Norrette Posted 4 November , 2014 Share Posted 4 November , 2014 In a way it's an anti-war film done on a budget. I'm glad it's on and I would have moaned if nothing about WWI was broadcast. Like Broomers I thought the Beeb's Richard II was superb...but historically accurate? Who cares? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 4 November , 2014 Share Posted 4 November , 2014 I missed the start of last night's first episode so immediately after it finished on the box I watched it - I thought - on BBC IPlayer, not something I've used before. Then I made comments in post 15, which may have been more puzzling than mine usually are to some of you. And I couldn't relate to some other comments here. Tonight I tuned in on time for Episode 2 and had a distinct feeling of deja vu, as I'd seen the attack in primitive gas masks, the fighting between the Germans and Russians and the truce to retrieve casualties last night. After the programme was over, I checked with BBC IPlayer where episode one was different to the one I'd watched last night, featuring jubilation with the declaration of war, joining up and so on. I'm assuming that there was a cock-up and Episode 2 was shown on IPlayer by mistake last night. This morning Tom-on-the-Somme also referred to a " 'ceasefire to tend to the wounded'", so I'm guessing he too watched it on IPlayer? Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norrette Posted 4 November , 2014 Share Posted 4 November , 2014 Ah...so that explains my confusion at the dates on the above posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarchetta Posted 4 November , 2014 Share Posted 4 November , 2014 And mine - thought I must have dozed off during the gas attack and ceasefire bits in last night's episode!!! Thought tonight's was worse than the last one, to be honest - started to wonder whether this was written by a certain Mr Morpurgo... Sadly will be with a certain Mr Hart tomorrow night, so will miss the next episode. Ah well, can't be helped. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart150 Posted 4 November , 2014 Share Posted 4 November , 2014 Episode 2, set in 1915, included a scene where a truce was agreed and soldiers, BOTH English and German, mingled together collecting wounded, BOTH English and German, from no-man’s land. I have heard of truces where one side allowed the other side to collect its wounded - on the first day of the Somme, for example - but in this scene men of BOTH sides mingled together to collect their wounded. I don’t think it is curmudgeonly to ask politely whether such a thing ever happened, and, if it did, how frequently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 4 November , 2014 Share Posted 4 November , 2014 I may have been mistaken but did I see the German 630 Regiment fighting on both the Eastern and Western Fronts in tonights episode? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick63 Posted 4 November , 2014 Share Posted 4 November , 2014 I don`t think you were mistaken, the young German lad was in 630, had a bit of a tussle with some Russians, went on leave, then got posted to the Western front....all in the blink of an eyelid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 4 November , 2014 Share Posted 4 November , 2014 I think I saw a soldier wearing 630 on the WF before that though i.e. whilst the German lad was fighting the Russians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 I think I saw a soldier wearing 630 on the WF before that though i.e. whilst the German lad was fighting the Russians. Your eyes didn't deceive you - same regiment apparently managing to be in two quite different places at the exact same time, quite a feat! An error that some differently numbered helmet covers and epaulettes for the extras would have easily solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil andrade Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 Episode 2, set in 1915, included a scene where a truce was agreed and soldiers, BOTH English and German, mingled together collecting wounded, BOTH English and German, from no-mans land. I have heard of truces where one side allowed the other side to collect its wounded - on the first day of the Somme, for example - but in this scene men of BOTH sides mingled together to collect their wounded. I dont think it is curmudgeonly to ask politely whether such a thing ever happened, and, if it did, how frequently. You're right, of course : this was artistic licence. To be fair to the writer - Tony Jordan - he did admit when interviewed on Breakfast TV that this scene was based on the famous episode that had occurred at Gallipoli. He also suggested that there would be innaccuracies that might upset people like us. He implied - I think - that he set out to engage the emotions rather than the intellect.All in all, very much more in the tradition of Michael Morpurgo than Ian Hislop. The timing of broadcast - a couple of hours before the nine o'clock watershed - indicates the pitch at young audiences. I, too, was initially aghast at the enormity of the inaccuracies. But then I reconciled myself to the intent of the drama, which conveys the necessary emotional impact and will, I hope, encourage children to study the war. I thought the depiction of the mothers' distress and outrage at the departure of their sons was one of the strongpoints of the drama. Phil (PJA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripeyman Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 It may be set 100 years ago but it is very much 21st Century in acting and dialogue also the snow keeps ascending. Some may like it but It is not how I see or understand the Great War whatsoever. I give it 3 out of 10 if I was generous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEUZEWOOD Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 This morning Tom-on-the-Somme also referred to a " 'ceasefire to tend to the wounded'", so I'm guessing he too watched it on IPlayer? Indeed I did, and had no idea I was watching Episode 2. Possibly irrelevant as I am not sure I will be watching any more. I am usually very patient with all dramas relating to the Great War, but this one failed to connect on many levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 SWT managed to delay my train enough to ensure I missed last night's offering. Tonight I will be at work until at least 8.00 pm, so there's no point me bothering now. I'm obviously upset: I need the sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Maria Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 Having it in half hour segments doesn't help but so far I would put it in the same league as the B.B.C's other offering ' Our World War', but unlike that series I may have enough perseverance to watch the third instalment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis1918 Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 Continuity department seem to be failing in their tasks apart from German regiment "630" helmets appearing on both fronts. When the British character returned to the trenches and his comrades playfully removed his kit his great coat epaulettes were left undone. When the alarm was raised he emerged from the dug out all buttoned up . And I'm surprised at some of the facial expressions as they fire . Weren't they warned it would make a loud bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron da Valli Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 When the German lad bayoneted the Russian soldier his bayonet disappeared! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 5 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 5 November , 2014 Episode 2, set in 1915, included a scene where a truce was agreed and soldiers, BOTH English and German, mingled together collecting wounded, BOTH English and German, from no-man’s land. I have heard of truces where one side allowed the other side to collect its wounded - on the first day of the Somme, for example - but in this scene men of BOTH sides mingled together to collect their wounded. I don’t think it is curmudgeonly to ask politely whether such a thing ever happened, and, if it did, how frequently. A letter home of 20th December '14 to his mother from Lt Geoffrey Heinkey 2nd Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), cited in the Christmas Truce by Malcolm Brown & Shirley Seaton (Pan Grand Strategy Series, ISBN 0-330-39065-1) as a forerunner to the WF Christmas truces indicates that it did happen, giving: The next morning a most extraordinary thing happened - I should think quite one of the most curious things in the war. Some Germans came out and held up their hands and began to take in some of our wounded and so we ourselves immediately got out of the trenches and began bringing in our wounded also. The Germans then beckoned to us and a lot of us went over and talked to them and they helped us to bury our dead. This lasted the whole morning and I talked to several of them and I must say they seemed extraordinarily fine men... I seemed too ironical for words. There, the night before we had been having a terrific battle and the morning after, there we were smoking their cigarettes and they smoking ours. A little later the authors make the comment: ...In fact, these chivalrous acts were well within the rules of war Armistices, properly agreed, for the burial of the dead had long been part of the accepted military code. What makes the events of 19 December 1914 particularly notable is that they occurred in a conflict marked by so much structured animosity and mistrust... Comment is also made that during such armistice recovery operations there was the risk of being shot, not by the opposing side, but by your own, with examples given of a Lt from the South Staffs Regiment & a private from the Queens being killed by soldiers of the next regiments in line. Similarly, examples of prisoners being taken from the stretcher teams during such truces are also given. NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAW Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 A very emotional series - it hits the right spot and allows us to empathise. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRANVILLE Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 A letter home of 20th December '14 to his mother from Lt Geoffrey Heinkey 2nd Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), cited in the Christmas Truce by Malcolm Brown & Shirley Seaton (Pan Grand Strategy Series, ISBN 0-330-39065-1) as a forerunner to the WF Christmas truces indicates that it did happen, giving: The next morning a most extraordinary thing happened - I should think quite one of the most curious things in the war. Some Germans came out and held up their hands and began to take in some of our wounded and so we ourselves immediately got out of the trenches and began bringing in our wounded also. The Germans then beckoned to us and a lot of us went over and talked to them and they helped us to bury our dead. This lasted the whole morning and I talked to several of them and I must say they seemed extraordinarily fine men... I seemed too ironical for words. There, the night before we had been having a terrific battle and the morning after, there we were smoking their cigarettes and they smoking ours. A little later the authors make the comment: ...In fact, these chivalrous acts were well within the rules of war Armistices, properly agreed, for the burial of the dead had long been part of the accepted military code. What makes the events of 19 December 1914 particularly notable is that they occurred in a conflict marked by so much structured animosity and mistrust... Comment is also made that during such armistice recovery operations there was the risk of being shot, not by the opposing side, but by your own, with examples given of a Lt from the South Staffs Regiment & a private from the Queens being killed by soldiers of the next regiments in line. Similarly, examples of prisoners being taken from the stretcher teams during such truces are also given. NigelS A timely use of contemporaneous material which might enable one or two to put down their magnifying glasses of criticism and lighten up a little. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 My comment in Post 15, "Was the mutual co-operation in retrieving casualties over-dramatised?", was made out of curiosity, not criticism. But I tend to agree with the "magnifying glasses" comment. Spotting anomalies and mistakes is almost a national sport nowadays, encouraged by the Web enabling anyone to chip in and perhaps by "Downton Abbey". Most of the entries for individual films listed on IMDB have a Goof section, which includes quite a few observations that themselves are goofs. I have glanced at the BBC3 series, "Great Movie Mistakes", a programme not helped by its sniggering presenter, and most of the mistakes were so trivial as to be unworthy of mention - and were sometimes difficult to discern, even in slow-motion. I don't see any harm in mistakes being noted, but most of them don't deserve the derision and harshness they sometimes attract. (But when actors portraying British soldiers pronounce "lieutenant" as "lootenant", I am inclined to snarl.) Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 Well for easy viewing it's ok but has every stereotype view going. Also humble private is wounded and gets his own bed in a tent and personal nurse whom he subsequently beds before quickly returning to his battalion. Not brilliant but for the 1900 hrs spot to keep viewers happy it's ok and I guess never meant to be a documentary. TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillgorilla Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 My son watched it this evening, didn't take his eyes off it, apart from the swear word that crept in. Interesting watch and good to see something that incldes the other side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRANVILLE Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 Continues to remain exceptional in my personal opinion. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Feledziak Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 I have watched all three episodes so far.. granted there are many, many, many "Wrong Bits" My overall view is, well done BBC. !!! I have been a member of this forum for the last 12 months and have read some epic threads. I have been able to take some great leads to help me with my family history. I think this series is excellent and I would challenge any person to put "The Great War" over in 5 30 minutes TV slots. broadcast at 7pm of an evening. Speilberg, Cameron and those types may do a better job but would charge you many Millions !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil andrade Posted 5 November , 2014 Share Posted 5 November , 2014 When it was on TV this evening I could not help blurting out " My God ! This is so sanitised ! ". I said to the missus...." Look ! They're all lying dead as if they're asleep ! No blood, no guts, no brains, no writhing shrieking men begging for help, or to be put out of their misery...it just doesn't work !" To which she replied " It's for kids, you fool, and I think it works." Phil (PJA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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