Time Commanders
| Time Commanders | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Technological game show |
| Created by | Adam MacDonald |
| Presented by |
Eddie Mair (2003) Richard Hammond (2005) Gregg Wallace (2016) |
| Narrated by | David McAlister (2003) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 27 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 45 minutes (2003, 2005) 60 minutes (2016–) |
| Production company(s) | Lion TV |
| Release | |
| Original network |
BBC Two (2003, 2005) BBC Four (2016–) |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original release |
Original series: 4 September 2003 – 13 March 2005 Revived series: 12 December 2016 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Time Commanders is a series of programmes made by Lion TV and PlayGen for the BBC that ran for three series, the first two between 2003 to 2005 before returning for a third series in 2016. The programme was originally hosted by Eddie Mair and then by Richard Hammond and was originally broadcast on BBC Two, it featured a specially made game engine designed by The Creative Assembly to reenact historical battles. The 2016 series was presented by Gregg Wallace and broadcast on BBC Four. Like the previous two series, it uses game engines developed by The Creative Assembly.
In the first two series, team of four contestants would direct the forces on one side. The teams were unfamiliar with computer games, to make sure their gaming skills did not influence their success. In the 2016 revival, two teams of three controlled opposing factions (for example, one team would play as Carthage and the other as Rome).
After a brief introduction of the battle, including an overview of military units, terrain and available forces, the players had to develop a strategy and then deploy their forces. In the first two series, two of the players were selected as generals, who directed the battle and had access to a strategic map; in the 2016 revival, only one player was selected as the general. The other two players were designated lieutenants in the first two series, and captains in the 2016 revival. The units were indirectly controlled by the lieutenants, who issued commands to programme assistants, who in turn used the game interface to control the units. Troop deployment and battle followed, although in the 2016 series there was a small skirmish conducted as a separate event to acquaint the players with the game mechanics and their units. In the 2016 series the teams also got strategic pauses where they could refine their strategies.
The game engine used was based on the Grand Strategy Game Rome: Total War, the game being released a year later. Rome: Total War designer and writer Mike Brunton said, "Time Commanders did use Rome code pretty much 'as is', with tweaks for different troop types and camera controls". The televised programmes contained no reference to the origin of the software powering the 3D visuals, due to the BBC's rules against product placement; however Rome: Total War makers The Creative Assembly were named in the credits of the show with a specific mention of them providing the game engine (It should also be noted that the game engine made use of Motion Capture fight and action performances provided by Chris Wolff and Ronin Traynor).
...
Wikipedia