| Genre: | Documentary |
| Presenter: | Al Murray |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 10 |
| Producer: | Ludo Graham |
| Channel: | Discovery Channel UK |
Al Murray's Road to Berlin is a British documentary television series about World War II, presented by Al Murray. The ten-episode series was produced for the Discovery Channel, and first broadcast in 2004. During the series, Murray travels across the Western Front in a restored Willys MB Jeep, covering the timeline from the Invasion of Normandy to the fall of Berlin, interviewing survivors and showcasing some of the equipment used.
Seven episodes in the ten-episode series deal directly with the land, amphibious, airborne and tactical air force operations involved in the general British and American advance from Normandy to Berlin, while three others look at related topics, with one episode each devoted to the German V-weapons programme (episode 4), the strategic air force bombing of Essen (episode 6), and the Soviet Eastern Front campaign (episode 8). As the British and Americans were not directly involved in taking Berlin itself, the second half of the last episode covers the Soviet operations.
During the series, Murray visits the locations dealt with in each episode, mostly travelling in a restored US Army Willys MB Jeep. In all episodes, Murray interviews survivors, both civilian and military, and Murray's narrative of the progression of events is supplemented with archive footage. In addition, several episodes feature demonstrations using period equipment, such as tanks, boats and guns. As well as being the presenter and narrator of the series, in episode 1, "D-Day", Murray re-enacts a beach landing, while in episode 5, "Arnhem", he takes part in a 60th anniversary parachute jump. In relevant episodes, Murray also details the tactical situation using maps.
The first series was broadcast over 10 episodes:
The episode looked in detail at Montgomery's preparations for the invasion, codenamed Operation Overlord, planned by Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) at Southwick House, Portsmouth. It also examines the glider-borne attack on Pegasus Bridge, a bascule bridge across the Caen Canal; the parachute and glider attack on the Merville Gun Battery; and the landings at Sword Beach, the farthest east of the five landing points.
During the episode, Murray re-enacts a beach landing from a landing craft, wading up the beach in period kit and rifle.
The episode looked in detail at the British 22nd Armoured Brigade's involvement in the Battle of Villers-Bocage, south of Caen, and the German counter-attack by the German tank commander Michael Wittmann. The episode also examined the Allied artificial Mulberry harbour installed at Arromanches, the American advance west to obtain the port of Cherbourg, and the Allied aerial bombing of Caen during Operation Charnwood. Finally, it examined Operation Goodwood, the Allied advance to Bourguébus Ridge beyond Caen to the east.
The episode examined in detail the fighting around Mortain where the German counter-attack stalled, and the development of the Falaise pocket, in which the over-extended Germans became trapped in a pincer movement. It then traces the German attempts to escape under bombardment and Hawker Typhoon air attack through the 'Failaise Gap' between Argentan and Falaise into a funnel at Chambois, nicknamed 'the corridor of death' by the Germans, and ending with the battle at Mont Ormel ridge and the final closure of the gap.
The episode looks in detail at the underground V weapons factory at Nordhausen, and the Mittelbau-Dora camp which provided the slave labour for assembling the V weapons. It examined the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket attacks on London, the first V-2 strike in Chiswick, and the Royal Air Force attempts to attack the V-2's at their launch sites near the Hague with the help of the Dutch resistance.
The episode examines in detail the Battle of Arnhem, the parachute landings some 8 miles from Arnhem, the capture of a railway bridge 3 miles from Arnhem, and the capture of the Arnhem road bridge, the counter-attack by a Panzer unit which had been refitting nearby, and the ultimate retreat and fighting at Oosterbeek (the 'cauldron'), and their evacuation in Operation Berlin (Arnhem).
During the episode, Murray trained for and participated his first ever parachute jump, as part of a 60th anniversary jump commemorating the operation.
The episode examined in detail the RAF's efforts to destroy the German Krupp armament factories in Essen in the Ruhr Valley, and the raid of 23 October 1944, described as the largest raid the RAF had ever undertaken. It covered the RAF tactics of using the Oboe navigation system to guide its heavy bombers, and the use of the de Havilland Mosquito as Pathfinders to mark targets with flares, and the German air defences.
The episode looks in detail at the German plans for Operation Autumn Mist, their intended counter-attack using the cover of the Ardennes forest, following the Allied liberation of Antwerp in Belgium. It also examines German attempts to confuse Allied forces using Commandos of Panzer Brigade 150 disguised as American units, the battle fought around Bastogne by the American 101st Airborne Division, in particular Easy Company of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, and the subsequent Siege of Bastogne.
It looks in detail at the Soviet offensive toward the River Vistula in Poland, aiming for the strategic objective of the valuable Silesia region, while German civilians evacuated en-masse in fear of the Soviet troops. It examines the Soviet encirclement of the city of Breslau and the ensuing 3-month siege, and the parallel advance up the River Oder towards Berlin.
It covers in detail the British plan for a large set-piece assault on Wesel led by Montgomery, with his American rival Patton planning crossings further south. It examines the fortunate discovery and ensuing battle for the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, by a company of the American 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, it being the only one of 47 crossings not blown up by the Germans. It also examines the other American crossings at Oppenheim, followed by the British 50 mile wide assault on the Rhine, Operation Plunder, opening up 6 bridgeheads, followed by Operation Varsity, a massive airborne assault to prevent a German retaliation from the woods behind Wasel.
The episode looks in detail at the events of 15 April 1945, when British troops entered the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp to find hundreds of dead and dying prisoners, and the meetup of American and Soviet forces at the River Elbe on 25 April. It also examines the Battle for Berlin - the final Soviet encirclement and assault, and the Battle in Berlin, the street fighting phase culminating in the raising a flag over the Reichstag. It also details Hitler's last public appearance on 20 April, his suicide on 30 April, and the burning of his body.
The series was made available on DVD for the first time from 6 April 2009. The DVD was released by Revelation Films as a 2 disc 230 minutes volume, playable in Region 2.