Time Commanders

Time Commanders was a series of programmes made by Lion TV and PlayGen for BBC Two that ran for two seasons from 2003 to 2005. The programmes, originally hosted by Eddie Mair and more recently by Richard Hammond, featured a specially made game engine to reenact historical battles. A team of four contestants would direct the forces on one side. The teams were unfamiliar with computer games, to make sure their gaming skills do not influence their success.

After a brief introduction of the battle, including an overview of military units, terrain and available forces, the players had to develop a strategy and then deploy their forces. Two of the players were selected as generals, who will direct the battle and have access to a strategic map. The other two players were designated lieutenants in the first series, and captains in the second. The units were indirectly controlled by the lieutenants, who issued commands to programme assistants, who in turn used the game interface to control the units. Troop deployment and battle followed, although in the second series there was a small skirmish conducted as a separate event, to acquaint the players with the game mechanics and their units. In the second series the team also got strategic pauses where they could refine their strategies.

The game engine used was based on the real-time strategy game Rome: Total War, the game being released a year later. Rome: Total War designer and writer Mike Brunton said, "Time Commanders did use Rome code pretty much 'as is', with tweaks for different troop types and camera controls". The televised programmes contained no reference to the origin of the software powering the 3D visuals, due to the BBC's rules against product placement; however Rome: Total War makers The Creative Assembly were named in the credits of the show with a specific mention of them providing the game engine.

During each game, a pair of military specialists analysed the performance of the players and explained how the real historical battle unfolded. Dr. Aryeh Nusbacher of Sandhurst, who appeared in every episode, was joined on a rotating basis by Mike Loades, Saul David, Mark Urban or Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy, the series' historical advisor. A tie-in book was written by Peter Harrison and published by Virgin Books in 2004, called Time Commanders: Great Battles of the Ancient World. It covered the 16 battles of the first series, along with details of all the contestants in each of the teams, which battle and which army they each played and whether they won or lost the battle they had been given.