Scripting the past: Narration and historical re-enactment in long-form documentary – A case study of Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War (2024)

This article explores the way that documentary screenwriters shape narration in long-form documentary series, which are becoming increasingly common on streaming platforms that have embraced non-fiction storytelling as part of their offering to subscribers. Of particular interest is the use of dramatic re-enactments, which allow documentary filmmakers to embrace a range of storytelling techniques typically associated with screenwriting for fictional drama. Using a case study of Netflix’s Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War (2024), which delivers 80 per cent of its content through re-enactments, we examine the screenwriting decisions involved in organizing the historical material using re-enactment, voice-over, interviews with subject-matter experts and archival material. Our research reveals telling insights about the ways in which re-enactments provide increased narrative control for the screenwriter and how the delicate interplay of scripted re-enactment with scripted voice-over allows for screen narration to efficiently set out factual exposition whilst creating emotional engagement, thereby balancing dramatic storytelling with historical accuracy.