"Time Commanders" (2003) TV series 2003-2005

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

4 September 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | Action | History | War

Plot:

Each week four contestants come together as a team to recreate a historical battle via computer simulator...

Plot Keywords:

Simulation | War Reenactment

Cast

Aryeh Nusbacher	...	Himself - Military Expert (24 episodes, 2003-2005)
Eddie Mair	...	Himself - Presenter (16 episodes, 2003-2004)
David McAllister	...	Narrator (16 episodes, 2003)

Runtime:

45 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Lion Television Scotland

Trivia:

Contestants are actually playing a modified version of Rome: Total War (2004) (VG), a recently released strategy game produced by The Creative Assembly and published by Activision. The same process is used for the History Channel documentary series, "Decisive Battles" (2004), for its CGI battle reenactments.

Fun mix of battles, computers and game show

Each week four contestants come together as a team to recreate a historical battle via computer simulator. With two of the group playing generals with an overview of the battlefield, the other two play Lieutenants who are more in touch with the progress of the battle. When they lose or win, two military historians take them through on the simulator what actually happened in the real battle.

Who says learning can't be fun? In this lively, enjoyable show, historical battles (by which I mean Roman times) are recreated with modern day people playing generals and designing the tactics of the battle with the same resources that were available in the real battle. This is very interesting and it is quite fun to see how the battle comes together, it's like some strategy games on the PC but at a faster speed! If you like those games then you should probably like this show.

At the end of the show, the historians critique the strategy the group used and point out the moments in the battle where the tide turned (whether for or against them). They will then reset the simulator and let the battle play as it did in real life and talk through what really happened. Of course, it's not always that the real battle brought victory for the contestant's team but more often than not they are playing with a stronger force than the computer opponents.

Overall this is quite a fun show. I'm sure it plays to a select audience but the mix of history, battles and computers make it feel enjoyable to watch. Also of value are the strained faces on the contestants when they see their forces butchered because they made the wrong decisions! Enjoyable show.