The World at War - Specials (1989)

This is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the individuals, the technology, and the historical resources that made this examination of World War II such a powerful and unforgettable visual experience.

Traudl Junge found herself in Berlin during the war because she wanted to be a ballet dancer. A friend told her about a job vacancy in Hitler's chancellery; she applied for it and looking like Hitler's mistress Eva Braun, she became one of his private secretaries. Traudl Junge saw Hitler at close quarters, shared his public life and was with him in the bunker at the end.

Renowned historian Stephen Ambrose examines the aftermath of World War II. Was peace truly gained? Or did a new war with weapons of policy take its place?

Reflections of men at war compiled from interviews and archive film obtained for The World at War series. A measured and decidedly unromantic look at the heat of battle, Warrior weaves together eyewitness accounts and rarely seen archive footage to reveal the deadly realities of combat.

The harsh outcome of the First World War left Germany ripe for Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party's swift rise to power, promising a devastated nation's return to international prominence. See how the Germans worked, played and organised themselves for war as the Third Reich set the stage for the second world war.

Continuing the in-depth look at Hitler's regime through the lives of ordinary citizens, this special presentation shows how they coped with mass bombing, invasion and ultimately defeat.

Years after his death, mystery still surrounds the circumstances under which Adolf Hitler ended his life. Did he die from a self-inflicted gunshot? Or did he swallow cyanide with his recent bride Eva Braun?

Examining the growth of the Nazi racial doctrines from their origins to 1939, we see the terrifying and unforgettable stories as told by death camp survivors and also compelling interviews with German participants.

Archive photographs and shocking footage filmed by the Nazis themselves, capture the full horror of Germany's systematic extermination of millions of Jews and other non-Aryan civilians. Unflinching and often disturbing, this is a profound and necessary examination into the darkest corners of humanity.

In this 2 hour 30th Anniversary retrospective, we commemorate the original 1973 broadcast with new interviews with the makers of the programme.

Prominent scholars and military figures recount specifics of the war, from first-hand accounts of Okinawa to the D-Day landing and analyse key wartime actions in these previously unseen and extended interviews taken from the archives at the Imperial War Museum.

The “Restoring The World at War” featurette shows how the documentary was treated with high-definition picture and surround sound to make the series stand out like never before. High-definition editors focused first on color grading and then high definition using a program called Archangel. The process was meticulous, and the way the documentary approaches the process is equally so.