Battlefield
Written by	Dave Flitton
Directed by	Dave Flitton
Theme music composer	David Galbraith
Country of origin	UK
Original language	British English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	42
Production
Producers	Andy Aitken, Justin McCarthy
Production location	Edinburgh, Scotland
Running time	100 minutes
Production company	Lamancha Productions
Original release
Network	PBS
Release	1994 (1994) – 2002 (2002)

Battlefield is a British-produced series by Lamancha Productions in Edinburgh, UK, which first debuted on the American PBS channel in 1994. The series explored battles fought during the Second World War and the Vietnam War. The series employed a novel approach in which history is described by detailed accounts of major battles together with background and contextual information.^[1] The sixth and final series of the program was broadcast in 2002.

Production

The show describes the events preceding the featured battle as well as details about its aftermath. The show also goes in-depth to explain the political and military situation leading up to each battle, details about relevant weapons and tactics, analysis of the battle's cause, and its context in the war as a whole while using informative maps and graphical depictions of the relative strength of the respective forces and their movements during the battle in question.

The series provides a comprehensive narrative of each battle and is narrated by Tim Pigott-Smith. Visually, the show makes use of archive footage and 3D graphics. Rare colour footage specific to each battle is often included.

Each episode runs for approximately 100 minutes and is divided into segments. A typical sequence of an episode is as follows

• Episode Title (Overview)
• Prelude to Battle
• The Leaders
• Strategy for Offense
• Strategy for Defense
• The Commanders
• The Opposing Forces
• Weapons
• The Men
• The Eve of Battle
• The Battle: Order of Battle and several Phases
• The Battle Won
• After the Battle

The series was produced by Lamancha Productions in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Episodes

Broadcast history

The Battlefield series was originally aired on PBS Television (USA). The Military Channel showed a shortened version of the series. Major networks still showing documentaries from the 'Battlefield' series include Discovery Networks Europe (UK) and PBS (USA).

Home video release

Battlefield series one VHS set.

Reception

For Battlefield Season 3 - Vietnam:

'I have never seen a sustained narrative about the Vietnam War that captures the subtle nuances of it in such clear and simple language. Superb treatment.' - Dr. Robert Goldich, National Security Specialist, US Library of Congress.

'Every department of politics or modern history should invest in this set, and use it.' - Journal of Strategic Studies.

References

External links

• Episode list at SideReel
• Battlefield (TV Series) at IMDb