The World at War.....

[The]

Still watch it every now and again. A masterclass in documentary making.

 

[redandwhiterob]

Tremendous series, originally broadcast when I was at school. If I have a favourite episode it would be the El Alamein one, the turning point of the war for some.

I love a random name search when watching. Can take you down a bit of a wiki rabbit hole

 

[Big Jeff]

Suuubmahreen

As said by Karl Donitz

 

[Harry Gates]

Fantastic series, the accompanying book is very good as well.

 

[Big Jeff]

Narrated of course by dear old Larry

 

[Kent_Mackem]

Excellent series. It's a shame it is now being re-enacted in a sense but with more modern weapons currently.

 

[Mackem Mad]

Has that place in France that was mentioned in the opening scene of the very first episode still been left untouched to this day?

Oradour sur Glâne.

 

[Harry Gates]

Narrated of course by dear old Larry

Remember the first time i saw it, his over pronunciation of Oradour-sur-Glane almost put me off watching.

 

[Mackem Mad]

Love the world at war made in 1973 I believe

It was built on the model of the BBC’s 26-part documentary on The Great War.

I think what makes this so fascinating is that there`s key people involved in the war taking part including Karl Donitz and Albert Speer who were at the heart of the German war machine, Trudi Junge who was in Hitler`s bunker, Karl Wolff - Himmler`s right hand man, Fuchida from the Japanese Navy who was involved in the bombing of Pear Harbour, Bomber Harris from Bomber Command, Paul Tibbet`s who flew Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima as well as several British, American and German generals and officers.

As a historical document few have come close.

All Ken Burns’ stuff + the PBS documentary on the miners’ struggles in West Virginia (The Mine Wars) are likewise brilliant.

 

[Big Jeff]

Remember the first time i saw it, his over pronunciation of Oradour-sur-Glane almost put me off watching.

I liked that - very emotional.

but I’m not French so I accept there may be some liberties taken but haway man it’s Larry.

 

[Mackem Mad]

First Workd War, a 10 part series is currently on PBS America. A good insight into different theatres of the war. I enjoyed the ones about the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottamans.

The BBC’s 26-parter on The Great War is by far the most comprehensive

See : The Great War (TV series) - Wikipedia

 

[Harry Gates]

Traudl Junge, also portrayed in Downfall, is very candid with her recollections.

She says when she visits schools the bairns all expect Hitler with horns and a tail and she says his was very nice and treated us with great respect and courtesy.

 

[Big Jeff]

Traudl Junge, also portrayed in Downfall, is very candid with her recollections.

She says when she visits schools the bairns all expect Hitler with horns and a tail and she says his was very nice and treated us with great respect and courtesy.

The names they got and the access for this programme were astounding.

 

[Harry Gates]

The names they got and the access for this programme were astounding.

Makes a good bookend with The Odessa File or Night of the Generals

 

[Mackem Mad]

Traudl Junge, also portrayed in Downfall, is very candid with her recollections.

She says when she visits schools the bairns all expect Hitler with horns and a tail and she says his was very nice and treated us with great respect and courtesy.

Traudl Junge is now dead.

 

[Harry Gates]

Traudl Junge is now dead.

She's been dead 20 years but was alive when she related her memories of young dolfo.

 

[Kent_Mackem]

Traudl Junge, also portrayed in Downfall, is very candid with her recollections.

She says when she visits schools the bairns all expect Hitler with horns and a tail and she says his was very nice and treated us with great respect and courtesy.

I'm sure Putin says thank you when his glass is filled by a house maid.

 

[Lord Potts]

A documentary series that will never be matched.

It could neverbe because it actually contains interviews with some of the key participants from all sides who were still alive in 1970. I remember Sir Anthony Eden (Churchill's chief aid) speaking about how the Tory estabishment tried to undermine Churchill and seek an agreement with Hitler at the start of the war.

The BBC’s 26-parter on The Great War is by far the most comprehensive

See : The Great War (TV series) - Wikipedia

I remember watching that when it was first broadcast in the early 1960's. The BBC was proud of the fact that they had restored a lot of old film which had been hand cranked and had made it viewable again, Of course it was nothing compared to what they can do now with old film so back in the early 1960s the footage it still looked pretty ancient.

Watching computer enhanced film from WWI these days the quality of it is amazing . I think however that they should give the public some idea of what WWI looked like on film at the time because that's how people on the home front saw it. I think that the old footage made the War look a bit unreal . You see it now properly lit all in focus and not jumping around and it looks only too real.

 

[Joe Baker]

There was a TV series before W at W, called "All our yesterdays", which was broadcast on a weekly basis for 6 years or so in the late 60's.
It followed the war on a "real time" basis following the war exactly 25 years after the event using footage used in cinema newsreels at the time.

Fascinating for me as a teenager and even more so for my mother who was 17 when the was started and 23 when it ended. It was obviously the defining time of her life, especially as she was drafted in 1942 to do war work in munitions factories, a long way from a deprived life in Seaham.

 

[Mackemansj1]

The voice over stands the hairs up on my back. I watched this in primary school haha 80s a different time and I've loved it ever since. I bought it when they remastered it for Blu-ray. I love it's got interviews with actual people who fought in the war or normal citizens giving there accounts while they were still alive. It's maybe one of the most important docu series ever made as pretty much all those that were involved are now gone.