World War One at Sea with Dan Snow
Join Dan Snow on an amazing adventure aboard the 60m Commandant Fourcault to mark the 100th anniversary of WW1. Using this state of the art dive boat (complete with its own helicopter and decompression chamber) as a base, Dan will be taking viewers on an incredible voyage around Britain and Europe to explore the shipwrecks of WW1.
But this is no ordinary history series: It’s an adventure. And rather than plotting the war from start to finish, it’s the journey and the wrecks that are at the heart of each programme. And it is these that Dan and the team will be using to reveal the war’s most important stories and events.
Thanks to a team made up of the best deep wreck divers and deep-tec cameramen in the world, we’ll be going deeper and further inside the wrecks than ever before – looking at some familiar wrecks and some that are not only completely new to television but have never even been dived (some, Dan will actually have to locate during filming!). Dan will also have a team of brilliant historians helping him analyse and explain their findings.
Dan will also be challenged to go on a personal journey to reveal how the mighty dreadnoughts inspired him to take up history. He is a keen sports diver and we plan to train him to his limits, so he can explore some of the wrecks for himself. Hs passion and enthusiasm will help bring the wrecks alive as never before. The danger and jeopardy of each dive will be very clear as the viewer learns how each wreck presents a different set of challenges to Dan and the team.
Many of the wrecks and the history of the war at sea are only known to naval historians, enthusiasts and sports divers. This series will bring the story to a new and wider audience.
Style and Content
The style will be fast-paced and action-packed, combining presenter-led with observational sequences. It won’t be like any historical programme broadcast before. And we’ll be seeing Dan take on a completely different role. He won’t be reading from a script. He’ll be observing, taking part, forming opinions, arguing (!) and generally getting stuck in to a subject, which he is passionate and knowledgeable about.
It will be a combination of team adventure, historical analysis and a personal journey of discovery for Dan as he learns to dive and uncovers the stories that inspired him.
There will be a feeling of James Bond as the team spends time on the state of the art Commandant Fourcault, making full use of the gadgets on offer. There will be round table discussions and plenty of interaction with the crew, as the lifestyle, dive techniques and the history are merged into the narrative.
The series will use state of the art CGI, 3D Modeling and Graphics to bring the battles and wrecks to life and avoid re-creations as a tool to explain what happened and what is revealed.