Airdate: Evacuation

Three part UK history series Evacuation premieres on ABC next week, in the timeslot vacated by Four Corners.

The exclusive and incredibly moving inside story of Operation Pitting: the British Military’s life-or-death race to bring thousands to safety in the evacuation from Afghanistan.

In 2021, the world watched as the British armed forces undertook the largest air evacuation since World War II.

Amidst the chaos, confusion and constant threat from Taliban forces in the urgent last days of the war in Afghanistan, over 1,000 UK military personnel were sent to evacuate over 5,000 British nationals and 8,000 Afghans – including thousands of children, with the youngest just one day old.

This three-part documentary series weaves visceral, intimate, raw story-telling with unseen Ministry of Defence archive footage, using unprecedented personal testimony from UK soldiers, as well as Afghans, on the ground in the frenzied evacuation of Kabul.

Evacuation unflinchingly acknowledges the successes and failures of the mission and boasts unrivalled access to the operation. As well as never-before-seen material – including headcam and drone footage – exclusive and emotionally charged, first hand accounts take us to the very heart of the withdrawal.

Episode 1 – Monday 13 November at 8:30pm
British troops head to Kabul to begin the evacuation, but find themselves stranded when chaos descends on the airfield. When allied forces begin to return home from Afghanistan, the Taliban start taking back parts of the country. A small team of British military are sent out to prepare for a possible evacuation, and a group of elite soldiers are put on standby to deploy, but nobody knows quite what to expect. Suddenly, the Taliban shock the world by taking the capital Kabul, unleashing chaos on the runway and in the airspace. The military scramble to clear the airfield of thousands of panicked civilians who have broken through. Will they be able to regain control so they can start the evacuation?