ten

Laurence Rees, the creative director of BBC Television History, gave at talk at my college earlier this evening, on reconstructing history for tv. Rees has written a number of history books, and is responsible for a string of acclaimed historical documentaries (Nazis: A Warning from History; Horror in the East; Auschwitz: the Nazis and the 'Final Solution'; and World War Two: Behind Closed Doors). It was fascinating to see the changes in programme format and modes of presentation: his earlier work focuses exclusively on archival footage and interviews with eyewitnesses, whilst later programmes incorporate dramatic historical reconstruction into the narrative. Rees admits being a convert to the use of such techniques, and the talk documented the reasons for his change of heart.

I was expecting a long, winding explanation, involving intellectual debates and philosophising, detailing his slow and agonising conversion to the merits of historical reconstruction. Actually, what he had to say on his former aversion to the practice was this:

"I had to watch all the old series of timewatch, and the use of drama in these was awful. i saw some DISASTAROUS facial hair. it's a huge problem, fake moustaches."

there you go, kids: historical reconstruction on the BBC, brought to you exclusively by the improved fake-facial-hair artists of the new century.