Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War

Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War, a 26-part half-hour Canadian television documentary about the Vietnam War, was produced in 1980 by Michael Maclear. The series aired in Canada on CBC Television, in the United States on NBC, and the United Kingdom on Channel 4.

Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War
Written byPeter Arnett
Narrated byRichard Basehart
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producerMichael Maclear
ProducerIan McLeod
Running timepilot: 52 minutes, regular episodes: 26 minutes
Original release
NetworkCBC
Release22 October 1980 (1980-10-22) –
1 August 1982 (1982-08-01)

Maclear visited Vietnam during the production of the series and while he was there, he was granted access to film material. He was the first Western journalist to be allowed to visit Vietnam since the end of the war.

The documentary series was consolidated into 13 hour-long episodes for American television syndication.[1] The series was released on videocassette format by Embassy and won a National Education Association award for best world documentary.[2]

Series writer Peter Arnett was an Associated Press reporter in Vietnam from 1962 to 1975.

CBC only aired 18 of the 26 episodes during the 1980–81 season because the production of the series was incomplete. The remaining 8 episodes were broadcast during CBC's 1981–82 season. British audiences saw the series during Channel 4's 1984–85 season.

Episodes edit

List of episodes:[3]

# Episode title CBC airdate Channel 4 airdate
1 America in Vietnam 16 October 1980 15 October 1984
2 France in Vietnam 22 October 1984
3 Dien Bien Phu 29 October 1984
4 Early Hopes 23 October 1980 12 November 1984
5 Assassination 19 November 1984
6 Days of Decision 30 October 1980 26 November 1984
7 Westy's War 3 December 1984
8 Uneasy Allies 5 November 1980 7 January 1985
9 Guerilla Society 14 January 1985
10 The Trail 12 November 1980 21 January 1985
11 Firepower 28 January 1985
12 The Village War 19 November 1980 4 February 1985
13 Air War 11 February 1985
14 Siege 26 November 1980 18 February 1985
15 Tet! 10 December 1980 25 February 1985
16 Frontline America 17 December 1980 4 March 1985
17 Soldiering On 31 December 1980 11 March 1985
18 Changing the Guard 7 January 1981 18 March 1985
19 Wanting Out 25 March 1985
20 Bombing of Hanoi 14 January 1981 1 April 1985
21 Peace and Consequence 8 April 1985
22 The Prisoners 21 January 1981 15 April 1985
23 The Unsung Soldiers 22 April 1985
24 Final Offensive 4 February 1981 29 April 1985
25 Surrender 13 May 1985
26 Vietnam Recalled 11 February 1981 20 May 1985

References edit

  1. ^ "TV Notebook Ups and Downs". The Globe and Mail. 23 July 1982. p. P5. Item: A Syndicated War.
  2. ^ "Michael Maclear fonds" (PDF). University of Toronto Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. 2000.
  3. ^ Episode Calendar, retrieved September 21, 2017, https://episodecalendar.com/en/show/vietnam-the-ten-thousand-day-war/season/1

External links edit