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The Great War on the Small Screen: Representing the First World War in Contemporary Britain

Hanna, Emma (2009) The Great War on the Small Screen: Representing the First World War in Contemporary Britain. Other. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, UK 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748633890.001.0001. (doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748633890.001.0001) (Access to this publication is currently restricted. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:92207)

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Abstract

In Britain since the 1960s television has been the most influential medium of popular culture. Television is also the site where the Western Front of popular culture clashes with the Western Front of history. This book examines the ways in which those involved in the production of historical documentaries for this most influential media have struggled to communicate the stories of the First World War to British audiences. Documents in the BBC Written Archives Centre at Caversham, Berkshire, the Imperial War Museum, and the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives all inform the analysis. Interviews and correspondence with television producers, scriptwriters and production crew, as well as two First World War veterans who appeared in several recent documentaries provide new insights for the reader. Emma Hanna takes the reader behind the scenes of the making of the most influential documentaries from the landmark epic series The Great War (BBC, 1964) up to more recent controversial productions such as The Trench (BBC, 2002) and Not Forgotten: The Men Who Wouldn't Fight (BBC, 2008). By examining the production, broadcast and reception of a number of British television documentaries this book examines the difficult relationship between the war's history and its popular memory.

Item Type: Reports and Papers (Other)
DOI/Identification number: 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748633890.001.0001
Uncontrolled keywords: First World War, 1914-1918, Media, Memory, Remembrance, Television Documentaries
Subjects: D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
N Visual Arts > N Visual arts (General). For photography, see TR
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Depositing User: Emma Hanna
Date Deposited: 08 Dec 2021 12:02 UTC
Last Modified: 09 Dec 2021 18:59 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/92207 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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