Britain’s national newspapers have gone DVD and CD crazy. Every weekend, readers find another disc wrapped in their papers. Most are dross. But this week I discovered a remarkable documentary series, thanks to the Daily Mail. The paper is currently giving away copies of the BBC’s 1964 series The Great War, made to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the start of that conflict.

I was enthralled. The programme tells the story with an extraordinary amount of historic film footage and a gripping narration by Sir Michael Redgrave. Above all, it shows how much the documentary style of today’s television owes to this Sixties masterpiece.

Back in 1964, the Great War was a living memory for millions. I remember asking my grandmother for her memories of the war in 1974, on the sixtieth anniversary. Today, there is just one British survivor of the trenches, 109 year old Harry Patch.

Talking of BBC history programmes, does anyone remember The Mighty Continent, the BBC’s history of modern Europe, starring Peter Ustinov? It’s no exaggeration to say that this 1974 series kindled my fascination with history, with its dramatic tale of how Europe destroyed itself in the folly of the Great War. I’d love to see it again.