Summary
20th Century Battlefields 9pm, BBC2 We blame Harry Potter. Peter Snow's chief prop for this new series examining the key battlefields of recent-ish history looks not unlike a portable wallpaper-pasting table, but it has magic powers. When unfolded by the King of the Swingometers, maps and graphics emerge and show us how the week's chosen military skirmish actually took place even including tiny computer-generated soldiers. Peter and son Dan (together, right) take their Battlefield Britain format
Peter explains strategy, Dan pretends to be a soldier into the wider world, kicking off with the 1918 Battle of Amiens, which significantly altered the line of the Western Front. There's no denying the passion of the Snows. Father and son are super-keen to tell us all about the war, using a combination of statistics and Boys' Own language ("some of the German positions were blasted away by the tank's six-pound guns; the rest were crushed under its tracks," Dan enthuses). Their close-up-to-camera zeal, tonight delivered while walking around the former battlefields of northern France, is underpinned by words from the contemporary diaries of soldiers.See the full content of this document
Extract
Pick of the Night: Imogen Ridgway
Thankfully, though, tonight's episode does not venture into the va...
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