– PBS Documentary Series Announcement –
by Marc Herman | Forbes | January 10, 2025
The American Revolution, a new six-part, 12-hour documentary series from the prolific Ken Burns that explores the country’s founding and its eight-year War for Independence, will premiere on PBS Sunday, November 16, 2025. The limited series, which has been in production for eight years, will air for six consecutive nights through Friday, November 21 from 8-10 p.m. ET.
The logline: The American Revolution examines how America’s creation turned the world upside-down. Thirteen British colonies on the Atlantic Coast rose in rebellion, won their independence, and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired centuries of democratic movements around the globe.
“The American Revolution has always been surrounded by myth that keeps us from seeing the real picture,” said Ken Burns in a statement. “The story of the birth of this country is at once devastating and inspiring. It was a bloody civil war that divided families and communities, displaced native nations, both challenged and protected the institution of slavery, while also proclaiming the noblest aspirations of humankind.”
Described as an “expansive look at the virtues and contradictions of the war and the birth of the United States of America,” The American Revolution follows dozens of figures from a wide variety of backgrounds. Narrated by Peter Coyote, the limited series includes the first-person voices of nearly 200 individual historic figures, read by a cast of actors, including Adam Arkin, Kenneth Branagh, Josh Brolin, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Bruce Davison, Craig Ferguson, Morgan Freeman, Paul Giamatti, Tom Hanks, Ethan Hawke, Maya Hawke, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Damian Lewis, Laura Linney, Tobias Menzies, Edward Norton, Mandy Patinkin, Wendell Pierce, Matthew Rhys, Liev Schreiber, and Meryl Streep.
Damian has worked with many of the participating actors on former projects – Adam Arkin in Life, Morgan Freeman in An Unfinished Life, Paul Giamatti in Billions, Tom Hanks on the set of Band of Brothers, and Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin in Homeland.
The American Revolution is directed and produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt and written by Geoffrey C. Ward.
“Our film tells the remarkable history of the people who lived through the American Revolution, their everyday concerns, and their hopes, fears and failings,” said Sarah Botstein (The U.S. and the Holocaust, Hemingway) in a statement. “It’s a surprising and deeply relevant story, one that is hugely important to understanding who we are as a country and a people. The Revolution changed how we think about government – creating new ideas about liberty, freedom, and democracy.”
“The Revolution was eight years of uncertainty, hope, and terror, a brutal war that engaged millions of people in North America and beyond and left tremendous loss in its wake,” noted David Schmidt (Benjamin Franklin, The Vietnam War). “At the same time, the Revolution also changed how Americans thought about themselves, their government, and what they were capable of achieving. The United States that emerged from the war was a nation few could have imagined before the shooting began in April 1775.”
Read the rest of the original article at Forbes