Oh! What a lovely podcast

What does the First World War look like when it arrives not as a battle, but as an invasion of home, family, and childhood?
In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast, we discuss My Soul, A Shining Tree, a novel by Jamila Gavin that explores the opening months of the First World War through the experiences of children, civilians, and young soldiers caught up in the German invasion of Belgium in 1914.
References:
Jamilia Gavin, My Soul, A Shining Tree (2025)
Christopher Clark,  The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 (2013)

What does the First World War look like when the story is driven not by battles, but by loss, hope and unanswered questions?
In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast, we turn to A Very Long Engagement, Jean Pierre Jeunet's 2004 French film set during and after the First World War. The story centres on Mathilde, a young woman who refuses to accept that her fiancé has died after being condemned by a French military tribunal and sent into No Man's Land.
As Mathilde begins her own investigation, the film moves between the violence of the trenches and the fragile hopes of life on the home front. Through a complex and shifting narrative, A Very Long Engagement reveals how chance, cruelty and survival shaped the fate of a group of soldiers caught up in the war.
Links:
A Very Long Engagement, Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2004)
Amilie, Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2001)
Alien Resurrection, Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1997)
Un long dimanche de fiançailles, Sébastien Japrisot (1991)
Paths of Glory, Dir. Stanley Kubrick (1957)

Can a film about the First World War work without trenches or battles?
In this episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast, Angus, Jessica and Chris discuss the 2025 film The Choral, which uses song, performance and collective experience to explore the impact of the First World War on a northern English community. We talk about what the film gets right, where it challenges expectations, and how it fits into wider portrayals of the war on screen.

Can a story about soldiers shaking hands in the snow carry a warning for the nuclear age?
This episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast brings Jessica, Chris and Angus together with Anne Marie Einhaus for a conversation about Robert Graves short story Christmas Truce. The story appears in the Penguin Book of First World War Stories and follows an elderly veteran who recalls the rare moments in 1914 and 1915 when soldiers on both sides met peacefully in the frozen landscape between the trenches.
Through these memories the veteran describes friendship that cuts through wartime propaganda, as well as the swift return of violence. Set against a discussion with his grandson in the early 1960s, the story contrasts youthful optimism in the anti nuclear movement with the weary caution of lived experience. It is a thoughtful look at the limits of goodwill and the forces that shape conflict.
References:
Graves, R. (2007) 'Christmas Truce', in Ein­haus, A-M. (ed.) The Penguin Book of First World War Stories. London: Penguin Classics
Keynes, G. (1962) A Bibliography of Siegfried Sassoon. London: R. Hart-Davis.
Levy, D. (dir.) (1995) Silent Night (Stille Nacht)

Was Blackadder Goes Forth the most powerful portrayal of the First World War ever put on television?
In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast, Jessica, Chris and Angus take a look at the enduring legacy of Blackadder Goes Forth. First broadcast on BBC One in 1989, the series blended sharp wit and biting satire with a surprisingly moving look at life – and death – on the Western Front.
The team discuss how the show evolved, the historical realities behind its humour, and why that unforgettable final scene still resonates decades later. They also explore how Blackadder helped shape popular perceptions of the Great War, influencing how generations have come to understand the conflict and its soldiers.
So, was Blackadder Goes Forth just a comedy – or something far more profound?
 
References:
Badsey, S. (2014) The Two Western Fronts: The First World War and the Second World War in British History and Memory. London: Continuum.
Barker, P. (1991) Regeneration. London: Viking.
BBC (1964) The Great War [Television series]. London: BBC.
Bet-El, I. (1999) Conscripts: Lost Legacies of the Great War. Stroud: Sutton Publishing.
Iserwood, I. (2017) Remembering the Great War: The Nation, the Public and the First World War Commemoration. London: Bloomsbury.
Newman, S. (dir.) (2025) The Choral
Faulks, S. (1993) Birdsong. London: Hutchinson.