Dickie (Sam Hoare) and Bert (Matt Smith) have an unsuccessful first meeting

In the first Olympic Games to follow World War II, Bert Bushnell and Dickie Burnell won gold in the double sculls.

It was five weeks after meeting for the first time and at first the match between Bert and Dickie was far from made in heaven.

I'd become aware of their story having read Hampton's magnificent book about the 1948 Games in London, The Austerity Olympics.

Then I was fortunate enough to talk to Bert Bushnell at his home near Henley shortly before he died.

In fact the 1948 Games was stuffed full of potential film ideas, not least because it happened at such a peculiar time in history.

In the aftermath of carnage and chaos there seemed to be a particular determination to let sport act as a glue to piece nations and people back together again, which led to many stirring narratives I could have explored.

But having met Bert, having had a run out on the river courtesy of the local university eight (let's just say seven of them weren't sick) and having realised the unique potential which Bert and Dickie's story had to draw out all that was wonderful about the British stiff upper lip 'make do and mend' approach to life and to demonstrate the iniquities of a country which was still perfectly happy to countenance terrible class bigotry and social exclusion, I knew that there could only really be one place for me to focus my attention.

Clearly much of the drama came from the fact that Bert and Dickie were so different socially.

One Eton and Oxford-educated, Captain of Boats and a University Blue, the other a grammar school boy from Wargrave of much more modest upbringing.

Actors Matt Smith and Sam Hoare discuss their characters

Though Bert's mother had been an opera singer (a theme explored sub-textually in the music I chose for many of the later scenes) nevertheless, these differences were very real at the time.

However, the British are (rather magnificently in my opinion) terribly good at seeing the other point of view and as they both started to appreciate the potential which lay on the 'other side of the fence' they made a terrific team.

It was not just their characters, nor the fractured social panoply which they demonstrated that intrigued me about this story, but the wider world beyond rowing.

The ability of the country to stage the Games was staggering.

It was done with no government financial support, with few resources and with a populous still reeling from war.

And yet the Games happened. Magnificently so, because of some remarkable individuals like Lord Burghley and Lord Aberdare who feature in the film and because of the nation's ability to dust itself down and get on with it.

Bert and Dickie

Even when presented with Olympic etching and Olympic poetry (which were on the first Olympics list and revived in London because they were cheap!) the country flocked to support the events.

And this was the thing for me: the spirit of the Games.

What I have tried to demonstrate in Bert & Dickie is that the people of 1948 really understood that the Olympics was all about an attitude of mind: a desire to come forward and to be involved, to compete and to watch, to strive and to enjoy.

And as long as that effort was made in a heartfelt way then money did not have to be showered upon the event for it to be a success.

And as we prepare to stage a Games now, amidst dreadful unemployment, social deprivation and fiscal meltdown, it would do us all good to remember that spirit.

William Ivory is the writer of Bert & Dickie.

Bert & Dickie is on Wednesday, 25 July at 8.30pm on BBC One and BBC One HD.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Sebastian Coe makes Olympic history at the 1984 Games

Thirty years ago Brits were the undisputed kings of middle distance running, so I was really excited when I was asked to produce a documentary about the history of this great race for the new BBC Two series Faster, Higher, Stronger.

Kenyan athletics legend Kipchoge Keino is so right when he says in the film that the 1500m is about more than just a test of supreme fitness.

Over three and three quarter laps of the track, this race requires the most demanding combination of talents - the stamina of a marathon runner, the explosive pace of a sprinter, the mentality to win and the tactical acumen to outwit your opponents.

That's why the 'metric mile' has been described as the Blue Riband event since the modern Games began in 1896.

Although the 1500m provided British athletics with a golden era, what surprised me while making this film was that for over 80 years it had attracted the most innovative and exceptional runners from unexpected corners of the world.

Inspired by the natural landscapes in which they trained, a small number of elite champions from different historical eras had transformed this extraordinary race.

I wanted this story to be told by the people who made it so my first challenge was to track down these athletes.

And what I quickly found was that I was making a film not about racing around a track but about the varied and rugged terrains these great Olympians pounded to plot their victories.

Olympic 1500m winner Paavo Nurmi

In the lake district of Finland I found 1972 Olympic champion Pekka Vasala, who told me about the first great 1500m runner, a Finnish athlete named Paavo Nurmi.

He devised the first systematic training regime in the 1920s. It was Nurmi who paved the way for today's champions by 'interval training' in the hills and forests that surrounded him.

In order to bring Nurmi's story to life I set about planning a reconstruction of his training methods.

Pekka introduced me to a young Finnish athlete Riku Marttinen (who plans to compete in the 2016 Olympics) and I sourced some period clothes in Helsinki.

I then showed Marttinen Nurmi's distinctive running style from old film reels and obtained an authentic 1920s stopwatch for him to carry, just as Nurmi had done in order to improve his running times.

I also brought my own running kit and attached a camera to my head to film Nurmi's perspective as he ran through the woods.

The shocking part of filming for me was in Kenya when I ran with the headcam at high altitude. Although I thought I was relatively fit it felt like my heart would explode.

The cameraman (who was filming from a jeep) found it very funny when a group of local schoolchildren first ran after me and then easily overtook me!

You'll see in the film Kipchoge Keino (who won Gold at the 1968 Olympics) discuss how training at high altitude improves endurance.

His hometown of Eldoret in the Rift Valley is situated over 7,000ft above sea level and has produced more Olympic champions than any other place in the world.

After filming sportspeople in Finland, Kenya, Morocco, Australia and the USA I came back to the UK.

Producer/director Francis Welch with Sebastian Coe

Here I got to speak to Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee (Locog) and two-time Olympic champion.

We talked about the far-flung places I had visited and he explained how the environment around his hometown of Sheffield had inspired him.

It was in the Peak District that he followed an arduous regime of speed endurance under the guidance of his father and coach Peter Coe.

As we talked I was struck by his in-depth knowledge about the tradition of this race.

He explained how each of the great champions I had filmed with had, in their own unique way, raised the level of performance through history and why he feels that come the London Olympics this summer the 1500m will again be the event to watch.

Francis Welch is the producer and director of Faster, Higher, Stronger.

Faster, Higher, Stronger starts on Monday, 9 July at 7pm on BBC Two and BBC HD. For further programme times, please see the episode guide.

Roger Mosey, the BBC's director of London 2012, has written about Olympics programmes on his blog: BBC's sport programmes move to the fore.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.