Edinburgh University Press, October 2009. 200 pages, 21 black & white illustrations.
Ms Hanna studied for a PhD at the University of Kent and is now a Lecturer in History at the University of Greenwich, London.
In this fascinating book of seven chapters, Ms Hanna examines the portrayal of the Great War on British TV from the BBC series in 1964 (The Great War) up until 2004 when Channel 4 showed The Somme, including drama and comedy including the Monocled Mutineer (BBC 1986) and Blackadder Goes Forth (BBC 1989).
In her chapter devoted to the BBC's The Great War, she discusses the influence of the two producers, Tony Essex and Gordon Watkins. Essex and Watkins had worked together as producers with the BBC's Tonight programme. Essex supervised the film clips and Watkins supervised the scripts, which were written by John Terraine and Correlli Barnett. Terraine and Barnett were joined by other professionals but one, Basil Liddell Hart, resigned from the series in September 1964 as his comments on the scripts on the Somme and Third Ypres had been disregarded. Ms Hanna goes on to discuss the choice of images, music and poetry as well as the decision to use revisionist historians and not to use a professional historian presenter like AJP Taylor. Finally she places The Great War as an influence of subsequent television programmes up to the twenty first century.
Ms Hanna also examines the nature of the survivors and their personal testimony. She contrasts the use of several hundred veterans who were interviewed for The Great War with the selective interviews for programmes like Lions Led by Donkeys (Channel 4, 1985) and Haig: The Unknown Soldier (BBC, 1996). As the number of survivors dwindled so their words appeared to become more important. Producers of programmes like The Trench (BBC, 2002) and The Last Tommy (BBC, 2005) wanted approval from veterans as part of their production.
In her chapter entitled 'Heroes and Villains', Ms Hanna assesses the merits of the programmes produced in the late 1990s for the eightieth anniversary commemorations. Haig: The Unknown Soldier offered a more balanced view of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig than the earlier condemnatory Battle of the Somme (BBC, 1976) and Lions Lead by Donkeys. But to little avail, apparently. The programme was received by a press and public brought up on Blackadder, and Haig was once again condemned as 'an inept and stubborn commander' so they could not accept the counter-argument.
Ms Hanna looks at two further programmes World War One in Colour (Channel Five, 2003) in which no attempt at a balanced programme was attempted and the war was measured by the ground gained in each battle with the number of British lives lost; and The First World War (Channel 4, 2003) in which the popular image of the BEF as 'lions led by donkeys' is confronted. The First World War did present a more balanced and realistic view of the problems faced by the High Command and in Ms Hanna's view reflected current scholarship which contends that 'Haig was far from the technophobe and old-fashioned cavalryman he has been painted by some.'
Ms Hanna finishes her chapter on 'Heroes and Villains' with a survey of lesser known programmes: The Crucified Soldier (Channel 4, 2002) in which the so-called crucified soldier, a Canadian sergeant killed in 1915, is identified and the incident resurrected from rumour and myth; Shot at Dawn (Carlton, 1998) which was produced as part of the campaign in the 1990s to pardon the victims of military executions (Shot at Dawn makes no attempt at a balanced argument and the tirades against Haig go unanswered); Walter Tull: Forgotten Hero (BBC, 2008) in which the actor Nick Bailey investigated the history of the British Army's first black officer; and Not Forgotten: The Men Who Wouldn't Fight (BBC, 2008) presented by Ian Hislop in which he examined the history of conscientious objectors.
In her chapter entitled 'Drama, Comedy and Drama Documentary', Ms Hanna looks at the furore produced by the showing of The Monocled Mutineer (BBC, 1986). She clearly outlines the issues: the writer (Alan Bleasdale) claimed it was only a fictional drama; the advertising agency taken on by the BBC in an attempt to get more of a fair hearing called it 'an enthralling true life story'; and many military history experts of the Great War (including Julian Putkowski) concurred that neither the book it was taken from nor the series was historically accurate. She finds that the BBC TV's managing director only made matters worse when he claimed that the series dealt with 'the greater truth' about the First World War!
Ms Hanna looks at the popular series Upstairs, Downstairs (Series 4 - LWT, 1974) in which all attitudes to the war are reflected by members of the Bellamy family (whose master Richard Bellamy is a Liberal MP) and their servants. The programme did not shy away from problem areas, not only was patriotic enthusiasm showed but also the refugee problem, the prejudice and violence committed against 'aliens', and shell-shock in the form of the effects of the war on the footman, Edward. Each of these is discussed in turn with reference to the participating actors.
The little known The Unknown Soldier (Carlton, 1998) is placed in perspective as stories set in the Great War reflected a cultural-historical shift in fiction: retelling stories set during the war were becaming popular in the 1990s.
Ms Hanna also surveys the drama documentary The Somme (Channel 4, 2005) which she sees as a 'good example of new approaches to making documentaries about the First World War'. Finally she surveys Blackadder Goes Forth (BBC, 1989). All views on his popular series are included, reminiscences of the actors, reviewers' comments. It is difficult to appear to be impartial about this series which has entered the public's conscience as part truth, but Ms Hanna makes a valiant attempt.
Finally, in her chapter 'Over the Top: Reality Experiential Television', Ms Hanna looks at the series The Trench (BBC, 2002) which proved to be highly controversial. This programme was part drama and part documentary; the drama was provided by the volunteers who each represented a real-life soldier and the events which happened to them. The (major) documentary element concentrated on archive footage and interviews with veterans. She surveys not only the viewers' reception of the programme but also the criticism from historians and the press in an excellent far-reaching conclusion to modern television's (and its viewers') appetite for the drama documentary mixing fact with near fiction.
All in all an excellent book, well recommended to anyone who can remember one of more of the television series mentioned here.
Reviewed by: Peter J Palmer
