'The question of a miscarriage of justice was raised, but how was the viewer to judge?' he said. He said he thought the blend of the two was lamentable in the recent docu-drama 'The Atlanta Child Murders,' which included composite characters and took obvious artistic liberties. There's a job to be done - stepping back to give space and time to the events and historical figures.'Īnd Maclear is wary of mixing fiction and fact. 'People want the factual as well as the fictional. 'My background inclinations are journalistic,' Maclear said. Probably the company's most noteworthy product was 'Vietnam: The 10,000 Day War,' a 26-episode series. Six years ago he left to set up Cineworld, a Toronto-based production company that specializes in historical documentaries. A Briton by birth, Maclear has been a correspondent in the Far East and London for Canadian television. Maclear, like his subject, shares a bias toward the Pacific. military history and a major force in securing victory in World War II. There's a vast archive on the European theater and Vietnam.'Īnd there is enduring fascination with MacArthur, whom Manchester described as 'a great thundering paradox of a man - noble and ignoble, inspiring and outrageous, arrogant and shy.' He was, simply, one of the dominating figures in U.S. There wasn't the range of film available one would have thought. 'I don't think the war's Pacific theater has been done as well as the European theater. 'I found it a splendid read and a good television story,' he said. Maclear, the show's executive producer, is a man who read Manchester's best-selling book and saw a miniseries. It will air on Channel 5 Sunday and Monday nights at 7 and 8 respectively. The program is syndicated by Metromedia Television and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., with 82 stations signed up to carry it at last count. Douglas MacArthur to television in a two-night, five-hour documentary miniseries. 'American Caesar,' based on the William Manchester biography, will bring the story of Gen. 'It can be as entertaining as a dramatic series.' 'History need not be dull,' said Michael Maclear.

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