The Great War in Numbers: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Great War in Numbers tells the complete story of World War I - from outbreak to conclusion - and the fragile peace that followed. It was a war unlike any other before it, with a number of firsts along the way. Seventy-milliion men were mobilised to fight around the world, from the trenches of the Western Front to the Middle East and Africa. There were more bullets fired, more bombs dropped, more men killed, more money borrowed and spent than in any war before.

It was a war of numbers: men, ammunition, food - quantity was the difference between victory and defeat, and for the first time in human history, everything was recorded in exacting detail: 762,000 Britons enlisted in the first four weeks of the war; 980,000 'war' horses shipped to Europe from America; the life expectancy of a WW1 pilot was only 15 flight hours; the cost of bullets for one day of fighting in 1918 was £3,800,000 - in today's money that's £237,500,000. The series takes these numbers and more to present a new, vivid look at The Great War, with statistics helping to shed new light on the war to end all wars.

Series details

• Title: The Great War in Numbers
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: War, History
• Premiere date: 2017-10-04
• Final broadcast date listed: 2017-11-08
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: U&Yesterday
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 31837
• TVDB ID: 335938

Cast and credited roles

• John Heffernan — Narrator

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2017-10-04; final listed air date 2017-11-08; episode order: 6.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Great War in Numbers on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.