BBC Northern Ireland marks centenary anniversaries of events of 1916 with specially commissioned content
BBC Northern Ireland will mark the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, The Battle of Jutland and the Battle of the Somme with special programming focusing on this eventful year in our history.
Published: 1 March 2016
Through specially-commissioned documentaries and live programming across television, radio, online and digital, BBC Northern Ireland will reflect the life and times of 1916. The output will feature archive material as well as never-before-published historical documents, witness testimony and artefacts, to tell the stories of major points in history which still resonate here.
Programming across television and radio and online will aim not only to give audiences the opportunity to mark the centenary anniversaries of these seismic events, but also reveal what life was like for ordinary people living here one hundred years ago.
The stories of The Easter Rising, The Battle of Jutland and The Battle of the Somme are told against the wider context of World War One.
Television
BBC Northern Ireland will show a series of specially-commissioned documentaries to mark the centenary anniversaries of The Easter Rising, The Battle of Jutland and The Battle of the Somme. Many of the programmes will tell the stories of the events of 100 years ago through the testimony of the people who lived through it, using authentic documentation from the time. Programmes include two landmark documentaries, Voices 16 and The Enemy Files (which sees Michael Portillo delve into the British chain of command during the Easter Rising) as well as the documentaries Saving HMS Caroline and Heroes Of The Somme.
BBC News NI
As well as telling the stories of the people and events of 1916, BBC News NI will have wide-ranging content across radio, television and online in the lead up to the anniversaries of important events in our local history. There will also be live coverage of the anniversary commemorations of The Easter Rising on 27 March in Dublin, The Battle of Jutland in May and The Battle of the Somme on the 1 July in France and at home.
Radio
BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle will broadcast a range of programming across the year to mark the historic events of 1916. It includes three special series of World War One At Home and the new 137-part series Love Letters From The Front, which dramatises letters between an English soldier and his Irish sweetheart. The station will also cover many centenary events marking 1916 and feature documentaries and special commissions and live programming around the Easter Rising and The Battle of the Somme.
Online
Voices 16 is a landmark multimedia project for 2016 from BBC Northern Ireland. Day by day, BBC Northern Ireland tells the story of a momentous year through the eyes of the people who lived it. These personal accounts will unfold over the coming months on bbc.co.uk/voices16 and on Twitter @BBCVoices16. There will also be a chance to find out more with BBC iWonder guides.
Note to Editors
Further details on upcoming 1916 television documentaries.
Voices 16 features individuals who have appeared in the BBC Voices 16 digital project on twitter and online. These two landmark documentaries explore the events of 1916 through the testimony of the people who lived through it using authentic documentation from the time.
The Enemy Files documentary follows the British chain of command during The Easter Rising. A century on, Michael Portillo tells the story from ‘enemy files’. As he travels from Downing Street to Belfast to Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery, he is surprised by the people he meets along the way and has many of his long-held beliefs questioned and challenged by historians and other contributors.
Eoin Mac Néill - Fear Dearmadta 1916 explores the story of the Ulster Man and former ally of the Irish Republican Brotherhood who became a figure of treachery and shame after the 1916 Easter Rising. Drawing on personal memoirs and previously unpublished photographs and papers the documentary, in the Irish language with English subtitles, opens a window to the thoughts and times during a tumultuous year in British and Irish history.
Faoi Gheall ag Éirinn tells the story of three Ulster born women who made significant contributions to political and cultural life in Ireland. Tyrone poet Alice Milligan, a Protestant woman, was devoted to the cultural expression of nationalism while the Corr sisters, Elizabeth and Nell, from Belfast, were keen observers and supporters of the Easter Rising. This programme is in the Irish language with English subtitles.
Heroes Of The Somme is the story of 10 war heroes, five key days and one iconic battle. The Somme Offensive was one of the bloodiest and most horrific battles in human history. This documentary tells the personal stories of 10 men who won the highest military honour - the Victoria Cross - to reveal why the battle was fought, how it escalated and what was ultimately won and lost.
Saving HMS Caroline follows the restoration of the last surviving vessel of the Battle of Jutland. Father and son team Dick and James Strawbridge present a documentary following the painstaking repair and refurbishment process ahead of her launch to the public for the anniversary of the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
Geldof On Yeats: Bob Geldof reflects on the events of 1916 in Ireland and the impact they had on the works of WB Yeats.
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