Weaponology
| Weaponology | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Documentary Technology Military War History |
| Created by | Hereward Pelling |
| Narrated by | John Schwab |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes (with commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Discovery Channel AHC |
| Release | January 15, 2007 – February 24, 2008 |
Weaponology is a documentary television series that premiered on November 6, 2007 on the Discovery Channel. The program also airs on the Military Channel (now American Heroes Channel). The documentary series was narrated by John Schwab.
Production
To depict the advancement of weaponry, the show combined graphics and staged scenes. A seven-member crew of designers based out of Flashback Television's London studio took four weeks per episode to create the graphics.[1] Flashback's managing director, Taylor Downing, was the executive producer of the show.[2] Hereward Pelling was the show's series producer, while Rachel Naughton was the line producer.[2][3] The show's second season consisted of 13 episodes with a running time of 60 minutes each.[2] Stuart Rose, Steve Baker and Jim Greayer served as directors of the episodes.[2]
Reception
Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Weaponology "reminded me—starkly—that I really need to go 'around the horn' more often to discover what's on".[4] Jasmin Orr of The Courier-Mail called the show's second season premiere "a tad disturbing" when firearms experts and historians express excitement about the sniper rifle Accuracy International AS50's lethal capabilities.[5] In a negative review, The Age television critic Brad Newsome said the show had "many layers of inanity" including "fatuous narration", "ill-conceived, computer-generated 3D 'family tree' of sniping that whirls around confusingly in between segments", and "censorship of death itself".[6]
Episode list
The first season of the show primarily covers the history of weapons, including tanks and sniper rifles. The second season focuses on special operations groups, such as the Russian Spetsnaz American Green Berets, and the British Special Air Service, or combat engineers.
Season 1: Weapons (2007)
| # | # | Title | Directed by | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Sniper Rifles" | Mat Hodgson | January 15, 2007 |
| 2 | 2 | "Body Armor" | Mat Hodgson | January 22, 2007 |
| 3 | 3 | "Rapid Fire" | Jim Greayer | January 29, 2007 |
| 4 | 4 | "Submarines" | Stuart Rose | February 5, 2007 |
| 5 | 5 | "Vertical Take Off" | Nick Gillam Smith | February 12, 2007 |
| 6 | 6 | "Bombers" | Jim Greayer | February 19, 2007 |
| 7 | 7 | "Fighter" | Stephanie | February 26, 2007 |
| 8 | 8 | "Artillery" | Stuart Rose | March 5, 2007 |
| 9 | 9 | "Booby Traps" | Stuart Rose | March 12, 2007 |
| 10 | 10 | "Frags, Pineapples and RPG's" | Hereward Pelling | March 19, 2007 |
| 11 | 11 | "Fire Weapons" | Jim Greayer | March 26, 2007 |
| 12 | 12 | "Armoured Personnel Carriers" | Hereward Pelling | April 2, 2007 |
| 13 | 13 | "Tanks" | Jim Greayer | April 9, 2007 |
Season 2: Elite Units (2007–2008)
| # | # | Title | Directed by | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "US Navy SEALs" | Stuart Rose | November 20, 2007 |
| 15 | 2 | "US Marine Corps" | Stuart Rose | November 27, 2007 |
| 16 | 3 | "Waffen-SS" | Steve Baker | December 4, 2007 |
| 17 | 4 | "US Army Airborne" | Steve Baker | December 11, 2007 |
| 18 | 5 | "US Army Rangers" | Jim Greayer | December 18, 2007 |
| 19 | 6 | "Green Berets" | Jim Greayer | January 6, 2008 |
| 20 | 7 | "SAS" | Mat Hodgson | January 13, 2008 |
| 21 | 8 | "Royal Marines" | Mat Hodgson | January 20, 2008 |
| 22 | 9 | "Extreme Warriors" | Claire Titley | January 27, 2008 |
| 23 | 10 | "Combat Engineers" | Claire Titley | February 3, 2008 |
| 24 | 11 | "French Foreign Legion" | Stuart Rose | February 10, 2008 |
| 25 | 12 | "Spetsnaz" | Steve Baker | February 17, 2008 |
| 26 | 13 | "Israeli Commandos" | Jim Greayer | February 24, 2008 |
See also
- FutureWeapons is another similar TV show broadcast on the Discovery Channel and the Military Channel.
References
- ^ Hemley, Matthew (November 17, 2006). "Commissioning - Flashback wins Discovery order". Broadcast. Factiva BCST000020061117e2bh0000y.
- ^ a b c d "Commissioning - Discovery rehires Flashback". Broadcast. June 29, 2007. Factiva BCST000020070629e36t00010.
- ^ "On location: Andy McNab's Tour of Duty - Filming on a war footing". Broadcast. May 23, 2008. p. 30. Factiva BCST000020080523e45n00026.
- ^ Goodman, Tim (April 23, 2008). "Winnowing down TV choices reveals some hidden gems". San Francisco Chronicle. Factiva VENTCS0020080423e44n0000n.
- ^ Orr, Jasmin (July 9, 2007). "Television Monday". The Courier-Mail. ProQuest 353970050. Retrieved September 1, 2025.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Newsome, Brad (July 5, 2007). "Television MondayMonday - Pay TV". The Age. ProQuest 364051434. Retrieved September 1, 2025.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
External links
- Weaponology at IMDb