1066: The Battle for Middle Earth (Channel 4)

Historic Re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings Review

May 19, 2009

The Battle of Hastings is one of the most famous conflicts in history and this fact-based docu-drama tells the plight of ordinary English men on the frontline.

Channel 4 is on a bit of a roll this year for well made, hard hitting fact-based dramas as the brilliant Red Riding Trilogy and film Endgame have already set a very high standard for TV serials. This new one, 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth, is a two-part docu-drama chronicling the Battle of Hastings and its build up told from the perspective of a few ordinary men using texts from the era as source, most notably the Domesday Book, for the story.

The English Fight Invading Vikings and Normans

Described as a drama this is more like a re-enactment documentary as Ian Holm’s dulcet tones narrate the history before it’s played out by the cast. 1066 took a while to actually find its feet but once settled was quite fun.

At the start a group of Sussex villagers and farmers are recruited to fight for King Harold and sent north to take on invading Vikings. The Battle of Stanford Bridge, which closed the first part, was entertaining and almost worth the wait, especially as the top Viking warrior bludgeons his way through many of the English fighters single handily.

The first part merely acts as set up to the main conflict as the defence against the Vikings has left the south open for an attack from Norman orcs (meaning “demon” says one of the many random fact snippets). The final episode was certainly the stronger of the two as it took a step back from the voiceovers and instead let more of the nicely choreographed action speak for itself.

The title might seem a little Lord of the Rings baiting to attract a bigger audience but it’s all explained in the context of the show as “Middle Earth” is what Anglo-Saxons called the area between heaven and hell where humans walked. In that respect it’s quite fitting given that most of the people are pretty much marching to their deaths on the battlefield. J. R. R. Tolkien himself even owes much to this era of British history as a great deal of his fictional work was based on these wars and legend surrounding them.

However, unlike The Lord of the Rings film trilogy the fights here are visceral and produced without thousands of CGI soldiers hacking each other to bits, instead literally dozens of extras stand in for the vast armies that fought and do a very good job. It’s all very brutal and bloody as arrows pierce throats, limbs are dismembered and bones are broken.

Plucky English Underdogs Stand their Ground

There were faults with the production as some of the acting was a little weak and at just under three hours long there is not enough character development for its length. Also the night vision camera scene, though trying to convey the sense an ambush in complete darkness, just looked out of place amongst such honest realism.

The outcome of Hastings is widely known but that doesn’t stop the viewer from cheering on the plucky English underdogs who are tired and outnumbered, particularly as the Normans are portrayed as being truly despicable. It is a very novel idea to present the story from the point of view of the common men on the frontline and who knows maybe someone out there might have actually learned a thing or two from staring at a period drama on the gogglebox.

The copyright of the article 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth (Channel 4) in British TV is owned by Steven Cookson. Permission to republish 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth (Channel 4) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.