Airdate: The American West

Next month the History channel will premiere Robert Redford co-produced docudrama The American West.

Spanning the years 1865 to 1890, the series will show how, in the aftermath of the Civil War, the United States transforms into the “land of opportunity”. It features interviews with James Caan, Tom Selleck, Danny Glover, Burt Reynolds, Kiefer Sutherland, Ed Harris and Mark Harmon.

Jim Buchan, General Manager – Factual said ”The American West is a subject that that is always popular with our History audience many of whom grew up reading these legendary tales.

“Redford’s approach and knowledge brings a fantastic new aspect to the retelling of this most exciting era in American history.”

It premiered in the US in June.

This 8-part highly dramatised action packed docudrama provides unprecedented access to the wilderness, frontier lawlessness, and bloodshed of the 40 years between the end of the American Civil War and the turn of the 20th Century, when the west was won.

From Jesse James and Crazy Horse, to Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and Buffalo Bill, the characters at the centre of this violent, blood-soaked period in American history are explored as each episode follows the stories and struggles of the West’s most infamous outlaws as they fight for their land and identity.

These men were the first to live the American dream, and the first to die for it.

The American West is Executive Produced by Emmy® Award-winning Stephen David Entertainment (“The World Wars,” ”The Men Who Built America”) and Robert Redford.

Tuesdays from October 11 at 7.30pm on History.