Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland

Some may argue, that the "troubles" (too trivial a term for the "Horrors" they were) are past history, and to let it rest.

No.

You can learn from history, and hopefully avoid a repeat of it. (sadly due to human nature a faint hope).

This series examined the history of people who were involved in, (and those not directly involved), who suffered as a result, through absolutely riveting interviews interspersed with well selected news items. The interviewees came across as being totally truthful with very little disingenuity. (In a very few areas I caught a whiff of BS)

My background covers both sides involved, so a lot of the material was familiar to me. I do have an opinion on the root causes of the problem which allowed the "Horrors" to escalate, so perhaps at the start was viewing it in a slightly partisan way, but having watched this it's made it even clearer that no side "won". Everyone lost. Bravo to the team who made it.

Wow, what a find. First its a wonderful history of the "troubles" - if you want know the background of how it all started, the conflicting beliefs and views and where all the anger came from it does a great job. But the real tribute to this production is how it does it. Interviewing all sides, exploring all the different perspectives and revealing all the pain, anger and suffering on all sides. The futility of all this hate and violence, the unbearable suffering and pain inflicted by all parties on each other - the sheer waste of so much life. A truly remarkable insight into this terrible period of life in this part of the world. A must watch.

I didn't grow up in Northern Ireland, although the news throughout my childhood was dominated by events in Ulster.

This series is one of the best 'oral history' programmes I've seen. It's like a mini 'World at War' for the 70s, 80s and 90s in Northern Ireland. It features primary accounts from those involved in 'The Troubles' on all sides with the benefit of hindsight.

I watched it with my kids who enthralled. They were horrified at the atrocities that took place in a corner of the United Kingdom just a generation ago. It provided a hard hitting context the the lessons they're taught at school which will hopefully prevent this from happening again.

Terrascotia has taken the trouble in this forum to make a strong argument against this series. I respect that person's point of view but I profoundly disagree with those conclusions.

My wife and I finished watching the series last night and we have both urged our children and others to watch it. We are both 69 years old and lived through the events in Belfast and in Derry.

I never felt that watching this was providing vicarious thrills. Rather I felt that this format presented vividly the experiences of individuals from different traditions in ways which seemed very fresh and honest. There was no attempt to provide a detailed history - this was done very well in the Spotlight series - here it was all about what the Troubles really meant to different people at the time and in retrospect. Some of it was very difficult to listen to but so worthwhile.

Making it about individuals, not just 'sides'. I was grateful for this timely reminder of how awful things were / still are in some ways and especially for giving a voice to victims who tend to be conveniently forgotten in the rush to garner votes.

I was born in the 70s and grew up as a child in the 80s in the United States. I am an American of primarily Northern Irish (and British) ancestry, and when hearing news stories about bombings and violence I remember thinking how horrible these people who could have easily been my family if they had stayed. But I was a kid it was across the pond so whatever so I forgot five minutes after heading the news story.

I thought the approach to the film, a 5 part series of slow interviews, was a snooze fest at first. But as you watch the series, you realize how the Troubles went from isolated events that didn't register to families and communities being torn apart. It really builds and drives home the point that these were just ordinary people.

Really enjoyed this and learned a lot.