Best known for his role as Baldrick in the hit 1980s TV comedy series Blackadder and the archaeology program Time Team, Sir Tony arrived in Launceston yesterday  for five days of filming.

The new 10-part series will commemorate a century of war service by Australians and New Zealanders and  be screened in early 2015.

``Our first stop is you guys [Launceston] and then it's as far north as Darwin, as far west as Perth and as far the other way as  Dunedin and Auckland,'' Sir Tony said.

``This is our first stop, but whether it will be the first episode in the series I don't know.''

Knighted last year for public and political services, Sir Tony said Tour of Duty would follow the Time Walks format.

``They said they wanted to do something a bit different and a bit special to mark the 100 years since the First World War.

``We said we can do that because we can use the template we created for the Time Walks  series and have a look around and see how people in these towns and cities dealt with war.''

Sir Tony and his WTFN Entertainment  production team  start its Tasmanian filming at Legerwood's memorial tree reserve today.

A special community day will be held on Saturday from 12.30pm to  5.30pm at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery at Inveresk where people can  bring along war memorabilia for expert historians to examine.

East Launceston Primary School will present Sir Tony with a time capsule, there will be people dressed in reproduction WW1 uniforms  and  displays  by the Launceston Historical Society, the Tasmanian Family History Society, QVMAG experts and food stalls.