Battlefield | |
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Written by | Dave Flitton |
Directed by | Dave Flitton |
Theme music composer | David Galbraith |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Andy Aitken, Justin McCarthy |
Distributor | PBS |
Release | |
Original release | 1994 |
Battlefield (Series 1) | |
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Directed by | Dave Flitton, Andy Aitken, Justin McCarthy |
Produced by | Dave Flitton (series prod.), David McWhinnie, Ken Maliphant, David Rozalla |
Written by | Dave Flitton, Andy Aitken |
Narrated by | Tim Piggott-Smith |
Music by | David Galbraith |
Distributed by | PBS |
Release date
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1994 |
Running time
|
6 116-minute episodes |
Country | USA |
Language | English |
Battlefield (Series 2) | |
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Directed by | Dave Flitton, Andy Aitken, James Wignall |
Produced by | Dave Flitton (series prod.), David McWhinnie, Ken Maliphant, David Rozalla |
Written by | Dave Flitton, Andy Aitken, James Wignall |
Narrated by | music = David Galbraith |
Distributed by | PBS |
Release date
|
1996 |
Running time
|
6 116-minute episodes |
Country | USA |
Language | English |
Battlefield Vietnam | |
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Directed by | James Wignall, Liam Tanner, David Black |
Produced by | Dave Flitton (series prod.), David McWhinnie, Ken Maliphant, David Rozalla |
Written by | Dave Flitton |
Narrated by | Gavin MacFadyen |
Music by | David Galbraith |
Distributed by | PBS |
Release date
|
1999 |
Running time
|
12 58-minute episodes |
Country | USA |
Language | English |
Battlefield is a documentary series initially shown in 1994 that explores the most important battles fought primarily during the Second World War and the Vietnam War. The series employs a novel approach in which history is described by detailed accounts of major battles together with background and contextual information.
The series provides a comprehensive narrative of the war; in addition to traditional tactical details, subjects such as personalities and motivations of the leaders, technological developments, management of war economies, strategic contributions of smaller battles, etc. are explored in terms of their contribution to particular turning points. The narrator (Tim Pigott-Smith) speaks throughout the series, seasons 1, 2, and 4, with no interviews of actual battle veterans. The show is entirely made up of archive footage and 3D graphics. Rare archive film, including rare colour footage specific to each battle is included.
Detailed analysis of the battle including leaders, commanders, soldiers and weapons is presented. Events preceding the featured battle are presented, as well as some aftermath details. The political and military situation before each battle. Explanations of weapons and tactics. Detailed analysis of the cause of each battle. The action in the context of the war as a whole. Informative maps and graphics.
Episodes consist of two hour (100 minute) programs. Each episode of Battlefield is divided into segments. A typical sequence is as follows:
The series was produced by Lamancha Productions in Edinburgh, Scotland.
NARRATOR Tim Piggott-Smith
The Battlefield series was originally aired on the BBC (UK) and PBS Television (USA). The Military Channel showed a shortened version of the series. Major networks still showing documentaries from the ‘Battlefield’ series include Discovery Networks Europe (UK) and PBS (USA).
The Battlefield series has been issued in videotape by Polygram Video (UK - PAL format) and Time-Life (USA - NTSC format). DVD collections were reissued by Polygram Video in the UK (PAL format) in 2005. In 2010 the original series was re-released on DVD in the US.
Specifications:
Specifications:
Series Three was reissued by Time-Life as 12 segments, each 50 minutes long, on NTSC VHS videotapes. The series was produced by LaMancha Productions and produced and directed by Dave Flitton. 3D Graphics by Greg Moodie and Gavin Bonnar. A PolyGram Visual Programming/Lamancha co-production. Narrated by Gavin MacFadyen.