The Great War (1964)

The first series to put First World War veterans in front of a television camera, after a public appeal in the national press brought them forward, and their testimony is the reason to watch it now. The 26 episodes ran on the BBC in 1964, with Michael Redgrave narrating and historians including John Terraine and Correlli Barnett behind the scripts. Long stretches of silent footage and an unhurried rhythm belong to their era, so it works best a couple of episodes at a time. For the voices of men who were there, nothing else comes close.