Rise of the Nazis/BBC 4

Last night I watched the third and final part of the series Rise of the Nazis.   

I was unimpressed.

I watched years ago – and still have the box set – of The World at War and this programme falls way short of that.

That series, narrated by Lawrence Olivier, called upon living figures central to World War Two like Albert Speer and Battle of Britain pilot Bill Aitken.

To give the subject a modern gloss the programme utilised young German historians, aside from heavyweight historian Sir Richard Evans and actors emulating and impersonating, without speaking, the key Nazi movers and shakers. This was largely dull.

There is another difficulty for such programmes.

To whom are they directed?

PBS produces first rate documentaries which you can view daily.

Antony Beevor writes with authority.

Is there an expectant audience eager for more detail on the Nazis? I doubt it.

I would like to think the programme would be of some relevance to the conflict in Ukraine.

There are some similarities between Hitler and Putin.

Both do not appear to listen to advice and are increasingly isolated but logistically Germany was easier to bring to its knees.

Oddly enough though, the Nazi references emanate from the Kremlin.