BBC to mark 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme with a series of programmes on 30 June and 1 July

As part of the BBC’s World War One Season, the BBC will broadcast a series of live programmes to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

Published: 17 June 2016
For just under five months, a brutal battle of attrition raged culminating in over a million men killed or wounded. We come together, exactly 100 years on, to remember and pay tribute to all those who lost their lives.
— Phil Dolling, Head of BBC Events

Presented by Huw Edwards in Thiepval, France, and Kirsty Young in Westminster Abbey, London, The Centenary Of The Battle Of The Somme: The Vigil will be broadcast live from 7.30pm to 9.30pm on Thursday 30 June on BBC Two. One hundred years on from the eve of the battle, commemorations will begin at Westminster Abbey where Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will lead the Nation’s remembrance at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.

Immediately after, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and HRH Prince Henry of Wales will attend a vigil service at The Thiepval Memorial in France - The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Memorial to the Missing. The memorial bears the names of more than 72,000 men who died on the Somme and have no known grave.

Vigils will be held through the night in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as communities across the nation come together to remember all those lost at the Somme:

  • The Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle
  • Clandeboye and Helen’s Tower, County Down, Northern Ireland
  • The Welsh National War Memorial, Cardiff

At 7.30am on 1 July 1916, whistles were blown up and down the British front line and thousands of men climbed from their trenches into no man’s land; it was the first day of the Battle of the Somme. To mark this moment, Huw Edwards in Thiepval and Kirsty Young in Westminster Abbey present The Centenary of the Battle of the Somme: Zero Hour, a special live broadcast from on Friday 1 July on BBC One. The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery will fire their guns on Parliament Square and two minutes silence will be observed. BBC Radio stations will also observe the two minutes silence.

Coverage continues later that morning live on BBC One from 9.15am to 12.15pm with The Centenary of the Battle of the Somme: Thiepval. TRH The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and HRH Prince Henry of Wales will join Heads of State and 10,000 spectators. Guests include members of the public (UK, French, Irish), military personnel and British and French school children. The commemoration will reflect the story of the whole battle, from its first day on 1 July to its conclusion on 18 November 1916 and remember the one million men killed or wounded on both sides.

Huw Edwards presents The Centenary of the Battle of the Somme (11pm - 12.30am, Friday 1 July BBC Two), edited highlights of the day’s moving Somme Centenary commemorations including the National Commemorative Service at Manchester Cathedral.

Phil Dolling, Head of BBC Events says: “The Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest of World War One and has come to symbolise the horror of warfare. For just under five months a brutal battle of attrition raged culminating in over a million men killed or wounded. We come together, exactly one hundred years on, to remember and pay tribute to all those who lost their lives.”

Notes to Editors

  • On Thursday 30 June, BBC News will be simulcasting The National Vigil from Westminster Abbey at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior and the Thiepval Military Vigil.
  • On Friday 1 July, BBC News will simulcast highlights from the Service of Remembrance at the Lochnagar Crater at La Boisselle followed by the Somme moment of Remembrance marked by short service in Westminster Abbey. Also being simulcast: the National commemorative event held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Thiepval Memorial in Northern France.
  • BBC News will provide live coverage of the Manchester Cathedral National Commemorative Service, and highlights of the Manchester Evening Concert at Heaton Park.
  • A BBC live page will bring together all of the BBC’s coverage of the Somme centenary commemorations happening on 1 July. The aim is to showcase the BBC’s content, partner activity and audience contributions from social media. The page will sit in News online and will feature contributions from – or profiles of – Somme centenary content from many areas across the organisation. The live page is made up of three key areas: live programme coverage, highlight clips of that coverage and live updates from news and social media.
  • Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4 (Today), Radio 4 Extra, 5Live, 6 Music and Asian Network will be broadcasting the whistling when it happens live and the two minutes silence.
  • The BBC Performing Groups will mark the centenary across the UK on 1 July with concerts from the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales at BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff (live on BBC Radio 3 at 19.30), the BBC Philharmonic at the University of Salford’s Maxwell Hall, the BBC Singers at St Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge (live on BBC Radio 3 at 2pm), and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under its Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo will play a key part in the ceremony taking place at the Thiepval Memorial. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales concert forms part of a season of programmes from BBC Wales, marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, across television, radio and online, in English and Welsh.
  • Children from secondary schools across the UK will get the chance to contribute to a Somme-inspired poem written in real time during a BBC Live Lesson. Award-winning poet Paul Farley will lead the writing activity at 11am on 30 June. The 50-minute programme, led by BBC Learning in partnership with BBC Events, will also feature live reports from historian and presenter Dan Snow, from Thiepval in France, ahead of the Battle of the Somme Centenary event. The programme will be hosted by Ricky Boleto from CBBC Newsround and Lucy Siegle from The One Show and features War Horse actor Lee Armstrong. Pupils will learn about World War One through the work of poets Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. At the end of the lesson, they will be encouraged to reflect on what they have learned during a 60 seconds silence. Words and phrases they write will be fed into the final poem. Schools are encouraged to watch the live stream via the Live Lessons website and interact in real time via email [email protected] and social media #bbclivelessons.
  • Newsround is marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme with a series of special reports, live broadcasts from the battlefields of Northern France, and a specially-commissioned animation of the story of a 12 year-old boy - the youngest British soldier to fight on the Somme, voiced by his 86 year-old son. The special reports include the story of Hearts Midlothian - the football team at the top of the Scottish league who went to war together; a focus on the Indian regiments; the forgotten heroes of WW1, as well as joining children as they make their own personal pilgrimages to pay tribute to local soldiers who risks their lives in the bloodiest battle of World War One. The programme will be broadcasting live from the Somme in the run up to 1 July and on the day itself at Thiepval Memorial to the Missing.
  • On 1 July, BBC Radio Scotland will track the fortunes of Scottish troops on the first day of the Somme, with features that will run throughout the station’s programming, beginning on Good Morning Scotland and ending on Newsdrive. Specially commissioned poetry and insight from military historians will also feature. BBC Scotland will also cover the stories of Scottish soldiers in the Somme in the World War One at Home series.
  • In Northern Ireland, BBC News NI will provide extensive coverage of the remembrance services for the Battle of the Somme both in Northern Ireland and from Thiepval in France with live broadcasts and content across TV, Radio and Online on 1 July. The Arts Show will feature a special report commemorating the Battle of the Somme at 9pm on Friday 1 July on BBC Two Northern Ireland.
  • In March 2016 the BBC announced a variety of programming and information across television, radio and online focused on the major battles of 1916. Full details of all programming can be found here 

The Somme Commemoration programmes on 30 June and 1 July will be produced by BBC Events.
Producer: Rosheen Archer
Executive Producer: Claire Popplewell
Commissioner is Martin Davidson, BBC Head of Specialist Factual.

YL

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