Witness to Yesterday facts for kids

Witness to Yesterday is a Canadian TV show that brought history to life. It was a docudrama, which means it mixed real facts with dramatic scenes. The show featured fake interviews with famous people from the past.

It first aired on the Global Television Network in 1974. Later, TVOntario produced more episodes until 1976. The show was so popular that it came back in 1998 for a new season on History Television.

What the Show Was About

Each episode of Witness to Yesterday was like a special history lesson. A guest actor would pretend to be a famous historical person. Then, the show's host, Patrick Watson, would interview them. It was as if you were watching a real interview with someone from hundreds of years ago!

Witness to Yesterday was one of the first shows ever broadcast by Global. The very first episode aired on January 8, 1974. In that episode, actress Sandy Dennis played the famous French hero, Joan of Arc.

How the Show Was Made

The original series was made in Montreal by a company called Look Hear Productions. A researcher named Laurier Lapierre helped find all the historical facts. The writers created scripts, but the actors often added their own words too. This made the interviews feel more natural.

Making each episode cost about $6,000. The actors were paid between $600 and $2,500 for their work. Host Patrick Watson also earned extra money from international sales of the show.

Global Television Network faced some money problems when it first started. Because of this, they stopped making most of their original Canadian shows in May 1974. Global still owed Look Hear Productions money for 24 episodes of Witness to Yesterday. One of the last episodes filmed before the cancellation featured Donald Sutherland as doctor Norman Bethune.

After Global stopped, another TV channel, CICA-TV, decided to continue the series. They planned to make new episodes and also re-broadcast the older ones.

Who Appeared on the Show

Many famous actors played historical figures on Witness to Yesterday. The show featured a wide range of people from different times and places.

Global Television Network Episodes (1974)

The first season on Global Television Network featured many well-known historical figures. Here are a few examples:

CICA/TVOntario Episodes (1974–1976)

TVOntario continued the series with even more historical interviews. Here are some of the figures who appeared:

The 1998 Revival

Witness to Yesterday returned to TV in 1998 on History Television. Patrick Watson came back as the host and main writer. They planned to make 13 new episodes, and 12 were completed.

Some of these new episodes were filmed at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. The rest were filmed in Toronto. Two companies, Cinefile and The Film Works, worked together to produce this new season. The budget for the revival was supported by History Television, PBS, and a provincial agency called Film NB.

History Television Episodes (1998)

The 1998 revival featured a new set of historical figures. Here are some of them: