Jeremy Paxman fronts the four-part BBC One season opener for the 2014 World War I centenary, arguing that Britain’s view of the conflict has been clouded by a century of hindsight. Each hour-long film tackles a single year of total war: mass enlistment and the first air raids on home soil; the Lusitania sinking and Lloyd George’s mobilisation of women into munitions; U-boat blockades that turned parks into potato plots and introduced rationing; the 1918 German spring offensive beaten back by American reinforcements, leaving Britain with limb-less veterans, widowed mothers holding séances, and a social order up-ended by votes for women and full employment for the poor.
The series, co-produced with the Open University, was watched by between 12% and 17% of the UK audience. Critics split: The Times hailed it “superb” and praised Paxman’s balance between novice and expert viewers, while The Guardian dismissed the narrative as “disconnected” for ignoring Balkan origins and imperial context. Paxman’s on-air branding of conscientious objectors as “cranks” drew protests from the Peace Pledge Union and front-page headlines in the Belfast Telegraph.
An accompanying book, Great Britain’s Great War, extended Paxman’s thesis that the conflict created a more equal and democratic nation, though the television version confined itself to archive footage, faded photographs, and present-day walks through former battlefields and British cities once lit by zeppelin bombs.
Production Details
BBC One / 1 Season / 4 Episodes / 2014
Producer(s): .mw-parser-output .plainlist ol, .mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li
Main Cast
Jeremy Paxman as Self - Presenter
