BBC announces 2,500 hours of First World War programmes The season begins with a four-part BBC1 series Britain's Great War, hosted by Jeremy Paxman which looks at how the nation was changed by the conflict. Sir Max Hastings and Niall Ferguson are among those who will give different perspectives in BBC2 programmes, while historian David Olusoga will look at the role played by troops from around the Empire who fought alongside Europeans. Dramas include The Ark - featuring Hermione Norris and Kerry Fox - revolving around the lives of frontline medics, and 37 Days with a cast including Ian McDiarmid and Tim Pigott-Smith which will tell the story of the sequence of events which led to the war. Radio 2 will broadcast Real Time World War One, presented by Jeremy Vine, which will allow listeners to experience events and breaking news from the continent as they would have happened a century earlier, and Radio 4 will broadcast 1914 - Day By Day. Radio 4 will also use its own archive recordings and those of the Imperial War Museum to broadcast the testimonies of those involved for Voices Of The Great War. Other programmes include The Ballads Of The Great War in which 50 new songs have been commissioned from folk musicians about the conflict. Director-general Tony Hall said: "This season is going to have a profound impact on the way we think about World War One." The four-year season will feature more than 130 specially commissioned programmes, making up around 2,500 hours of programming. Adrian Van Klaveren, the controller for the BBC's World War One Centenary, said: "We are setting out to broaden people's understanding of the war and to commemorate and remember those who died. Through documentaries, drama, news coverage, children's programmes and arts and performance, we will tell well-known stories from fresh perspectives and original stories so far untold.