When We Go to War

When We Go to War
Genre	Drama
Created by	Gavin Strawhan Briar Grace-Smith
Written by	Gavin Strawhan Briar Grace-Smith Rachel Lang
Directed by	Peter Burger
Starring	Esther Stephens Shavaughn Ruakere Alexander Tarrant Ido Drent Freya Milner Tom O'Sullivan Leith Towers Andrew Grainger Sylvia Rands Gareth Williams Sophia Hybens
Composer	Tom McLeod
Country of origin	New Zealand
Original language	English
No. of episodes	6
Production
Producers	Robin Scholes Gavin Strawhan
Cinematography	DJ Stipsen
Editor	Eric de Beus
Production company	Jump Film & TV
Original release
Network	TV One
Release	26 April (2015-April-26) – 24 May 2015 (2015-May-24)

When We Go to War is a 2015 television drama miniseries from New Zealand directed by Peter Burger. The series uses fictional characters to depict the impact of the First World War on New Zealanders at home as well as in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the Gallipoli Campaign and in Egypt. The series premiered in 2015, the centenary year of the Gallipoli campaign, with its first two episodes aired together during the ANZAC day holiday weekend.[1]

Production

The six one-hour episodes were commissioned and broadcast by TVNZ. Each episode is framed around a letter written by one of six young men and women, who, in 1914 on the eve of World War I, are full of plans and dreams.[2][3][4] Studio filming was undertaken at Studio West in West Auckland.[5]

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	N.Z. viewers (millions) [6]
1	"Bea's Letter"	Peter Burger	Gavin Strawhan	26 April 2015 (2015-04-26)	314,820
2	"Manaaki's Letter"	Peter Burger	Briar Grace-Smith, Rachel Lang and Gavin Strawhan	26 April 2015 (2015-04-26)	314,820
3	"Harry's Letter"	Peter Burger	Gavin Strawhan, Briar Grace-Smith and Rachel Lang	3 May 2015 (2015-05-03)	305,820
4	"Awa's Letter"	Peter Burger	Rachel Lang	10 May 2015 (2015-05-10)	273,310
5	"Charles' Letter"	Peter Burger	Gavin Strawhan	17 May 2015 (2015-05-17)	267,450
6	"Cissy's Letter"	Peter Burger	Rachel Lang	24 May 2015 (2015-05-24)	284,840

References

1. Baillie, Russell (18 April 2015). "TV review: When We Go To War's debut episode". NZ Herald. NZME. Publishing Limited. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
2. "Illuminate - When We Go To War". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
3. Roberts, Sarah. "Gallipoli drama to screen". Manukau Courier. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
4. Drinnan, John (25 July 2013). "Media freedom under fire". New Zealand Herald. NZME. Publishing Limited. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
5. "Our Story". Studio West. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
6. "Ratings archives". Throng. Throng Ltd. Retrieved 7 August 2015.

External links

• When We Go to War at IMDb