Top-rated
Wed, Sep 8, 1999
John Thaw narrates this seven-part series telling the story of the Second World War through colour film, supplemented by the letters and diaries of those who lived during the most devastating conflict in history. The first programme traces the build-up of tensions during the 1930s, including the power of Nazi propaganda, the glorious imagery of George VI's coronation and Lloyd George's afternoon tea with Hitler.
Wed, Sep 29, 1999
The Second World War has mainly been seen in black and white, but recent research has unearthed an abundance of superb colour film and shows what it really looked like to those who were there. The Second World War in Colour is a stunning and vivid new account of Britain during the war. and covers the events that happened on the Home Front between the years of 1934 and 1945. It tells the remarkable story of Britain's involvement in the Second World War using much previously unseen colour film footage, letters and diaries of the people who lived through this unforgettable period in British history. Narrated by John Thaw, The Second World War in Colour includes colour film of Winston Churchill before the 1945 election British prisoners of war at a liberated camp in Burma and spectacular footage of the D-Day landings. Brilliant colour footage also featured of a Royal visit to Warrington, of the Hampshire regiment at their training camp at Seaford in Sussex in 1934.
Thu, Oct 21, 1999
On the night of May 16-17 1943, Lancasters of 617 Squadron, using bouncing bombs devised by Barnes Wallis, destroyed the Mohne and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley. It was one of the most brilliant feats of bombing ever achieved. The special bombs had to be dropped from an altitude of precisely sixty feet with no margin for error - all the while under fire. The Dambusters Raid, as it has since become known, was also one of the most dangerous missions of the war. Of the nineteen Lancasters which took part, eight were lost and a further two seriously damaged. Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who led the attack, was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross. This historic DVD offers a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the mission, including previously unseen archive film of the Dambusters' Lancasters testing the bouncing bomb just before the raid. It features exclusive interviews with surviving pilots from the raid, as well as a fascinating insight into the development of the bouncing bomb given by Wallis's designer.