Indie prodco Woodcut Media and distributor Woodcut International announce two brand new documentaries Britain’s Railway Empire in Colour and The Manhattan Project in Colour presold to Channel 4 (UK) and SBS (Australia).

In further news, The Manhattan Project in Colour was also picked up by Mediawan (France) for its channel Toute L’Histoire, TV Catalunya, UR (Sweden), Viasat World, and Channel 8 (Israel). YLE (Finland) also acquired this title, as well as Britain’s Railway Empire in Colour.

Both documentaries employ extensive newly colourised archive and follow on from another of Woodcut’s hugely successful docs ‘Titanic in Colour’ which premiered last year.

To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of rail, Britain’s Railway Empire in Colour (2 x 60’) reveals the extraordinary story of how Britain gave railways to the world – from the first tentative experiments with steam power, through the boom years at home, to the exporting of this new technology to every corner of the globe. Using leading experts and enthusiasts, including TikTok trainspotter Francis Bourgeois, plus extensive newly colourised archive, the truly revolutionary invention and impact of the locomotive is explored.

This August marks the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which helped bring the Second World War to a close. The Manhattan Project in Colour (1 x 60’) tells the story of the team led by Robert Oppenheimer who developed technology never used before and built cities and factories that had never existed before the war.  Thousands of black and white photographs and hundreds of reels of film survive from those game-changing years, and using the latest technology to transform rarely seen images, the Manhattan Project comes to life.

Jonathan Mayo is Series Producer, whilst Kate Beal serves as Executive Producer on both documentaries. Tom Adams joins Kate as Executive Producer on Britain’s Railway Empire in Colour. Woodcut International is handling worldwide sales.

Jonathan Mayo, Series Producer, Woodcut Media commented: “The colourisation techniques and restoration of footage for both these historical docs, makes the events very real.  The Manhattan Project for example, is more than just the story of Robert Oppenheimer but an exploration of the pioneering work of the British nuclear scientists, the birth of the so-called ‘Atomic City’ of Oak Ridge that grew out of the Tennessee mud and the story of the thousands who worked there.  To hear from those affected by the radiation from the Project’s US testing and from a Hiroshima survivor were stark reminders of the human cost of the atomic programme.”