"The Passing Bells (trailer)" Topic

"In their programme of marking the 100 years from the beginning of WW1, BBC has released the first trailer for their new mini series THE PASSING BELLS which will air later this year in 5 half hour episodes. This epic drama set during World War One is told through the eyes of two very ordinary young men (Paddy Gibson and Jack Lowden who enlist in a war they expect will be over within months. They grow up amid the horrors of the battlefield, lose friends, and find love. The story looks at all aspects of the war – from the families left behind to the strategic decisions by politicians and generals that led to unimaginable bloodshed and the tragedy of the trenches"
From Hollywood spy.

YouTube link

Amicalement
Armand

Could be good or bad, always nice to see a show about WWI though.

Looks good.

Glad you like it my friend.

Amicalement
Armand

Am I the only one who thought that all the actors looked awfully young? In the trailer everyone looks to be about 17. I seem to recall that the average age of a soldier was a bit higher than depicted here, though I could be wrong.

You're not wrong at all. The average age in the British empire armies was mid to late 20s. Platoons would often have a considerable disparity in age range, especially in the second half of the war, from 19 year olds (Australians could enlist at 18 but could not serve overseas until they turned 19) through to men in the early to mid 40s. Have a walk through the cemeteries along the Western Front and look at the number of headstones recording private and even lieutenants in their 30s and 40s.

Points very well made Artaxerxes, and true I'm sure but the image that's ingrained as part of the general myth is the tragic loss of the "boy" soldiers, the willing conscripts who joined under age etc. it's this image that the production team obviously wanted to latch on to for most drama and impact! Anyway trailer looks good so fingers crossed.

By the end of the War, the average age had slipped downward considerably. Especially the French and Germans, most of an entire generation of able youth had perished….