Flashback Television

Flashback has been commissioned for the first ever Daily Telegraph ad-funded TV series. The Telegraph Media Group who publish The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and Telegraph.co.uk. have signed a deal with The History Channel to fund the production of a major new television series for 2008.

The 5 x 1 hours series will be called 50 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BRITISH HISTORY and will tap into the debate about history and citizenship by looking at the events from history that make us British today. Writing in The Daily Telegraph on 12 Dec 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has written “We must ask the question: what is it we need to know about our past to understand what is important about our national identity today?” This series will help provide an answer to that question.

The series will be presented by television historian and author Dan Snow, whose previous programmes include Battlefield Britain, Beating Retreat and 20th Century Battlefields along with two other presenters.

Each programme will feature between eight and twelve events taken from British history, from the building of Stonehenge to such modern day marvels as the invention of the internet. Across the series of five programmes, a total of 50 events from British History will be featured. Together they will demonstrate the diversity of our history, covering British achievements in science and the arts as well as political and economic affairs to show how Britain has developed into the nation it is today. The series will be supported by a campaign to generate debate around what the most significant events in British history are.

Flashback Television has been commissioned to produce this 5 part series. Executive Producers will be Flashback’s MD and Head of History Taylor Downing, and Hugh Williams, they came up with the concept. Series Producer will be award winning producer Dunja Noack who returns to Flashback after a gap of 5 years.

Taylor Downing says of 50 THINGS “This is an exciting and challenging series. We plan to contribute to the debate about how our history helps define us in the modern world.”

Other comments:

Geoff Metzger, Managing Director of The History Channel UK said ”I am delighted that we have been able to develop this exciting project with TMG. Our two brands share a similar audience, and the partnership will enable us to engage the nation in a lively debate about the most important moments in British history. The History Channel has always been a leading supplier of quality factual content in the UK television marketplace, and this new series is one of the highlights of our forthcoming year.”

Steve McLaughlin, Director of Newspaper Sales for Telegraph Media Group said “This is a great opportunity for TMG to build on its good relationship with The History Channel. Our readers have a really strong interest in British history and we know that they will engage with this fascinating subject.”

Comments and Suggestions for 50 Things?

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