Colditz (2005 TV series)
| Colditz | |
|---|---|
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| Written by |
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| Directed by | Stuart Orme |
| Starring | |
| Composer(s) | Richard Harvey |
| No. of episodes | 2 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Stephen Smallwood |
| Production company(s) | Granada Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV (United Kingdom) |
| First shown in | 27 March 2005 (episode 1) |
Colditz is a two-part 2005 television drama miniseries, based on the book Colditz: The Definitive History by Henry Chancellor, and the Channel 4 television series Escape from Colditz. It is not claimed to be historically accurate. It features an ensemble cast headlined by Damian Lewis and Sophia Myles and was directed by Stuart Orme. The screenplay was written by Peter Morgan and Richard Cottan.
The series tells several stories of various, mostly British, prisoners of war in the Second World War and their attempts to escape Colditz. The first episode features a fictionalised account of an actual event when three inmates Dick Lorraine, John 'Bosun' Crisp, and the 'Medium Sized Man', Flt Lt Dominic Bruce OBE MC AFM KSG MA RAF attempted to escape using the castle sewers. In reality the escape team were discovered when they attempted to exit a manhole. The Germans threatened to throw grenades down into the sewer chamber and, as the escapers could not reverse back up the sewer pipe, they were forced to surrender. They were immediately put in front of a firing squad, but unlike the fictional TV account, the guards did not fire. Just before the order was to be given, Bruce lost his temper and approached the officer in charge, Eggers, saying "you can shoot us, but after the war we'll hang you". Eggers stood the squad down. An account of this escape can be found in Reel Five of the oral history version given by Flt. Lt. Bruce to be found in the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive.
As of November 2010, Colditz has been released on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1 and on DVD in Region 2.
In 2006, it won the BAFTA Television Craft Award for best sound design in a fiction or entertainment.
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