Al Murray's Road to Berlin
| Al Murray's Road to Berlin | |
|---|---|
DVD cover of Al Murray's Road to Berlin
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| Genre | Documentary |
| Presented by | Al Murray |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Ludo Graham |
| Release | |
| Original network | Discovery Channel UK |
| First shown in | 2004 |
| External links | |
| Website | www |
Al Murray's Road to Berlin is a British documentary television series about World War II, presented by Al Murray. The ten episode series was produced for the Discovery Channel, and first broadcast in 2004. During the series, Murray travels across the Western Front in a restored Willys MB Jeep, covering the timeline from the Invasion of Normandy to the fall of Berlin, interviewing survivors and showcasing some of the equipment used.
Seven episodes in the ten episode series deal directly with the land, amphibious, airborne and tactical air force operations involved in the general British and American advance from Normandy to Berlin, while three others look at related topics, with one episode each devoted to the German V-weapons programme (episode 4), the strategic air force bombing of Essen (episode 6), and the Soviet Eastern Front campaign (episode 8). As the British and Americans were not directly involved in taking Berlin itself, the second half of the last episode covers the Soviet operations.
During the series, Murray visits the locations dealt with in each episode, mostly travelling in a restored US Army Willys MB Jeep. In all episodes, Murray interviews survivors, both civilian and military, and Murray's narrative of the progression of events is supplemented with archive footage. In addition, several episodes feature demonstrations using period equipment, such as tanks, boats and guns. As well as being the presenter and narrator of the series, in episode 1, "D-Day", Murray re-enacts a beach landing, while in episode 5, "Arnhem", he takes part in a 60th anniversary parachute jump. In relevant episodes, Murray also details the tactical situation using maps.
The first series was broadcast over 10 episodes:
In "D-Day", Murray looks at the opening phase of the Allied invasion of Normandy, and the battles on the crucial east flank by British forces, designed to allow the securing of the critical objective of the city of Caen, key to controlling Normandy.
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