Readers may recall the appalling ‘Nazi War Diggers’ TV Show which was cancelled by the National Geographic channel in 2014, and by Foxtel in Australia this year, after much concern was expressed by the professional archaeological community and others worldwide. Now it’s reared its ugly head again under the guise of ‘Battlefield Recovery’ and has been bought by Channel 5 UK for it’s first outing this evening.
Here’s what we had to say about ‘Battlefield Recovery’/’Nazi War Diggers the last time. Regardless of whether the new show has been sanitised, the treatment of the human remains during filming remains a disgrace.
National Geographic Channel have outdone themselves with this clip from what looks to be an appalling ‘Archaeology’ of WW2 show called ‘Nazi War Diggers’ (Update – Clip seems to have been removed, No.. Back again, slightly edited…). The name alone raises alarm bells. The ‘talent’ who are charged to race ‘against time to save this history from being looted or lost’ are listed on the website as a metal detectorist, a World War 2 enthusiast and a ‘leading militaria and antique dealer’.
It’s caused quite a bit of concern in the archaeological community on Twitter and Facebook. The clip shows a femur roughly tugged from the ground and mistaken for a humerus. But it’s Okay – these tough digger guys shed some tears and get a little emotional about the War Dead.
Paul Barford has more on the Stars here.
Here’s Deathsplainings response..
Conflict Antiquities poses a number of questions to the producers here (and has received some sort of response) – update – National Geographic Channel are preparing a Q & A.
The initial defence of the programme has come on twitter from one of the presenters – Kris Rodgers who says (Update: Kris says he’s received threats, hatred and spite – Paul Barford elaborates.. Criticism of the clip is perfectly reasonable but threats, not nice – As Paul says ‘If people, archaeologists in particular, really have been doing this, then let’s name and shame them together’...) :
@MayaResearchPro You haven’t even seen it yet….That clip is VERY bad, but please trust me that everything is done right. This is TV.
The initial defence of the programme has come on twitter from one of the presenters – Kris Rodgers who says (Update: Kris says he’s received threats, hatred and spite – Paul Barford elaborates.. Criticism of the clip is perfectly reasonable but threats, not nice – As Paul says ‘If people, archaeologists in particular, really have been doing this, then let’s name and shame them together’...) :
@MayaResearchPro You haven’t even seen it yet….That clip is VERY bad, but please trust me that everything is done right. This is TV.
— Kris Rodgers (@theblogofkris) March 26, 2014
So that s alright then.. It’s TV right? There’s a comment facility on the clip page and Colleen Morgan has posted some contact details for anyone who wants to express their concern. There are some more twitter responses embedded below..
Angry about “Nazi War Diggers”? Here’s some contact info for @NatGeoChannel: ChannelsViewerComments@Natgeotv.com; +1 (202) 912-6770 — Colleen Morgan (@clmorgan) March 27, 2014
“So that’s his leg?” Battlefield treasure hunting on Nat Geo – a disgrace that myself & others advised against. http://t.co/Sidt2aXDSV — Tony Pollard (@DrTonyPollard) March 26, 2014
This is not archaeology; this is absolutely diabolical @NatGeo @NatGeoChannel, if not entirely illegal http://t.co/M1nlTG0qRc
— Emily Wright (@VitaEmilia) March 26, 2014
Glorified treasure hunting. Experienced archaeologists should look away now, while these idiots yank out a femur… http://t.co/CW8y1lzLDy
— Discovery Programme (@DiscProg) March 26, 2014
UPDATE 31st March: Over the weekend both the New York Times and the Daily Mail have published pieces about this issue.
AND A FINAL UPDATE 2nd April: National Geographic Channel Pulls ‘Nazi War Diggers’ Series.
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