Episode Listing
Germany – a nation stricken by the humiliating defeat in the First World War and emerging from crippling economic depression looks to one man for a resurgence of hope and dignity. That man is Adolf Hitler.
Written by NEAL ASCHERON. Directed HUGH RAGGETT
DISTANT WAR: SEPTEMBER 1939 – MAY 1940
In Eastern Europe, the full force of the Nazi machine rolls on – but in Britain, an uneasy calm settles on the nation. It is the “phoney” war, with the sound of distant guns thundering ominously on the horizon.
Written by LAURENCE THOMPSON. Produced & Directed by David Elstein
France discovers it is woefully unprepared for modern warfare as the Nazi war machine easily skirts around the Maginot Line. Britain retreats and prepares to be invaded.
Written & Produced by PETER BATTY
After Dunkirk, Britain faces the German onslaught. Although the RAF wins the Battle of Britain, the cities are blitzed and on the continent the last Allies are conquered. The outlook is grim.
Written by LAURENCE THOMPSON. Produced & Directed by DAVID ELSTEIN
BARBAROSSA: JUNE – DECEMBER 1941
Hitler at last turns his tanks towards Russia. After a succession of devastating victories, the Germans delay and the fierce Russian winter takes a grip.
Written & Produced by PETER BATTY
Having been at war since 1931 with the Chinese, the Japanese hope for easy victories over the British and Dutch. Then on December 7th 1941, Japan makes their infamous attack on Pearl Harbour.
Written and Produced by PETER BATTY
America is divided as to whether to fight the Japanese and the Nazis or not. Hitler solves the problem by declaring war on the USA.
Written & Produced by PETER BATTY
THE DESERT: NORTH AFRICA: 1940 – 1943
For 2 years the 8th Army and Rommel’s Afrika Corps fight in the deserts of North Africa. Finally the tide turns at El Alamein.
Written & Produced by PETER BATTY
STALINGRAD: JUNE 1942 – FEBRUARY 1943
Hitler’s early successes in Russia make him reckless and he resolves to capture Stalingrad. The battle lasts six months with the Russians emerging as victorious. The Wehrmacht never recovers.
Written by JEROME KUEHL. Directed by HUGH RAGGETT
WOLF PACK: U-BOATS IN THE ATLANTIC 1939 – 1944
The effectiveness of U-Boats was hindered by the swift introduction of the convoy system by the Allies until the “wolf-pack tactic of U-Boats travelling in packs was instigated.
Written by JPW MALLABLIEU Produced & Directed by TED CHILDS
RED STAR: THE SOVIET UNION 1941 – 1943
For two years, the Soviet Army fights the Germans almost alone. After one of the greatest land battles in history, Russia survives and triumphs but at a cost of almost twenty million people.
Written by NEAL ASCHERSON Produced & Directed by MARTIN SMITH
WHIRLWIND: BOMBING GERMANY SEPTEMBER 1939 – APRIL 1944
The bombing offensive of the RAF and the American Air Force left much of Germany destroyed.
Written by CHARLES DOUGLAS-HOME Produced by TED CHILDS
TOUGH OLD GUT: ITALY NOVEMBER 1942 – JUNE 1944
Churchill called Italy the “soft underbelly of the crocodile” and thought that the Allies could cut through it to the heart of Germany. But the “soft underbelly” turned out to a “tough old gut”.
Written by DAVID WHEELER. Produced by BEN SHEPHERD
IT’S A LOVELY DAY TOMORROW: BURMA 1942 -1943
Vera Lynn sang of a “lovely day tomorrow” but the war in Burma was mud and monsoon. Britain’s largest army learned to master the jungle and fought the Japanese to a standstill.
Written by JOHN WILLIAMS. Produced & Directed by JOHN PETT
HOME FIRES: BRITAIN 1940 – 1944
It was a time of gas masks, Winston Churchill, Dig for Victory, evacuation, George Formby, the Land Army, “It’s That Man Again” radio show, the Squander Bug and the Beveridge Report.
Written by ANGUS CALDER. Produced by PHILLIP WHITEHEAD
INSIDE THE REICH: GERMANY 1940-1944
German’s initial victory in Europe turns sours after the defeat at Stalingrad, yet they prepare to fight to the end – even after an assassination attempt on the Fuhrer.
Written by NEAL ASCHERSON. Produced by PHILLIP WHITEHEAD
The Western Allies resolve to invade Europe. England becomes a floating supply dump and the British and Americans assemble the largest invasion fleet in history. It is June 6th 1944, D-Day.
Written by JOHN WILLIAMS. Produced & Directed by JOHN PETT
OCCUPATION: HOLLAND 1940 -1944
Though a neutral country, Holland is attacked by Germany without warning in 1940. During the next four years, life carries on seemingly without incident but underneath resistance never dies.
Written by CHARLES BLOOMBERG. Produced & Directed by MICHAEL DARLOW
PINCERS: AUGUST 1944 – MARCH 1945
The end of the war appears close at hand with the liberation of Paris is 1944 but the British and Americans disagree on how to advance. Meanwhile Poland suffers devastating losses to achieve victory.
Written & Produced by PETER BATTY
The Nazis are racist, the Aryans are a master race, others, particularly the Jews are sub-human. Himmler’s SS sets about ridding Europe of millions of Jews.
Written by CHARLES BLOOMBERG. Produced by MICHAEL DARLOW
NEMESIS: GERMANY FEBURARY – MAY 1945
Hitler retreats to the Fuhrer bunker in Berlin as Germany crumbles around him and his lieutenants abandon him to a fate of suicide. Meanwhile the Russians raise the Red Flag in Berlin.
Written by STUART HOOD, Produced by MARTIN SMITH
Initially apprehensive about the outcome of declaring war, the Japanese quickly turn to celebration with early victory. In the end, their worst fears are unimaginably exceeded.
Written by COURTNEY BROWNE. Produced by HUGH RAGGETT.
PACIFIC: FEBRUARY 1942 – JULY 1945
The Americans fight their way across the Pacific towards Japan and the Philippines. Perhaps the bloodiest campaign of all, each island has to be taken by storm and the Japanese fight to the last man.
Written by DAVID WHEELER. Produced & Directed by JOHN PETT
THE BOMB: FEBRUARY – SEPTEMBER 1945
Western scientists have developed a new, immensely powerful weapon – the atomic bomb. On August 6th 1945, the Enola Gay delivers the world’s first atomic bomb to Hiroshima. The world would be forever altered.
Written & Produced by DAVID ELSTEIN
The war ends slowly and messily. Britain is victorious but exhausted and the super-powers confront each other as they decide the fate of Europe.
Written & Produced by JEREMY ISSACS
THE MAKING OF THE SERIES
Filmed shortly after the series was broadcast, this is the story behind the production process and the challenges involved in summarising years of history and millions of feet of archive footage.
Presented by JEREMY ISSACS. Directed by PETER TIFFIN
Traudl Junge found herself in Berlin during the war because she wanted to be a ballet dancer. A friend told her about a job vacancy in Hitler’s chancellery; she applied it for it and looking like Hilter’s mistress Eva Braun, she became one of his private secretaries. Traudl Junge saw Hitler at close quarters, shared his public life and was with him in the bunker at the end.
Produced by SUSAN McCONACHY
Renowned historian Stephen Ambrose examines the aftermath of World War II. Was peace truly gained? Or did a new war with weapons of policy take its place?
An interview with PROF.STEPHEN AMBROSE. Produced by JEROME KUEHL
REFLECTIONS OF MEN AT WAR compiled from interviews and archive film obtained for THE WORLD AT WAR series.
A measured and decidedly unromantic look at the heat of battle, WARRIOR weaves together eyewitness accounts and rarely seen archive footage to reveal the deadly realities of combat.
Edited & Produced by ALAN AFRIAST. Poems by R N CURREY, SEAN JENNET, RUTHVEN TOD. Executive Producer JEROME KUEHL. Production Manager LIZ SUTHERLAND
HITLER’S GERMANY: TOTAL WAR 1939 – 1945
Continuing the in-depth look at Hitler’s regime through the lives of ordinary citizens, this special presentation shows how they coped with mass bombing, invasion and ultimately defeat.
Written by JEROME KUEHL. Produced by RAYE FARR. Production Manager LIZ SUTHERLAND. Associate Producer ALAN AFRIAT. Executive Producer JEROME KUEHL
Years after his death, mystery still surrounds the circumstances under which Adolf Hitler ended his life. Did he die from a self-inflicted gunshot? Or did he swallow cyanide with his recent bride Eva Braun?
Executive Producer JEROME KUEHL. Produced & Directed by MARTIN SMITH. Production Manager LIZ SUTHERLAND. Associate Producer ALAN AFRIAT
Examining the growth of the Nazi racial doctrines from their origins to 1939, we see the terrifying and unforgettable stories as told by death camp survivors and also compelling interviews with German participants.
Written & Directed by MICHAEL DARLOW. Associate Producer JEROME KUEHL. Production Manager LIZ SUTHERLAND
Archive photographs and shocking footage filmed by the Nazis themselves, capture the full horror of Germany’s systematic extermination of millions of Jews and other non-Aryan civilians. Unflinching and often disturbing, this is a profound and necessary examination into the darkest corners of humanity.
Written & Directed by MICHAEL DARLOW. Associate Producer JEROME KUEHL. Production Manager LIZ SUTHERLAND
THE 30th ANNIVERSARY DISC:
In this 2 hour 30th Anniversary retrospective, we commemorate the original 1973 broadcast with new interviews with the makers of the programme.
Prominent scholars and military figures recount specifics of the war, from firsthand accounts of Okinawa to the D-Day landing and analyse key wartime actions in these previously unseen and extended interviews taken from the archives at the Imperial War Museum.
Produced by FREMANTLEMEDIA ENTERPRISES. Music by CARL DAVISCovering the entire restoration process from start to finish, this feature, narrated by Sir Jeremy Isaacs, explores in detail the work required to restore this classic series. From the dramatic improvements to the picture quality to the enhanced and upgraded audio, each element is explained fully.
Produced by FREMANTLEMEDIA ENTERPRISES. Music by CARL DAVISImperial War Museum Photo Gallery
Biographies
Brief History of the World at War
Episode Summaries
Speeches/Songs
Newsreels/Maps