The drama of history

I could barely contain my delight: 'The Prince of Wales says 'Yes.'' The call from Clarence House last March was the culmination of six months of negotiations, and His agreement to introduce our drama documentary series on the history of the Victoria Cross helped to secure a commission within days. Five grabbed hold of the project even though we were a relatively young production company with no real track record in this genre. A budget of £1.1 million was put in place - the only caveat was that transmission was to be this November. We had just six months in which to translate what everyone knew was a brilliant idea into a three-hour tribute to the incredible bravery of the men who hold the Commonwealth's highest gallantry award. For Empire - which previously had concentrated almost exclusively on documentary productions - a specialist factual, drama doc was a quantum leap.

November 1, 2006

I could barely contain my delight: 'The Prince of Wales says 'Yes.'' The call from Clarence House last March was the culmination of six months of negotiations, and His agreement to introduce our drama documentary series on the history of the Victoria Cross helped to secure a commission within days. Five grabbed hold of the project even though we were a relatively young production company with no real track record in this genre. A budget of £1.1 million was put in place - the only caveat was that transmission was to be this November. We had just six months in which to translate what everyone knew was a brilliant idea into a three-hour tribute to the incredible bravery of the men who hold the Commonwealth's highest gallantry award. For Empire - which previously had concentrated almost exclusively on documentary productions - a specialist factual, drama doc was a quantum leap.