# Anzacs (1985)

> Young Australian men enlist in the 8th Battalion in 1914 and are thrown into Gallipoli and the Western Front.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/19051

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 5
- Episode runtime: 80 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: war, drama
- Network: Nine Network
- Cast: Andrew Clarke, Jon Blake, Paul Hogan, Christopher Cummins, Jonathan Sweet, Megan Williams, Shane Briant, Alec Wilson
- TMDB rating: 8.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088479/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: earnest, elegiac, sombre, grounded

## Synopsis

Anzacs (1985) is an Australian war miniseries created for the Nine Network, a five-part limited series of roughly 80-minute episodes. It follows a group of young Australian men who enlist in the 8th Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force in 1914, with Martin Barrington (Andrew Clarke) and Robert Flanagan (Jon Blake) at the center of the story, alongside Pat Cleary (Paul Hogan) and Roly Collins (Christopher Cummins). The engine of the series is the bond between mates as they move from the optimism of enlistment into the brutal campaign at Gallipoli in 1915 and then the grinding trenches of the Western Front for the rest of the war. Each episode carries the weight of a larger arc, with the men's private hopes and fears tested by mud, shelling, and command failures. Set in First World War Europe and the Turkish peninsula, the series is a grounded, sombre piece of period drama that foregrounds national myth-making and personal loyalty. Its tone is earnest and elegiac, with moments of camaraderie that contrast with the harshness of combat. Fans of Gallipoli, Band of Brothers and other classic war dramas about ordinary soldiers will find resonance in its portrait of a generation sent to fight far from home.

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- [Deadline Gallipoli (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/58574)

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