‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom’ TV programme
(Revised February 14, 2023)
Never before seen first-hand testimony of a famous sea fight
by veterans who saw combat against a legendary WW2 battleship
From my early days of cinema-going, when I was a lad and collected lobby cards – promotional postcards from films such as the ‘Battle of Britain’ and ‘A Bridge Too Far’ scattered around the lobbies of movie houses – I have dreamed of playing a key role in delivering a true story of WW2 to the screen.
It gives me great pleasure to share with you a ‘lobby card’ from the documentary ‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom’, which was broadcast on the UK’s Channel 4 in October 2021.
‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom’ is a cinematic telling of the epic finale in the pursuit and destruction of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941 and is based on my book of the same name.
In March 2023 the book’s expanded edition – originally published to mark the 80th anniversary of the Bismarck Action, one of the pivotal moments in naval history – is released in a new paperback and ebook edition.
The ‘lobby card’ seen here provides a visual taster of scenes in the Channel 4 programme, produced by showrunner David Gilbert – who was awesome in his commitment to the project as were the superb team at Screen Story.
Between 2011 and 2014 myself & Stuart Antrobus filmed Royal Navy veterans who had helped pursue and sink the German battleship Bismarck on 26/27 May 1941. Stuart is seen here during filming with a Bismarck veteran, while there are also stills of two of those remarkable men as they appear in the documentary.
The Bismarck Action veterans we filmed provided searing and moving testimony on naval combat at close quarters and what it felt like to be caught up in such momentous events.
So, it is fantastic news that David Gilbert, has in early 2023 been nominated for the Maritime Foundation Donald Gosling Award for Best Television or Film Production, which I feel reflects well on the power of the documentary, especially the veterans’ testimony.
David and his team did a great job of creating a primetime national television programme, using a mix of CGI and archive footage combined with the veterans explaining the brutal reality of destroying the flagship of the Kriegsmarine.
Their never before broadcast eye witness testimony – as some of the few people to actually see how the famous battle between Bismarck and the Royal Navy unfolded at close quarters – is both powerful and deeply moving.
In the documentary the veterans’ accounts are enhanced by insights from naval historians – including myself – to fill in essential background detail.
The documentary can be viewed here.