Time Commanders

Last updated

Time Commanders
Genre Technological game show
Created byAdam MacDonald
Presented by Eddie Mair (2003–04)
Richard Hammond (2005)
Gregg Wallace (2016)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes27
Production
Running time45–60 minutes
Production companyLion Television
Release
Original network BBC Two (2003–05)
BBC Four (2016)
Original release4 September 2003 (2003-09-04) –
27 December 2016 (2016-12-27)
Related
Decisive Battles

Time Commanders is a technological game show that originally aired on BBC Two from 4 September 2003 to 13 March 2005 with Eddie Mair hosting the first series and Richard Hammond hosting the second series. It returned for a 3-part special on BBC Four from 12 to 27 December 2016 with Gregg Wallace as host.

Contents

Format

In the first two series, teams of four contestants directed opposite forces. The teams were unfamiliar with computer games, to make sure their gaming skills did not influence their success. In the 2016 revival, two teams of three controlled opposing factions (for example, one team would play as Carthage and the other as Rome).

After a brief introduction of the battle, including an overview of military units, terrain and available forces, the players had to develop a strategy and then deploy their forces. In the first two series, two of the players were selected as generals, who directed the battle and had access to a strategic map; in the 2016 revival, only one player was selected as the general. The other two players were designated lieutenants in the first series, and captains in the second series and 2016 revival. The units were indirectly controlled by the lieutenants, who issued commands to programme assistants, who in turn used the game interface to control the units. Troop deployment and battle followed, although in both the 2005 and 2016 series there was a small skirmish conducted as a separate event to acquaint the players with the game mechanics and their units. In the 2016 series the teams also got strategic pauses where they could refine their strategies.

During each game, a pair of military specialists analysed the performance of the players and explained how the real historical battle unfolded. Lynette Nusbacher appeared in every episode of the first two series and was joined on a rotating basis by Mike Loades, Saul David, Mark Urban or Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy, the series' historical advisor. In the 2016 revival, Nusbacher and Loades fulfilled this role in all three episodes.

Background

The game engine used was based on Rome: Total War , the game being released a year later. Rome: Total War designer and writer Mike Brunton said, "Time Commanders did use Rome code pretty much 'as is', with tweaks for different troop types and camera controls". The televised programmes contained no reference to the origin of the software powering the 3D visuals, due to the BBC's rules against product placement; however Rome: Total War makers The Creative Assembly were named in the credits of the show with a specific mention of them providing the game engine.

A tie-in book was written by Peter Harrison and published by Virgin Books in 2004, called Time Commanders: Great Battles of the Ancient World. It covered the 16 battles of the first series, along with details of all the contestants in each of the teams, which battle and which army they each played and whether they won or lost the battle they had been given.

Airings

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
14 September 2003 [1] 26 March 2004 [2] 16
216 January 2005 [3] 13 March 2005 [4] 8
312 December 2016 [5] 27 December 2016 [6] 3 [6]

Episodes

Series 1 (2003):

  1. Trebia (218 BC)
  2. Watling Street (AD 60 or 61)
  3. Bibracte (58 BC)
  4. Mons Graupius (AD 83)
  5. Tigranocerta (69 BC)
  6. Pharsalus (48 BC)
  7. Cannae (216 BC)
  8. Raphia (217 BC)
  9. Qadesh (1274 BC)
  10. Leuctra (371 BC)
  11. Adrianople (AD 378)
  12. Telamon (225 BC)
  13. Gaugamela (331 BC)
  14. Chalons (AD 451)
  15. Marathon (490 BC)
  16. Silarus River (71 BC)

Series 2 (2005):

  1. Teutoburg Forest (AD 9)
  2. Stamford Bridge (AD 1066)
  3. Hydaspes (326 BC)
  4. Cynoscephalae (197 BC)
  5. Dara (AD 530)
  6. Troy (circa 1200s BC)
  7. Hastings (AD 1066)
  8. Sarmizegethusa (AD 106)

Series 3 (2016):

  1. Battle of Zama 202 BC
  2. The Battle of Waterloo, June 1815
  3. Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, June 451 AD (same battle as series 1, episode 14, under a different name)

Related Research Articles

<i>The Weakest Link</i> (British game show) British television quiz show

The Weakest Link is a British television quiz show, mainly broadcast on BBC Two and BBC One. It was devised by Fintan Coyle and Cathy Dunning and developed for television by the BBC Entertainment Department. The game begins with a team of nine contestants, who take turns answering general knowledge questions within a time limit to create chains of nine correct answers in a row. At the end of each round, the players then vote one contestant, "the weakest link", out of the game. After two players are left, they play in a head-to-head penalty shootout format, with five questions asked to each contestant in turn, to determine the winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Gatiss</span> British actor, screenwriter and novelist

Mark Gatiss is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series Doctor Who, Sherlock, Game of Thrones and Dracula. Together with Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Jeremy Dyson, he is a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen.

<i>Total War</i> (video game series) Computer strategy game series

Total War is a series of strategy games developed by British developer Creative Assembly for personal computers. They combine turn-based strategy and resource management with real-time tactical control of battles. Rather uniquely for real-time strategy games, flanking manoeuvers and formations factor heavily into gameplay. The first of the series, Shogun: Total War, was released in June 2000. The most recent major game released was Total War: Warhammer III on February 17, 2022. As of October 2022, the series has sold over 40.4 million copies.

<i>Ready Steady Cook</i> BBC daytime TV cooking game show

Ready Steady Cook is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott became the new host. In August 2000, when Harriott took over, the duration of the programme was extended from 30 to 45 minutes.

<i>Rome: Total War</i> 2004 video game

Rome: Total War is a strategy video game developed by The Creative Assembly and originally published by Activision; its publishing rights have since passed to Sega. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in 2004. The macOS version was released on February 5, 2010, by Feral Interactive, who also released the iPad version on November 10, 2016, the iPhone version on August 23, 2018, and the Android version on December 19, 2018. The game is the third title in The Creative Assembly's Total War series, following Shogun: Total War, and Medieval: Total War.

<i>Question of Sport</i> BBC quiz show

Question of Sport is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It is the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast only in the north of England, the series has run since 1970 and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020. It is currently presented by Paddy McGuinness, with team captains Sam Quek and Ugo Monye.

<i>Challenge Anneka</i> British entertainment reality programme

Challenge Anneka is a British entertainment reality programme that originally aired on BBC1 from 8 September 1989 to 15 October 1995 and is hosted by Anneka Rice.

<i>Advance Wars: Dual Strike</i> 2005 video game

Advance Wars: Dual Strike, known as Famicom Wars DS in Japan, is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is the third installment in the Advance Wars series and was released in 2005 for Japan on June 23, in North America on August 22, in Europe on September 30 and in Australia on March 22, 2006. The game is preceded by Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising and Advance Wars and succeeded by Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Advance Wars is the international title of the Wars video game series, which dates back to the Family Computer game Famicom Wars in 1988.

<i>Eggheads</i> (game show) British quiz show

Eggheads is a British quiz show produced by 12 Yard. It was first broadcast in November 2003 chaired by Dermot Murnaghan. In 2008, Jeremy Vine became joint chair, and subsequently sole chair. The show has inspired three spinoff series: Are You an Egghead? (2008), Revenge of the Egghead (2014) and Make Me an Egghead (2016). There have also been episodes of the regular series featuring teams of celebrities in their own short series, with their own rolling prize fund.

<i>Langrisser</i> Video game series

Langrisser is a fantasy tactical role-playing video game series created by Masaya Games. The main development team is Career Soft, first as Team Career within Masaya Games for the first three games and then as an independent studio for Langrisser IV and V. The series has a fantasy-Germanic setting, but draws on religious concepts like ditheism and sword worship for historical context. The series was originally released for Sega platforms during the 1990s, with the first two installments originally made for the Mega Drive, followed by third through fifth installments for the Sega Saturn. Ports and remakes were also made for other platforms such as PC Engine, Super Famicom, PC-FX and PlayStation during the same period.

Going for Gold is a British television game show that originally aired on BBC1 between 12 October 1987 and 9 July 1996. It was revived for Channel 5 from 13 October 2008 to 20 March 2009.

<i>Still Game</i> BBC television comedy series

Still Game is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis, Esq and Victor McDade, two Glaswegian pensioners. The characters first appeared in the pair's previous TV sketch show Chewin' the Fat, which aired in Scotland from January 1999 until December 2005.

One Man and His Dog is a BBC television series in the United Kingdom featuring sheepdog trials, originally presented by Phil Drabble, with commentary by Eric Halsall and, later, by Ray Ollerenshaw. It was first aired on 17 February 1976 and continues today as a special annual edition of Countryfile. In 1994, Robin Page replaced Drabble as the main presenter. Gus Dermody took over as commentator until 2012.

Europa Barbarorum, or EB, is a modification of the PC game Rome: Total War (RTW) based on the desire to provide Rome: Total War players with a more historically accurate game experience.

Philip Jackson is an English actor known for his many television and film roles, most notably as Chief Inspector Japp in both the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot and in BBC Radio dramatisations of Poirot stories; as Melvin "Dylan" Bottomley in Porridge; and as Abbot Hugo, one of the recurring adversaries in the cult 1980s series Robin of Sherwood.

Mysti is a British children's television programme, produced by Mystical Productions for the BBC from 17 April 2004 to 16 December 2005. It initially took the format of an hour-long programme combining magazine and narrative elements, but was subsequently reformed into a series of 20-minute, all-narrative programmes.

Command Decisions was a series produced by Hoff Productions which aired on The History Channel in 2004. Each episode depicted an historic battle through re-creations, and gave the viewer an opportunity to test his or her skills, strategies, and nerve as a commander through nine questions. The viewer was asked to imagine themselves in the mind of the battlefield commander, and would choose from 3 options for how to proceed.

<i>Horrible Histories: Gory Games</i> British childrens game show

Horrible Histories: Gory Games is a children's game show, co-produced by Citrus Television and Lion Television for CBBC, that debuted in 2011. It is a spin-off of hit children's sketch comedy Horrible Histories and is a product of the same creative team.

The Alphabet Game is a comedy panel game show that aired on BBC1 from 5 August 1996 to 27 March 1997 and is hosted by Andrew O'Connor. The programme was created by O'Connor, Rebecca Thornhill, Mark Maxwell-Smith and produced by Objective Productions. It was remade in Spain as Pasapalabra, for which ITV Studios sued Telecinco for €17,000,000; ITV would later remake the show as Alphabetical.

This is a timeline of the history of BBC Two.

References

  1. ↑ "Time Commanders – BBC Two England – 4 September 2003". BBC Genome Project. 4 September 2003. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  2. ↑ "Time Commanders – BBC Two England – 26 March 2004". BBC Genome Project. 26 March 2004. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  3. ↑ "Time Commanders – BBC Two England – 16 January 2005". BBC Genome Project. 16 January 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  4. ↑ "Time Commanders – BBC Two England – 13 March 2005". BBC Genome Project. 13 March 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "Time Commanders – Series 3, Episode 1". BBC Online . Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Time Commanders – Series 3, Episode 3". BBC Online . Retrieved 18 March 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.