NGTI Acquires New Project From Canada's Cream Productions

Published: 2 February 2005

Further to its announcement at the end of last year that it was on an acquisitions drive and looking to work with more third parties, National Geographic Television International is pleased to announce that it has acquired a new project from Canadian production company Cream.

Provisionally called FLANDERS FIELDS, this new two hour programme will follow archaeologists and experts in forensics, battlefield history and digital mapping as they undertake the ultimate excavation of this most moving of World War One sites - before bulldozers move in to construct a major new highway across Belgium and before part of history is lost forever.

In the path of the planned highway almost half a million men lie buried in the mud, lost and unclaimed since the end of the First World War. It is hoped to identify some of these remains and return them to their families. The special will combine archaeology, forensic science, stills, diaries and movie archive to tell the soldiers’ stories of the trenches. In addition, the experts hope to excavate and analyse much of the vast trench network and horrifying no-man’s land of the Great War. The goal is to use original architectural drawings as well as modern excavations and GIS surveying to map in detail the complex system that was World War One’s main front line. The intricate network of under-ground systems will ultimately be rebuilt in CGI – allowing a detailed analysis of the sheer size and complexity of the trench system.

Edwina Thring, NGTI’s head of programmes comments: “This is set to be an amazing programme and we are confident that this will generate a great deal of co-production interest, particularly from European broadcasters.

“Apart from the Great Wall of China, the trench system is – to this day – the largest man-made structure ever created and this new programme will be the first to explore its scale and complexity. Cream will also use CGI technology to create the first ever fully detailed 3D maps of some of these battlefields.”

David Brady from Cream Productions comments: “National Geographic Television International has an excellent track record in selling historical science programmes and we are pleased to be working with them on this exciting new project.”