A summer of commemoration, reflection and debate: the anniversary of World War One

Published: 25 June 2014

This summer is the moment to explain and reflect on how the war started and to examine its lasting effects. It’s a time of national commemoration as we remember those who died and so the BBC will be there to share events and unite people in their acts of memorial.
— Adrian Van Klaveren, Controller, World War One Centenary

One hundred years on, the BBC will tell the story of this defining moment of the last century and chart the world’s journey to war, exploring the causes of the conflict, its lasting global impact and commemorating the millions fallen.

On 28 June 2014 Professor Margaret MacMillan starts her landmark Radio 4 series 1914: Day By Day, a daily bulletin chronicling the road to war, piecing together sources from that day in history, giving a picture of the world from the perspective of the people as they lived it; Radio 3’s Live In Concert will be in Sarajevo joining broadcasters across Europe for an historic event as the Vienna Philharmonic joins forces with the Opera Choir of the National Theatre of Sarajevo for music from France, Germany and Austria in a tribute to peace and international friendship; and, the BBC’s News team will report on the day as if it was 1914 combining modern news formats with historical archived content in a live blog at bbc.co.uk/ww1.

1914 Live will allow audiences to experience and relive the events of 100 years ago as breaking news in real time, today with commentary and contributions from a host of BBC News' leading correspondents - including Frank Gardner, Allan Little and Bridget Kendall.

Six weeks later, Britain finally declared war on Germany at 11pm on 4 August 1914. A century on, a series of live events will mark the occasion and remember those who died. Huw Edwards will anchor the BBC’s extensive coverage of national events throughout the day with Sophie Raworth presenting coverage from near Mons, Belgium across BBC’s One, Two and the BBC News Channel. The day starts with a Service of Commemoration for the Commonwealth in Glasgow which will be attended by HRH The Duke of Rothesay (as the Prince of Wales is known in Scotland). The service will pay tribute to those from the many Commonwealth Countries who fought in The First World War. Coverage will then move to Belgium for a Service of Remembrance at the Commonwealth War Commission St Symphorien Military Cemetery in Mons where TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be joined by HRH Prince Henry of Wales. The day will end at Westminster Abbey where the Duchess of Cornwall will join the Vigil of Prayer service and the national moment of remembrance.

The events of 4 August will also receive extensive coverage across the BBC’s Radio networks. BBC Radio Four will broadcast from Glasgow and feature an extended World Tonight, Radio 5 Live will have coverage throughout the day and BBC News Online will also ensure that readers across the nation feel part of the commemoration events.

Adrian Van Klaveren, Controller, World War One Centenary, says: “This summer is the moment to explain and reflect on how the war started and to examine its lasting effects. It’s a time of national commemoration as we remember those who died and so the BBC will be there to share events and unite people in their acts of memorial. The BBC will harness its resources from across TV, radio and our digital outlets to bring the stories of the war alive and help people today reach a greater understanding of the catastrophic events a century ago.”

In the weeks before 4 August the BBC will mark the anniversary with a summer of programming across TV, radio and digital platforms as well as hosting a series of live events.

BBC Radio 3 presents two weeks of programming telling the story of World War One through the music of the time, dedicating much of its schedule to exploring war-time composers and musicians from Britain, Europe and across the globe. The Music In The Great War season explores how a rich variety of music powerfully expressed the nationalism, pride, escapism, nostalgia, camaraderie, entertainment, grief and loss of a society at total war. Highlights include an in-depth focus on poet and composer Ivor Gurney and a series of Essays entitled Minds At War.

Alongside 1914: Day By Day, BBC Radio 4 will also broadcast companion pieces from Christopher Clark in Month Of Madness and Peter Hennessy’s How Britain Went To War before Home Front, the network’s landmark drama gets underway. One of Radio 4’s biggest ever drama commissions, Home Front tracks the fortunes of a group of characters as they try to maintain normality while a fast-changing Britain is at war. Seen initially through the lens of Folkestone, the Kent port through which the British Empire’s troops passed on their way to fight on the Western Front, Home Front will run for four years, with more than 25 hours of drama each year.

BBC Radio 2 also gets to grips with the onset of war as Jeremy Vine’s Real Time World War One travels back in time to experience the war as it happened with historical re-enactments, discussions and music from the time. While on BBC Radio 1, DJ Greg James presents three documentaries that explore parallels between the experiences of those who fought in 1914-18 and present day conflicts.

BBC Television focuses on the scope of the impact of war beyond the Western Front in documentary and factual drama. On BBC Two, David Olusoga looks at the conflict from a global perspective telling the stories of those Indian, African and Asian troops and ancillaries who fought and dies alongside Europeans in The World’s War. Kate Adie explores the roles that women played in the war and the subsequent changes to society as women became part of the war machine, acquiring their own rights and independent incomes in Kate Adie’s Women Of World War One. Historian David Reynolds looks at the legacy of the Great War in The Long Shadow. He traces how the conflict haunted the generation who lived through it and how it shaped the peace that followed.

Inspired by the BAFTA Award-winning series Our War, which tracked the first-hand experiences of British troops on the frontline in Afghanistan, BBC Three’s Our World War immerses viewers in the real stories of British troops serving on the frontline during World War One bringing the conflict to life in a bold, new way. BBC Two’s Great War Diary unites 25 broadcasters from around the world in a bold new dramatic interpretation of the war. Inspired by letters and journals written at the time it follows the individual stories of 13 characters whose writings are woven into one compelling story.

Elsewhere, there is drama, documentary and music from the BBC Children’s teams including Gareth Malone’s return to CBBC for a new anniversary series of Big Performance. For music lovers the BBC Proms will mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, reflecting on the music, musicians and musical legacy of the Great War. The festival will feature works by composers who lost their lives in the trenches and by others who were inspired years after the conflict including the late John Tavener whose BBC commission, Requiem Fragments, will be given its world premiere in a Late Night Prom on 4 August as part of 14-18 NOW, WW1 Centenary Art Commissions. And family activities will be held throughout the summer across the country with World War One At Home Live.

Online BBC iWonder guides – curated by experts and a range of BBC talent - continue to explore different perspectives of the First World War. Using original video and content the iWonder guides challenge common preconceptions about the conflict and enable people to interact with particular topics that are of interest them. Joining the line-up of existing iWonder guides by the likes of Gareth Malone, Dan Snow, Kate Adie, Matt Baker and many others, the new iWonder guides feature the BBC’s Health Editor Hugh Pym, who tells the compelling story of his grandfather, Tony Pym, a Chaplin on the front line and John Rhys-Davies, who explores how The Lord Of The Rings was inspired by World War One.

Full details of the summer of commemoration are available here

AT/EF