Blogging about

Timewatch

Explore surprising aspects of history with the BBC's flagship history programme.

Researcher Georgina Leslie's diary of the making of the Timewatch programme Bloody Omaha.

24 September

Bloody Omaha is finally finished after a six week edit. Richard is brought in to voice over the commentary and then the programme is dubbed and graded ready for broadcast. The programme didn’t quite end up where we expected. The newly found battery at Maisy did not take the central role we thought it might. In the end the programme turned into an examination of the recent and ongoing research about Omaha and why so many died there. But in documentary making, stories often don’t quite turn out the way you think they will – and I think that’s exactly what makes our job so exciting. Above all, I am proud of our re-telling of the incredible story of the Rangers on D-Day. What touched me most was hearing firsthand the very moving testimony of the veterans like Ray Tollefson – they are an inspiration to us all.

About the author

Timewatch is the world's longest-running history series, having started in 1981, and is the BBC's flagship history series. Here, members of the production team share the highs, and lows, during the production process as they make some of the next series of programmes.