Over the course of the 26 episodes it covers the battles, the politics, the economics, the cultural effects and most important - the graft of the men serving both sides as they fight for increasingly fading values.What's particularly impressive is how well it holds up after almost half a decade. The footage used, while repeated at times, gives the viewer a clear guide of the people involved and what's going on while Redgrave delivers his perfectly pitched commentary. It's particularly appreciated that they managed to get some of the civilians and soldiers who actually experienced all of this, to weigh in at certain points for added humanity. Listening to them speak candidly about trench life, or running into barbed wire while having machine guns blazing at them, certainly brings an unquantifiable respect for those who fought, as the horror unfolds on the screen.The only thing I would have liked added to the documentary is an episode covering each country post-war. This would have been a more fitting end to a series that shows, quite clearly, that there were no true victors in 1918.

What a treasure this series is. Before I got The Great War I thought I'd never see an informative, not to mention cinematic, documentary about World War I. This was a war that was hugely influential on the modern world, yet you can learn hardly anything about it in schools or on television. So much is said about World War II, but if there was no first war there's a good chance there would not have been a second. The series contains 26 episodes; each episode lasts for about 40 minutes. That means there's a great deal of footage and information. Episode "on the idle hill of summer..." begins the series. The situation of pre-war Europe is explained in detail and style. Imperial Germany had become a major world power, with perhaps the strongest army in the world and the second largest navy in the world. This caused anxiety and a change in policies by other European powers. It was a time of great innovation. Europeans controlled about 80% of the world through colonialism. It was still the age of steam, yet many inventions that would become very important later were constantly being introduced. The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Slavic nationalist Gavrilo Princip would draw all the European powers and eventually the world into a war that would cause Europe's end as the center of civilization. World War I included great battles. Millions of lives were lost. All this is covered expertly in the series. Interviewees appeared in several episodes.The music for the series was composed by Wilfred Josephs. It was performed by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Hurst. His expressive yet unsentimental score was widely acclaimed at the time, and many have recalled the strong contribution it made to the series. In addition to Joseph's original score, much use was made of some great 20th Century symphonies; Shostakovitch's 11th and Vaughan Williams Sinfonia Antartica, to name two. The narration by Michael Redgrave is excellent. The series, unparalleled at the time for its depth of research, range of source material and historical accuracy - all presented in a sequence of clear narratives - is now considered one of the finest achievements of BBC documentary. The Great War really shows how great a conflict World War I was. It was epic. Following transmission of the series by the Republic of Ireland's national TV station, Telefis Eireann, The Great War won a Jacob's Award at the 1964 presentation ceremony in Dublin. There appear to be two releases as of mid-2007, both in the UK, both Region 2. If you like documentaries then don't miss out on this series. It is now a favourite of mine.

It is easy to exhaust one's stock of superlatives in describing this - now ancient - documentary. Indeed, it is half the age of the war itself. But nothing has ever come as close, either before or since, to such a comprehensive telling of a true story. Back in 1964, when I was a young teenager, this programme utterly gripped my attention. Like the Great War itself, the series seemed to go on for ever, and formed something of a backdrop to my life. I just had to watch - every gripping and frightful episode.There were times when it seemed surreal. At other times it resembled a science-fiction movie into which the Keystone cops had strayed. Quirky little manikin figures strutted and struggles across some alien landscape like a waterlogged moon, stippled with broken and skeletal trees and heaps of bloated horses. There were close-ups with forced smiles composed for a moment, and haggard scowls seamed by such unbelievable suffering that no levity remained to express. By the time of its broadcast, the War To End All Wars, had already assumed a mythical obscurity fought out under conditions that could only be imagined by its largely silent survivors. The rats, the lice, the mud and filth, the smell, the barrages, machine-guns and unremitting slaughter were things only to be experienced. Making breakfast of biscuits and cold water in the company of decaying, disembowelled colleagues, to whom one had been speaking only the night before, and for whom nothing could be done because of the endlessly falling shells, tireless snipers, and ever-busy vermin; these things had no place in official truth or strategic planning.And the narrative by Sir Micheal Redgrave perfectly interpreted the futile despairing failure. Episode after episode, theatre after theatre; his voice described the arrogant self-belief, the foolhardy assumptions and the telephone-number casualties that were their only outcome. The Somme, Ypres, Bapaume, Verdun and many more: names that will forever mean 'suffering'.No other war and no other programme demonstrated the truth that in war; it is war that is the enemy.This programme left an indelible print in my life. Many years later, armed with H Jones's excellent 'The War Walk' I visited the scenes of carnage, often in rain as, perhaps, it should be done. Many of the military places are still there today. Trenches meander through what is now wood and forest. Pill-boxes and gun-emplacements litter the edges of agricultural land. Cemeteries stretch away like fields of white corn. There were places where so much ordnance fell that even today great tracts are fenced-off with danger warnings to discourage the curious. This documentary couldn't be made today. For one thing; the survivors have all gone. In any case it is too good. too well done. The research too detailed and costly. It is not dumbed down with coloured charts or enhanced with computer-generation or 'docu-drama' for the appeal of simpletons raised in a peacetime life of computer games.Incredibly; 'The Daily Mail' issued the whole series for free with its newspaper during a 3-week spree. I have 'em all.Everyone should watch this programme. It's not very nice viewing. It's a tragedy from beginning to end. But it is also a testament to the astonishing endurance of the human will.

Quite simply the definitive documentary on the First World War. 26 40-minute episodes which do as much as any book to encapsulate the 1914-1918 conflict. I'd go so far as to say it surpasses the World at War (which basically copied it!) as THE television documentary. The narration is perfectly pitched, the soundtrack is stunning, and there were enough veterans from all sides to add personal insights into the war. But what I think lifts it above all other Great War programmes (apart from the length) is that it gives airtime to campaigns that simply don't get a look in normally - the Eastern Front and Palestine; there are even lengthy segments on the war at sea with some excellent archive footage. If you've got a day to spare, watch it all in one go: you'll be better for it...