Spoilers, but it is a factual documentary.
Ian Hislop, Private Eye editor and team captain from the UK TV show Have I Got News from you, broadens his usual cynical and comic outlook to present a touching and excellent four part documentary following selected human stories from the Great War.
The series is based upon the fact that many have stopped seeing the more than 37,000 World War One memorials found around the UK. Ian tries to make us stop and look at them, remember that all those names we just see were actually sons, brothers, fathers, daughters and now Grandfathers, Great grandfathers.
The program recounts personal stories rather than the usual battles or history from the media or historian. We see how war affects those at home, how families are destroyed rather than just the fallen.
The last episode focuses on those who actually survived and came home. We are shown how Lloyd George's promise of a land fit for heroes was only true for a very few returning soldiers, in many cases; poverty, illness and mental problems were common but terrifying realities.
Ian Hislop shows great compassion and knowledge, we do not feel we are sitting through a lecture, but listening to a man who really feels this pain. He once again shows that beyond the funny man, a fascinating and intelligent historian lurks.
Well worth watching, show the children, never forget.
Ian Hislop, Private Eye editor and team captain from the UK TV show Have I Got News from you, broadens his usual cynical and comic outlook to present a touching and excellent four part documentary following selected human stories from the Great War.
The series is based upon the fact that many have stopped seeing the more than 37,000 World War One memorials found around the UK. Ian tries to make us stop and look at them, remember that all those names we just see were actually sons, brothers, fathers, daughters and now Grandfathers, Great grandfathers.
The program recounts personal stories rather than the usual battles or history from the media or historian. We see how war affects those at home, how families are destroyed rather than just the fallen.
The last episode focuses on those who actually survived and came home. We are shown how Lloyd George's promise of a land fit for heroes was only true for a very few returning soldiers, in many cases; poverty, illness and mental problems were common but terrifying realities.
Ian Hislop shows great compassion and knowledge, we do not feel we are sitting through a lecture, but listening to a man who really feels this pain. He once again shows that beyond the funny man, a fascinating and intelligent historian lurks.
Well worth watching, show the children, never forget.