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Battle for the Himalayas: The Fight to Film Everest

Episode 4 of 6

The story of how film-makers turned the conquest of Himalayan peaks into great propaganda by Imperial Britain, Nazi Germany and superpower America from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Between the 1920s and the 1960s the world's great powers sent vast military-style expeditions to conquer the peaks of the Himalayas, with Everest at their head. This was a great game played - camera in hand - by Imperial Britain, Nazi Germany and superpower America. As a result, Himalayan mountaineering's most iconic, epic and tragic moments didn't just go down in history, but were caught on film - from the deaths of Mallory and Irvine on Everest in 1924, to Everest's final conquest in 1953 by Hillary and Tensing. Using footage never before seen on British television, this is the story how of how film-makers turned the great peaks into great propaganda.

60 minutes

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:40

    Amon Tobin

    Ruthless

  • 00:52

    Boards of Canada

    Sundown

Credits

Role Contributor
Narrator Hugh Bonneville
Producer Steve O'Hagan
Director Steve O'Hagan
Executive Producer Michael Poole

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