Not Forgotten (2005–2009) User Reviews (2)

lest we forget

[jools_69 · 9/10 · 25 November 2006]

Spoilers, but it is a factual documentary.

Ian Hislop, Private Eye editor and team captain from the UK TV show Have I Got News from you, broadens his usual cynical and comic outlook to present a touching and excellent four part documentary following selected human stories from the Great War.

The series is based upon the fact that many have stopped seeing the more than 37,000 World War One memorials found around the UK. Ian tries to make us stop and look at them, remember that all those names we just see were actually sons, brothers, fathers, daughters and now Grandfathers, Great grandfathers.

The program recounts personal stories rather than the usual battles or history from the media or historian. We see how war affects those at home, how families are destroyed rather than just the fallen.

The last episode focuses on those who actually survived and came home. We are shown how Lloyd George's promise of a land fit for heroes was only true for a very few returning soldiers, in many cases; poverty, illness and mental problems were common but terrifying realities.

Ian Hislop shows great compassion and knowledge, we do not feel we are sitting through a lecture, but listening to a man who really feels this pain. He once again shows that beyond the funny man, a fascinating and intelligent historian lurks.

Well worth watching, show the children, never forget.

An interesting and accessible series about WWI

[bob the moo · 17 February 2007]

Although I have not yet gotten around to watching much of it, the TV series "who do you think you are" has thrown up many surprises and revelations in the ancestors of the famous people taking part. Ian Hislop took part in one of this shows and it was his family's involvement in WWI that partly motivated him to make this series (money probably also being a factor!). The focus of the documentary is the 37000-odd WWI memorials around the UK, which perhaps (as the terrible "schools' television" title sequence indicates) we don't notice anymore. This the series delves into the impact of WWI, through personal stories and public records.

It does this in an interesting fashion which is close to being a historical documentary but is never stiff or dull. However it also manages to avoid the other trap of documentaries that try to be accessible and isn't ever trivial or overly simplistic. The script allows for an interesting and well-built exploration of the subject and it is mostly compelling. Although the horrors of war are evident in every episode, the series never really pushes it or over-sentimentalises it but just allows the facts to speak for themselves.

As presenter, Hislop puts his usual acerbic nature and humour to the side and comes across as a reasonably good presenter. He is sensitive without being clingy and factual without being cold or dull. Although he doesn't particularly grab me as a memorable and fascinating deliverer of documentaries, he does a good job here and matches the material to presenting an interesting and accessible series about WWI.