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On This Page: For King and Empire | For King and Country | The Great War Tour | Greatest Tank Battles | Paths of the Gods | Other Shows


For King and Empire: Canadians in the First World War

For King and Empire is a six-part television series based on books by the series host Norm Christie and produced by Breakthrough Entertainment. It tells the story of Canadians serving in the First World War, from the moment naive civilians signed up to fight in 1914-1915, though the battles of Ypres 1915, the Somme 1916, Vimy Ridge 1917, Passchendaele 1917, to the extraordinary — but bloody — victories of the last 100 Days, ending in the armistice of 11 November 1918 and it sequels. In less than four years the Canadians had moved from being rank amateurs to being the “Canadian Corps”, widely acknowledged as the best and deadliest elite force on the Western Front. For more information, visit kingandempire.ca.

Episode 1: Baptism of Fire: Ypres, 1915
Episode 2: Slaughter and Sacrifice: The Somme, 1916

Episode 3: Storming the Ridge: Vimy, 1917
Episode 4: Slaughter in the Mud: Passchendaele, 1917
Episode 5: Masters of War: 100 Days
Episode 6: Shadows of the Great War


For King and Country: Canadians in the Second World War

For King and Country is a six-part television series based on books by the series host Norm Christie and produced by Breakthrough Entertainment. It tells the story of Canadians serving in the Second World War, from the moment war is declared in 1939 to the end of the war and its aftermath in 1945. It traces the Canadians landing in Britain, at the beginning of the war, in the battle for Hong Kong in 1941-42, during the tragic Dieppe raid in August 1942, during the endless slog fighting in Italy in 1943-45, during the landings in Normandy in June 1944 and fighting in the battle of the Falaise Gap in the summer of 1944, through the fighting in the lowlands and in the estuary of the Scheldt in 1944-45, and in the Battle for the Rhineland in 1945, until, finally, victory in Europe came in May 1945. It deals with the non-stop deadly Battle of the Atlantic — the struggle to keep the vital Atlantic sea lanes open against the German submarine threat — and the exploits of “Bomber Command”, the campaign to strike Germany and German occupied Europe from the air, as well as they bravery and sacrifice of Canadian spies who landed in occupied Europe to help organize and supply the resistance against the Nazi occupation. For more information, visit kingandempire.ca.

Episode 1: Passing the Torch, 1939-41
Episode 2: Hour of Darkness, Hong Kong, 1941

Episode 3: Italy, The Forgotten Army, Part 1
Episode 4: Italy, The Forgotten Army, Part 2
Episode 5: Battlefields of Normandy, 1944
Episode 6: The Path to Victory, Northwest Europe, 1944-45; The Pacific, 1945


The Great War Tour

For more information, visit kingandempire.ca.

Episode 1: Master of War: Arthur Currie
Episode 2: The Missing
Episode 3: Sacred Places
Episode 4: The Vimy Pilgrimage
The Great War Episode 4


Greatest Tank Battles

Michael Wittman Waffen SS Tank Commander
Smashing the Gothic Line


Paths of the Gods: The Greek Gods

Sir Peter Ustinov explores the incredibly varied and prolific world of the pagan Greek gods and their mythologies and contrasts them with the simplicity of the modern monotheistic religions. The Greek gods were full of human passions and they were a projection of the Greeks themselves.

The project was an adventure and my first experience with a TV script. It was all an emergency last-minute affair.

On this project I was ‘script editor’, writing, editing, and rewriting the scripts – in Toronto – and sending them by fax to Peter and director John McGreevy while they were climbing around mounts in Greece and shooting the series. Lots of fun, and I certainly learned a bit about the Greek gods.

Paths of the Gods: The Greek Gods


Other Shows

“History of the Vatican”
6 hours – consultant. 1995

“Greek Mythology”
8 programs with Peter Ustinov – story editor. 1995

“East Meets West : Burma” 
one hour – with Peter Ustinov – writer.1996

“Empire of the Bay” 
4 hours – writer. 1998-99

“Life and Times of Robertson Davies” 
one hour – writer.1999

“History down the Barrel of a Gun” 
four hours – writer 2000

“La Seduction au Canada” 
writer, host, co-director, TFO. 2000 [multi-part French language series of shorts]

“Wolverine” 
story editor. 2001

“The Mating Game: a history of Flirtation” 
writer, host, for CBC “IDEAS” (radio). 2001.

“For King and Empire: Canada’s soldiers in the Great War” 
6 hours – writer, associate producer, for History Channel 2001 [Gemini Nomination for best documentary writing for the Episode “Storming the Ridge”]

“Seduction” 
writer, host, director, for CBC “IDEAS” (radio) 2002

“Manic Organic” 
story consultant, TV, organic farming and cooking series. 2002

“Forgotten Battlefields” 
writer, associate producer, 90 minutes, for History Channel. 2002 [first broadcast November 2002]

“For King and Country: Canada’s soldiers in the Second World War” 
6 hours, writer, associate producer, for History Channel. First broadcast in November 2004.

“Striking Back” 
(one hour, for History Television) writer, associate producer – 2005.

“Secret Liberators” 
a 60 minute special, writer, associate producer, for History television on special operations and special service Canadians that helped liberate Europe, 2005.

“War Science: WW-I” 
writer, host, director, for CBC “IDEAS” [in production] 2002 [two hours – first hour broadcast in November 2002]

“How Humans Created Animals” 
writer, host, director, for CBC “IDEAS” 2003 [broadcast date 17 February 2003]

“War Science: WW-I” 
(PART TWO) – writer, host, director, for CBC “IDEAS”, on hour. 2003. [broadcast]

“No Way Out” 
writer, host, director, for CBC “IDEAS’, two hours, 2003, [broadcast]

“Pleasures of the Flesh” 
writer, host, director, for CBC “IDEAS”, two hours, 2005, [broadcast]

“Gilbert Reid’s Italy” 
writer, host, director, for CBC “IDEAS’, five hours,. [broadcast CBC RADIO ONE, December 2006, and broadcast CBC RADIO ONE, April 2007]

“Korean War” 
consultant, three hours, TV, broadcast on the History Channel.

“Gilbert Reid’s France” 
writer, host, director, for CBC “IDEAS”, five hours, in pre-production.