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'Dunkirk' will tell the true story of the audacious bid to rescue the third-of-a-million troops from the British Expeditionary Force besieged on the beaches at Dunkirk early in the Second World War.

The drama will be supported by a full interactive TV service, which will provide key background information, as well as interviews with the veterans who survived Dunkirk and who feature in the drama.

The People's War , which is gathering the public's stories of World War II, will also be devoted particularly to people's personal stories of Dunkirk during transmission.

The three-part drama will recount true stories of the near disaster that saw almost the majority of Britain's army put out of the war, as German forces, which had already overrun Belgium and much of France, closed in behind them.

The BEF, under fire from German aircraft, was plucked from the beaches by Royal and Merchant Navy ships and a flotilla of little ships, requisitioned by the Admiralty, and giving rise to the expression the "Dunkirk spirit", which became synonymous with refusing to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds.

The success of the operation was ironically in part made possible by the much debated halt by German forces, which failed to move in and finish the BEF off. Lack of fuel and exhaustion are two of the reasons sometimes offered for this blunder that eventually cost Hitler the war.

Scriptwriter Neil McKay, who was behind 'The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper' and 'The Murder of Stephen Lawrence', said that "Dunkirk is the first time the full story has been put on the screen."

Shot in a reportage style, giving it a sense of news-like immediacy, the programme makers have spoken to many of the survivors and some of their stories have been directly portrayed.

"In 10 or 15 years, the people who went through this extraordinary experience will be gone and the opportunity would have been lost forever. We hope the film will not just be gripping drama, but some kind of tribute to those who went through the experience of Dunkirk," McKay said.

'Dunkirk' will feature 2003 Olivier Award winner for best actor, Simon Russell Beale, in the role of Winston Churchill, who had been in power for little over a week when he ordered the rescue. His predecessor, "Peace in our time" Neville Chamberlain, is played by Christopher Good.

Commander of the BEF, General Lord Gort, is played by John Carlisle from the 'The Forsyte Saga' and Kevin McNally from 'Spooks' plays Harold Alexander, the last officer to be evacuated from the beach.

'Dunkirk' is directed by first-time director Alex Holmes, creative director for documentaries at the BBC, and produced by Rob Warr, head of talent at the BBC.

According to Warr: "Dunkirk is the most astonishing rescue mission ever. If it weren't for the 'miracle' of Dunkirk, Hitler would have won World War II before it had properly started.

"We want to give a very real sense of actually being there: what would you have done? How would you have felt? We hope to give viewers an authentic sense of what living through the events would actually have been like."

'Dunkirk' is being shot in locations around Dunkirk, Chatham and Whitstable.

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