Foxtel’s History Channel buys BBC Worldwide war fare

History Channel in Australia has acquired a package of BBC Worldwide programming to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the outbreak of World War 1.

Included in the 66-hour package is Royal Cousins at War, a two-part BBC Two series about the roles of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Kaiser Wilheim and King George V of England in the war, which lasted four years between 1914 and 1918.

Also in the package are The Greatest Knight, which tells the story of English solider and statesman William Marshal; Plantagenets, which explores one of Europe’s most dysfunctional yet longest ruling dynasties; and Kennedy’s Suicide Bomber, a documentary about the near-assassination of John F. Kennedy by Richard Paul Pavlick three years before the US president was killed in Dallas.

Other shows include Churchill’s First World War, World War One’s Tunnels of Death – The Big Dig, Last Day of World War and First World War from Above.

Jim Buchan, general manager of factual channels at Foxtel, which operates A+E’s History Channel in Australia via a licensing agreement, said: “Once again this is an excellent collection of high quality content from the BBC. It provides a perfect compliment to our own local commissions, activity and commitment to commemorating the centenary of World War One on History.”