2"Pals"Ben ChananJoe Barton14 August 2014 (2014-08-14)
A group of office workers from Levenshulme, Manchester join a local Pals battalion, the 18th Battalion, Manchester Regiment. They soon find themselves facing the Germans at the Somme. Months later, Paddy Kennedy pleads with the battalion chaplain to let him off the firing squad duty that will see him killing one of the friends he made on his journey.
3"War Machine"Bruce GoodisonJoe Barton21 August 2014 (2014-08-21)
Four years into the war, the British deploy tanks along the German border, to break the stalemate. A young Chas Rowland joins the crew of one of these tanks, the Niveleur, as it prepares for the Battle of Amiens. But the coming days will take their toll on the crew, and Chas must brave fumes, a temperamental engine, and cramped conditions to deliver a message home.
gollark: Do so, lyric ly.
gollark: You fix them.
gollark: There's a spec somewhere, it could actually be implemented.
gollark: They call it "pseudocode" but it's really a bizarre BASIC language with a syntax based type system somehow.
gollark: The computer science exam board here uses BASIC to explain algorithms and stuff on exams, and requires you to write in it a bit.

References
  1. Paul Reed. "BBC Our World War: Review of Ep1 – Mons".
  2. Wollaston, Sam. "Our World War review – excellent, innovative and moving television". The Guardian.
  3. Jones, Ellen E. "One World War, TV review: Jarring modern touches mean Great War story badly misfires". The Independent.
  4. "Our World War, BBC Three, review: 'a whiff of spoof'". Telegraph.
  5. Kent Film Office. "Kent Film Office Our World War Article".
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