Concept and creative process
Richard Holmes goes on a journey through time to visit battlefields throughout Britain, northern France and Belgium that mark crucial moments in Britain's bloody and turbulent history. The title sequence was a simple muted scene where a soldier walks across the shot from left to right. As he does so his uniforms change to reflect the different wars featured in the series. In the final transition the programme title is revealed as the soldier changes into the presenter Professor Richard Holmes, who walks out of screen. This was a live action shoot on the exposed location of Brean Down, near Weston-Super-Mare, to get a horizon line and sky backdrop. It was a simple locked-off shot with an actor, several costumes and an armourer signing off the use of the weapons. Everything was critically timed, particularly the pace of the walk, so that it could be graded and seamlessly stitched together in post-production.