The BBC went to Turkey in 1970 and accidentally made history cool again.
In the documentary, the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the last period of the Ottoman Empire, the War of Independence and the developments in the first years of the Republic of Turkey are told in parallel. The documentary prepared by Michael Adams consists of recordings made by the BBC in 1970 in Çanakkale, Samsun, Amasya, Sivas and Ankara, as well as historical footage.
Production
1970 BBC location shoots in places Western crews rarely filmed.
Editing
Jarring cuts between 1920s revolution and Nixon-era Turkey.
Director
Michael Adams
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bernard Archard, who voices Atatürk, played villains in three different Doctor Who serials.
This aired during a tense UK-Turkey period—Cyprus conflict was escalating, making the documentary's sympathetic tone politically notable.
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