Documentary series Mountbatten: A Television History was a mammoth undertaking telling the life story of Lord Mountbatten the Last Viceroy of India.
The 12 part series followed Mountbatten, the great grandson of Queen Victoria, through his earliest days in the Navy and his role in world war II as Supreme Allied Commander-South East Asia through to his role as the last Viceroy of India where he helped bring about Independence for that country (after Independence he was asked to remain as the the first Governor-General of free India).
In the 1950’s Mountbatten became First Sea Lord of the British Navy. The documentary follows him up until 1969. Louis Mountbatten was murdered by the IRA while sailing near his holiday home in County Sligo, Ireland, on 27th August, 1979. The series also works as a great overview of the twentieth century itself.
classic quote
“I was born in the year 1900… I have lived through all the tremendous changes of the twentieth century; social, political, technological. This has been a troubled century-but it’s been exciting too.”
On Thursday 19 December 1968 @ 11.00pm a 45 minute Royal Preview took a look at the forthcoming series. Director was Steve Minchin.
Mountbatten was the subject of a special edition of This Is Your Life hosted by Eamonn Andrews and broadcast on the ITV Network Monday 26 December 1977 @ 1:20pm, this ran for a long 70 minutes instead of the usual 30 minutes (Producer was Jack Crawshaw) and four years earlier on the ITV Network on Monday 1 January 1973 6.45pm he appeared on Opportunity Knocks of all things, presenting the trophy for the overall winner of the previous years series (contenders included Bobby Crush, Frankie Stevens and Candlewick Green)
production details
UK / ITV – Imperial War Musem / 12×60 minutes / 1969
Producer: Peter Morley / Film Editors: John Zambardi and Alan Afrait / Sound Recordist: Basil Rootes / Dubbing Mixer: Freddie Slade / Cameraman: Michael Rhodes / Script research: Michael Nicholson and CDR. R Bousfield RN / Film Research: John Rowe / Dubbing Editors: Rosemary Macloughlin and David Martindale / Narrator: Alec Mango
