Battlefield Britain

Battlefield Britain
Genre	Documentary
Presented by	Peter & Dan Snow
Country of origin	UK
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jane Aldous
Running time	60 minutes
Distributor	BBC
Release
Original network	BBC 2
Original release	6 August 2004
Chronology
Related shows	20th Century Battlefields

Battlefield Britain is a 2004 BBC television documentary series about famous battles in the history of Great Britain. From Boudicca's destructive rebellion against the Romans to the incredible feats of The Few who saw off the Luftwaffe, these battles all had wide-reaching consequences and implications for the future of the British isles.

The series is presented by father and son team Peter and Dan Snow with Peter explaining the battleplans of the generals while Dan explores the sites to give the perspective of the common soldier, sailors and airmen.

The episodes also featured "interviews" with soldiers from both sides, re-enactments of the battles and computer generated scenes with bird eye views and blocks to show troop movement.

In Australia, all eight episodes aired on SBS TV in its As It Happened history timeslot each Saturday at 7:30pm from 22 January until 12 March 2005.

Dan Snow has stated that he had never intended to work with his father. This, however, had changed when someone at the BBC saw a video-diary about the 2000 Oxford and Cambridge boat race that Dan had recorded. Peter Snow was then telephoned and asked if he wanted to do a history series with his son. Peter originally rejected the proposal claiming that it was a ridiculous idea. Dan was able to talk him round and a pilot was filmed. Dan has stated that he didn’t find the work easy.

I was very wooden and I had to go on a steep learning curve. In the process I developed a huge respect for Dad's ability to explain really complex things in simple language, without ever dumbing anything down.

After the success of this pilot a full series was commissioned, although Dan Snow has admitted that he was told which battles to discuss by the BBC, rather than being free to select engagements about which he had gained some knowledge from his undergraduate studies.

A companion radio show Battlefield Ramblings was broadcast weekly on BBC Radio 4 to accompany the series. Each week a guest would join the presenter Muriel Gray for a walk in areas linked to the people and events featured in the TV show. The first episode was broadcast from Boudicca's Way in Norfolk with guests Dan and Peter Snow who argued constantly during the program and drew a reprimand for Peter from Gray for admitting to having carried his son up a Welsh mountain just 27 days after he was born.

...
Wikipedia