David Farnor | On 01, Nov 2018

Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old will air exclusively on BBC Two thus Remembrance Sunday.

The First World War archive feature film, commissioned by 14-18 NOW and Imperial War Museums in association with the BBC, aims to bring to life the realities of the First World War for a whole new generation. Created with original footage from Imperial War Museums’ film archive and audio from BBC archives, They Shall Not Grow Old uses the voices of the veterans combined with original archival footage to bring to life the reality of the front line. Footage has been colourised, converted to 3D and transformed with modern production techniques to present never before seen detail.

Created to mark the centenary of the First World War Armistice, the internationally renowned director Peter Jackson (The Hobbit, The Lord Of The Rings) combined his personal fascination with the period and his Academy Award-winning directorial skills to bring the First World War to life in a way never seen before.

Jackson says: “I wanted to reach through the fog of time and pull these men into the modern world, so they can regain their humanity once more – rather than be seen only as Charlie Chaplin-type figures in the vintage archive film. By using our computing power to erase the technical limitations of 100 year-old cinema, we can see and hear the Great War as they experienced it.”

Tom McDonald, BBC Commissioner, adds: “It’s a great honour to broadcast Peter Jackson’s extraordinary film, which brings the realities of World War One vividly to life.”

After its world premiere at the London Film Festival, the movie will be broadcast on Sunday 11th November at 9.30pm, as part of the BBC’s commemorative coverage around the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day. Complementing the broadcast, a special behind-the-scenes 30-minute documentary under the What Do Artists Do All Day? strand will be broadcast on Monday 12th November at 7.30pm on BBC Four.

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