Anova Books imprint Conway has acquired the official tie-in to forthcoming BBC series “Dig WWII” fronted by historian Dan Snow.
Publisher John Lee acquired world rights through agent Luigi Bonomi on behalf of documentary makers 360 Production.
The book and series will focus on the new discipline of military archaology, investigating little-known stories from the Second World War through excavations and dives. The historians uncover the remains of a crashed Spitfire in a Somerset graveyard, dive to a sunken U-boat and British Armed Merchant Ship in the North Sea, and explore German D-Day tunnels and bunkers off Juno Beach.
Lee said: “We are very excited to be teaming up with experienced history documentary makers 360 Production, who previously filmed ‘Dig 1940’ for BBC1. That series was popularly received, achieving ratings of nearly 5 million viewers for the opening episode. I’m also delighted to be working on another project involving Dan Snow, who is the perfect presenter for such an innovative hands-on approach to military history.”
Military and naval historian Jean Hood will write the book, which will be published in March next year priced £20. The series is lined up for spring 2012.
Battle Castle brings to life mighty medieval fortifications and the epic sieges they resist: clashes that defy the limits of military technology, turn empires to dust, and transform mortals into legends.
GALLANT French postman Laurent Viton – who last year masterminded a Normandy memorial to a Lancaster bomber crew which included Flight Sergeant Derek Flitton of Luton – has been helping with a new BBC series to be presented by Dan Snow.
DIG WW2 is a three-part series to be screened next year.
Laurent, who has made it his life’s mission to list all the Allied planes downed in his area, was approached by the show’s researchers.
He said: “They were looking for an interesting WW2 aviation dig.
“I directed them to two crash sites and with their powerful detectors they were able to pinpoint both in a few minutes.†They chose the site where Canadian pilot Harold ‘Fred’ Heninger had gone down.
Dan’s written a blog for the BBC History Magazine website on putting together National Treasures Live.
Can history compete at prime time on Britain’s biggest channel? That was the challenge I was set by the BBC’s top brass. Me and a crack team of producers and researchers were told to come up with a history series that would bring popular history to the heart of BBC One.
We were given five slots, at 7.30pm – and we would be broadcasting live to the nation’s living rooms. The team assembled and the lengthy, intense and often amusing discussions began. Click to continue »
From here: Wednesday 7 September
7.30-8.00pm BBC ONE
Ep 5/5
Broadcast live from Wrexham, Dan Snow and Sian Williams present the final programme in the series. The team are at Erddig Hall, a stately home, where they explore the extraordinary relationship that existed between the servants and masters of the house.
Unable to conceal the servants due to the thin structure of the house, the masters instead embraced them, celebrating their lives in elaborate portraiture which remains on display to this day.
Once again, a team of reporters and the nation’s favourite celebrities reveal some of the country’s most mysterious, surprising and compelling stories. Tonight, Sheila Hancock explores the changing role of female spies post-Second World War and forensic anthropologist
In the final episode of the series, Dan Snow and Sian Williams broadcast live from Erddig House in North Wales, where they get a glimpse of what life was really like for Victorian servants.
Special guest Sheila Hancock looks at the changing face of the female spy, whilst Michael Douglas meets the extraordinary World War II veteran whose torpedoes sank the Bismarck.
Television presenter Dan Snow joined members of the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust Dive Group to explore the wartime Sunderland flying boat T9044, which sank off the town in a storm in 1940.
The visit was filmed and is due to be shown on BBC One’s The One Show in September.
As well as diving on the wartime flying boat, the 360 Production crew also visited the Flying Boat Centre, where Dan interviewed Wing Commander Derek Martin, patron of the Sunderland Trust, who flew T9044 just weeks before it sank.
From here: Wednesday 31 August
7.30-8.00pm BBC ONE
Ep 4/5
Dan Snow and Sian Williams continue to bring history to life – live to the nation’s living rooms. Tonight, the team is at Beaulieu National Motor Museum exploring the genesis of the collection started by car pioneer Lord Montague.
Dan and Sian get hands-on with some of the most valuable antique cars in the country, from an original Silver Ghost Rolls Royce to Britain’s last surviving steam car and Donald Campbell’s Bluebird.
In a lively mix of film reports, a team of reporters and the nation’s favourite celebrities reveal some of the country’s most mysterious, surprising and compelling stories. Tonight, Larry Lamb heads to East London to explore the history of the Music Hall.
Dan Snow and Sian Williams visit the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu. They get hands-on with some of the most luxurious and elegant cars ever made, whilst special guest Larry Lamb takes a trip down memory lane with a visit to the world’s oldest surviving music hall.
Also, Xanthe Mallett explores the incredible treasure trove of surviving documents from the original police investigation into Jack the Ripper.
Dan Snow and Sian Williams continue to bring history to life – live to the nation’s living rooms. This week, the team are in Stratford-upon-Avon at an archaeological dig at Shakespeare’s home.
This is an impressive dig excavating the foundations of the New Place, a grand townhouse that Shakespeare bought and lived in for the last six years of his life. Dan and Sian get their hands dirty as they bury a time capsule, intended as a gift for the archaeologists of the future.
In a lively mix of film reports, a team of reporters and the nation’s favourite celebrities reveal some of the country’s most mysterious, surprising and compelling stories. Tonight, Ruby Wax explores the history of psychiatry and learns whether the first Victorian asylums were the hotbeds of sadism and cruelty that gothic tradition suggests.
Live from Stratford Upon Avon, Dan Snow and Sian Williams continue their series celebrating the best in British history. In this programme, they investigate claims that William Shakespeare may not have been the author of the classic plays, and join an excavation at the house where he died. Plus, Ruby Wax takes a look at some of the grisly techniques that were used on patients inside Victorian asylums.
