Best Australian war series

Tenko (1981)

Based on real-life experiences, Tenko remains one of the most fondly remembered and acclaimed BBC dramas of the early 1980s. It follows a group of women, formerly comfortably well-off ex-pats living in Singapore, as they are captured by the Japanese during World War II.

Changi (2001)

Six young Australians go to war, full of confidence and bravado. They land in Singapore in 1942, just in time for surrender. With 15,000 others, they are marched off to Changi prison camp. Together, the six boys survive three and a half years of incarceration. Almost sixty years later, the six prepare to get together for what may be their last hurrah.

Hell on Earth (2022)

Vietnam (1987)

The Goddard family is about to be torn apart by the arrival of Australian conscription during the Vietnam War.

Heroes II: The Return (1991)

Heroes II: the Return is a 1991 Australian mini-series about Operation Rimau during World War II.The true and tragic story of Operation Rimau, one of the most daring raids of WW2. In September 1944 Ivan Lyon and 22 Australian and British troops attempted to blow up Japanese ships in Singapore. Just 10 miles away from the target they are discovered and so begin a long and desperate bid to escape to Australia. The series shows how after the war it is revealled that 13 men were killed during the pursuit and that the remaining 10 were murdered by the Japanese in a war crime. Tragically this was covered up and their killers were never charged while the men themselves never received any honours for their heroism.

A Town Like Alice (1981)

Set against the brutal chaos of World War II, a love story begins that will take two lovers through a living nightmare of captivity, across three continents and two decades.

True Evil: The Making of a Nazi (2018)

This ground-breaking series examines the lives of the leading Nazis, in an effort to answer the question, why did it happen? It explores and tries to understand the incredible transformation of educated men into Nazi criminals, by charting the lives of six people who over the course of 20 years descend into moral oblivion.

Anzacs (1985)

Anzacs was a 1985 5-part Australian miniseries set in World War I. The series follows the lives of a group of young Australian men who enlist in the 8th Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force in 1914, fighting first at Gallipoli in 1915, and then on the Western Front for the remainder of the war.

The World War: 1914-1945 (2022)

An original and dramatic series that views the most violent and significant episodes in modern history from a fresh perspective – not as two world wars, but as a continuous narrative of error, ambition, revolution and courage. An expert re-examination of history forms links and conclusions that tie the entire war period together and, with the benefit of hindsight, pieces together how the world went and stayed at war for so much of the 20th century.

Australians at War (2001)

A documentary series which covers the major wars and conflicts in which Australia has participated this century, and which explores how the Australian experience of war has contributed to the development of the Nation.

In Their Footsteps (2011)

In Their Footsteps is a ten-part documentary depicting Australian families and war.The first episode aired in Australia on 8 May 2011 on the Nine Network.In each episode an Australian will retrace the steps of a close ancestor’s wartime experience.

The Howard Years (2008)

The Howard Years was a documentary series about the prime ministership of John Howard produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was divided into four one-hour episodes - one episode for each term Howard served as Prime Minister of Australia - and originally broadcast on ABC1 from 17 November to 8 December 2008.

World War II: Battles Won and Lost (2017)

This sweeping World War II series examines the outcome of battles fought in every major theater. It shows that these battles were decided by strategy and by which armies could capitalize on the terrain or gain better access to supplies. Whether waged by the Allies or by Hitler and the Axis powers, victory or defeat could determine possession of territory, resources, or the will to go on fighting.

The True Believers (1988)

The True Believers is a 1988 Australian mini series which looks at the history of the Australian Labor Party from the end of World War Two up to the Australian Labor Party split of 1955.It was co-written by Bob Ellis who focused on three characters "Chifley, the unlettered man of great dignity; Menzies, who used to stand for something but eventually stood only for Menzies; and Evatt, the grand idealist... It's almost like Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1. It's a chunk of national history during Australia's great era of change after the war."

The War That Changed Us (2014)

The story of Australia and the First World War is revealed through the lives of six Australians. Brought to life through personal testimony, dramatic reconstruction, expert analysis, location filming and colourised archive.

Sword of Honour (1986)

Capturing the spirit of the age and the turmoil of the times, Sword of Honour tells the heartbreaking story of a nation at war, the soldiers who left their families to fight, the social upheaval and the emotionally perilous journey back home. At 21, Tony Lawrence (Logie winner Andrew Clarke, ANZACs) won the Military College's Sword of Honour. At 22 he was fighting in the Vietnam War with his best friend and Brother in Law, Frank Vittorio (Alan Fletcher, Neighbours), just as the conflict began to escalate. The horrors and carnage of the war leave an indellible impression on the two young men - ripping them apart from their families, girlfriends and country. Back home after the devastation of the battlefields, both men try to cope with life in their own way. Sword of Honour is a gripping 6 hour 4-part miniseries that will take you back to a time and conflict that created heroes and divided a nation.

1915 (1982)

1915 is a 1982 Australian mini series about two friends who wind up serving in World War One.

Frankie's House (1992)

In 1964 in Laos, young Tim Page discovers his vocation as a photo journalist and is given a job, a camera, and a trip to Vietnam. There, he learns the ropes, learns about the war first in Saigon, and then in country on patrol with troops. He and his colleagues, including the sons of Errol Flynn and John Steinbeck, capture the war in pictures, recover from their wounds, swap stories, battle censorship, and support each other between the explosions at the brothel run by Tranh Ki: Frankie's House.

Deception: World War II (2021)

Anzac Battlefields (2014)

Through graphics, archive, oral history and travels across the scenes of past battles, Neil Pigot and Dr Peter Pedersen explain where, why and how the ANZACs fought in France and Belgium almost 100 years ago.

Jungle War (2019)

Jungle Warfare in the 20th century, from WW2, to Malaya and Indonesia, to Vietnam and Cuba.

The Alien Years (1988)

The Alien Years is a three-part miniseries that first aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on 19 April 1988. It was directed by Donald Crombie and written by Peter Yeldham. It stars Victoria Longley, John Hargreaves and Academy Award-winner, Christoph Waltz. Yeldham later adapted his screenplay into a novel of the same name.