“Anthem for Doomed Youth” has been one of my favorite poems, possibly ever, since I first read it in middle school. I even read it aloud for a poetry competition in ninth grade (I didn’t do well in the competition, but that’s unrelated to the poem itself). So then, a couple years later, I was browsing Britbox (a streaming service specifically for some British shows) at my great-aunt’s house and I found a miniseries called ‘The Passing Bells.’ This immediately struck me as interesting, of course, as did my recognition of one of the main character’s actor, Jack Lowden, who also acted in Dunkirk. (That one is about the British evacuation of Dunkirk Beach in World War Two, so not quite on theme for this class, but I would highly recommend it still. Anyways.) I watched the miniseries, and enjoyed it well enough, and then mostly put it out of my mind until I re-read “Anthem for Doomed Youth” for this class.

So, I have a show recommendation! It’s called ‘The Passing Bells’, put out in 2014 by the BCC as part of their WWI centenary season. It follows two teenage boys, one English and one German, as they enlist and fight in the First World War. I liked how it showed them both as individuals first and soldiers second, with their own wants and needs and lives at home, which sort of reminds me of how Paul from All Quiet… was talking about how the enemy soldiers were people too, just like them. Fair warning, I can’t guarantee it’s amazing, because I only watched it the once and haven’t been able to find it again, but it certainly wasn’t bad.