World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel
World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel is a feature-length BBC TV programme, presented by the historian David Reynolds and directed by Russell Barnes. First broadcast on BBC Four on 13 June 2011, it marked the 70th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, the Third Reich's invasion of the USSR. The programme re-assesses Joseph Stalin's erratic response to the military threat posed by Hitler and examines the moral dilemma for the Western Allies of an alliance with a dictator arguably as brutal as the enemy.
The programme received critical praise[1] and high viewing figures relative to the slot average for BBC Four: 600,000 viewers on its first run in June 2011, 359,000 on its repeat in September 2011, and a further 449,000 on its repeat in April 2012.
The programme was nominated in the Best Historical Documentary category for the 2012 Grierson British Documentary Awards.[2]
References
- The Telegraph TV Review, 19 June 2011: BBC Two's World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel Linked 16 October 2012
- The Grierson Trust: Nominations for the Grierson 2012 British Documentary Awards Linked 16 October 2012
External links
- BBC Four programme presentation: World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel Linked 2012-10-16
- Radio Times: World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel Linked 2012-10-16
- The Daily Telegraph, 13 June 2011: David Reynolds: Stalin’s weakness almost cost him the War Linked 2012-10-16