At 11am on November 11, 1918, the Armistice, signed by the Allies and Germany, came into effect, putting an end to the conflict that would come to be called the ‘Great War’.

At two minutes to 11, Canadian soldier Private George Lawrence Price was shot by a German sniper in the town of Ville-sur-Haine, and was widely believed to be the last fatality of the war.

Price’s story is undeniably tragic, but as this documentary reveals, he was one of 11,000 men who were killed or wounded in the final hours of World War One - more than those killed on D-Day.

Michael Palin, regarded as one of the country’s best-loved travellers, takes the helm of this poignant film, showing as part of the BBC’s 1918-2008 - 90 Years Of Remembrance season, which aims to reveal the true cost of the war’s final hours.

As series editor John Farren reveals, the choice of presenter was no accident.

”Michael Palin’s Great Uncle Harry died at the Somme,” he says.

”Like so many families, his was scarred by the ‘war to end all wars’. We asked Michael to go on a journey through the last hours, and tell the sad and shocking stories of the last men to die, as the clock ticked down towards peace. It’s a personal journey and a film that I am very proud of.”

Newly discovered photographs, original research never before seen on television, contemporary film and newspapers and state-of-the-art graphics help bring this epic and awe-inspiring story to life, as Palin begins his sombre journey on the battlefields of Europe, where Allied troops were still locked in deadly combat with their German enemies.

In Verdun, he discovers how American soldiers were still going into action throughout the morning of November 11.

And although the conflict has all but disappeared from living memory, Palin finds stark reminders of its horrors in the battlefields of the Argonne, where he finds the soil still full of guns, bullets and personal artefacts of the fallen troops.

The former Python star then travels north, to the banks of the Sambre Canal, which saw the deaths of 2,000 British soldiers that fateful morning.

Finally, Palin ventures to Mons, where the war finally ended for the British and Canadian armies.

But that’s not where this film ends.

The Armistice that brought a much-needed end to hostilities was signed in Ferdinand Foch’s personal railway carriage in Compiegne Forest, and saw Germany heavily punished for bringing about such destruction.

Hefty reparations and a ban on making weapons were just two of the tough conditions imposed on the nation, and although the political landscape of Europe had changed out of all recognition, Palin reveals how deeply the Armistice hurt the German people, sowing the seeds for World War Two.

Thankfully the BBC, along with many others, is determined that the sacrifices of almost nine million people, who laid down their lives for a cause they believed in, should not be forgotten.

In a world where we take our freedoms for granted, long may it be so.