World War One Documentaries

Stream acclaimed WWI series that explore the people, events and pivotal moments that shaped the global conflict between the Allies and the Central Powers and that bring eyewitness accounts from those who experienced the Great War.

100 Days to Victory

Watch 100 Days to Victory on BBC Select

It was the birth of modern warfare. In Spring 1918, the Germans launched a massive ‘shock and awe’ offensive to defeat the Allied forces. To survive, the Allies needed to coordinate and cooperate.

As this gripping history documentary on BBC Select reveals, this sudden need for a concerted defensive effort led to an Allied victory in World War I and changed the way that war was waged forever.

Winston Churchill's War

Stream Winston Churchill's War on BBC Select

BBC Select explores the psyche of one of the most fascinating figures in history: Winston Churchill. The groundbreaking documentary unpicks the character of this great war leader who helped to defeat Hitler and the Nazis and kept the British public going during the darkest days of World War II. What’s revealed is a complex figure with many demons and flaws. But what made this great man tick?

WWI: The Final Hours

Watch WWI: The Final Hours on BBC Select

On 8 November 1918, an Englishman, a Frenchman, and a German secretly gathered in a train carriage near Paris. Their meeting would last for three days. The aim: to end four long years of brutal and deadly war.

This innovative history documentary uncovers the extraordinary events leading up to the World War I Armistice and explores how repercussions would ripple throughout the 20th century.

Heroes of the Somme

heroes of the somme

Using archive material from the First World War, the stories of seven men whose remarkable bravery won them the Victoria Cross, Britain’s most prized military medal, are revealed. This inventive history documentary also uses interviews with family members to reveal the personal stories of each character, exploring their differing fortunes, and the variety of reasons for which they fought.

Horror In The East

During the First World War, POWs in Japan were treated remarkably well. What happened in the intervening years that led the nation to commit such inhumane atrocities in World War II? This series probes the Japanese belief at the time of racial superiority and the mentality that drove Kamikaze fighters.