suddenly, one of the show’s history experts starts getting very excited.
September 24, 2023 2:47 AM Subscribe
Time Commanders is a technological game show which sends contestants back in time to reenact historical battles, with the aid of an unnamed real-time strategic combat simulation and 3D CGI visualisations provided by The Creative Assembly.
The series also featured historical experts (Dr. Lynette Nusbacher plus one other on a rotating basis) who would make quiet observations, expound on the historical context, or despairingly beg the contestants to make good decisions. At the end of each episode they were given the opportunity to educate the team on the actual events and/or throw plastic army blocks around.
Time Commanders is unfortunately not available on BBC iPlayer, and a hypothetical YouTube playlist containing most of the episodes in full would of course be copyright infringement.
The series was briefly revived in 2016 for a 3-episode run, but the BBC should commission more Time Commanders.
The series also featured historical experts (Dr. Lynette Nusbacher plus one other on a rotating basis) who would make quiet observations, expound on the historical context, or despairingly beg the contestants to make good decisions. At the end of each episode they were given the opportunity to educate the team on the actual events and/or throw plastic army blocks around.
Time Commanders is unfortunately not available on BBC iPlayer, and a hypothetical YouTube playlist containing most of the episodes in full would of course be copyright infringement.
The series was briefly revived in 2016 for a 3-episode run, but the BBC should commission more Time Commanders.
Having not just watched 3 episodes on youtube this morning I cancan't confirm that the best episodes are the ones where the Mike Loades is the bonus historian and brings weapons into the studio for impromptu demonstrations.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 6:00 AM on September 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 6:00 AM on September 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
I actually really like this kind of "throw modern-day people into a historical scenario" kind of thing; the UK seems to do this way more, and better, than we do it in the US.
And even better, you can start to catch some of the older ones on Youtube. In 2010 there was a series where they took over the "Main Street" for a small Somerset town, taking over four empty storefronts and turning them into different shops from different periods in history, with a different family or shopowner consistently assigned to the same establishment throughout history, sometimes adjusting things based on how each would have adjusted throughout time (i.e., the general store owner of the 1930s became the supermarket owner of the 1960s, while the butcher of the 1910s had to become another general store in the 1960s; the baker of the 1800s had to become a tea room in the 1910s, then a restaurant in the 1940s, and then a soda fountain in the 1960s).
That was actually surprisingly illuminating - the show runners asked for some local residents to agree to shop from these storefronts the majority of the time, and got their feedback on the experience in each time period. Many of them said that they loved the level of service they got in the older time periods, but - when the series got to the 1960s, when the "local butcher" had had to downshift to being a general store, all the customers still favored the supermarket, because "you can just pop in and get your stuff quick" and "they have more of a selection". When the hosts pointed out that "a couple weeks ago, you said you liked the personal touch, so what happened" all the customers hemmed and hawed and dodged the question. You could tell it was starting to sink in with some people that they'd been wondering "why don't we have this personal touch any more" and realizing "oh, hang on, I'm part of the problem".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:30 AM on September 24, 2023 [8 favorites]
And even better, you can start to catch some of the older ones on Youtube. In 2010 there was a series where they took over the "Main Street" for a small Somerset town, taking over four empty storefronts and turning them into different shops from different periods in history, with a different family or shopowner consistently assigned to the same establishment throughout history, sometimes adjusting things based on how each would have adjusted throughout time (i.e., the general store owner of the 1930s became the supermarket owner of the 1960s, while the butcher of the 1910s had to become another general store in the 1960s; the baker of the 1800s had to become a tea room in the 1910s, then a restaurant in the 1940s, and then a soda fountain in the 1960s).
That was actually surprisingly illuminating - the show runners asked for some local residents to agree to shop from these storefronts the majority of the time, and got their feedback on the experience in each time period. Many of them said that they loved the level of service they got in the older time periods, but - when the series got to the 1960s, when the "local butcher" had had to downshift to being a general store, all the customers still favored the supermarket, because "you can just pop in and get your stuff quick" and "they have more of a selection". When the hosts pointed out that "a couple weeks ago, you said you liked the personal touch, so what happened" all the customers hemmed and hawed and dodged the question. You could tell it was starting to sink in with some people that they'd been wondering "why don't we have this personal touch any more" and realizing "oh, hang on, I'm part of the problem".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:30 AM on September 24, 2023 [8 favorites]
"Honey, how often do you think about commanding historical battles?"
"Hmm. Not that often, maybe once or twice week."
posted by Flaffigan at 7:43 AM on September 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
"Hmm. Not that often, maybe once or twice week."
posted by Flaffigan at 7:43 AM on September 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
Funny, I was just thinking about the Roman Empire...
posted by credulous at 9:32 AM on September 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by credulous at 9:32 AM on September 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
I loved Time Commanders. Especially the good early ones with Eddie Mair.
The later dumbed down ones with Richard Hammond didn't work so well.
The historian experts brought as lot to the table. I always enjoyed the contrast between Nusbacher's cerebral officer vibe talking about vs Loades's more hands on Sergeant vibe.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:27 PM on September 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
The later dumbed down ones with Richard Hammond didn't work so well.
The historian experts brought as lot to the table. I always enjoyed the contrast between Nusbacher's cerebral officer vibe talking about vs Loades's more hands on Sergeant vibe.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:27 PM on September 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
this ought to be interesting on an Apple VR thingy. With LLMs mapped to the Field Marshal domain you could play Napoleon for a day, French proficiency optional
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 2:25 PM on September 24, 2023
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 2:25 PM on September 24, 2023
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posted by Nyrath at 5:54 AM on September 24, 2023 [2 favorites]