Wonders of the Solar System Options

[djellison]

Part one was tonight on BBC2 and BBCHD.

It was, without question, the best hour of scientific programming I have ever seen.

[Stu]

I was at work so I recorded it, hope to get it watched tomorrow. Prof Cox could make a phone book sound fascinating, so I'm dying to see what he did with all the amazing stuff that's Out There...

[helvick]

Got to agree with Doug - the best hour of Science TV ever, can't wait for the rest of these.

Showing us Sunset over Gusev and Oppy's Phobos Eclipse shots was pretty nice for all us MER fans but the whole show is wonderfully shot, scripted and produced.

For those of you in the UK who missed it, get it on iPlayer. For the rest of you I'm sure it will be hitting BBC World and the various Science channels before long.

[kohare]

For those of you in the UK who missed it, get it on iPlayer. For the rest of you I'm sure it will be hitting BBC World and the various Science channels before long.

I'm one of those in the UK who managed to miss it! It seems to be a series of five parts, being shown on BBC2 first on Sunday at 9.00 pm then repeated on BBC2 on Tuesday at 7.00 pm. I've already set the recorder .......

[nprev]

...High praise indeed! I'll definitely be watching for this to hit the US.

[djellison]

Seen the #wonders comments on twitter? They are all utterly awesomely positive.

[Stu]

Hmmm. This has "buy it on DVD, then watch it on my laptop, with headphones on, in quiet periods, when no-one can disturb me" written all over it...

[Guest_PhilCo126_*]

Yes it was a very good documentary, just pitty he didn’t mention the italian astronomer Pietro Angelo Secchi who was a pioneer in spectroscopy and was the first to realise that our Sun is a star. Together with the “Star” episode in BBC’s series “The Planets” some great multi-media.
Any idea which spacecraft filmed the Earth’s auroras?
Looking forward to the 2nd episode…

[4th rock from th...]

Good show. Nice images and atmosphere, most of them new to me (or at least from a fresh perspective). Impressive locations and night-sky photography.
Looking forward for the next episodes.

[As old as Voyage...]

I was at work so I recorded it, hope to get it watched tomorrow. Prof Cox could make a phone book sound fascinating, so I'm dying to see what he did with all the amazing stuff that's Out There...

I agree, his presenting style and sheer excitement at the subject matter is really refreshing.

I also learnt today that he played keyboards in UK band D:REAM (of 'things can only get better' fame)

[Stu]

Caught the repeat on BBC2 earlier this evening...

WOW... What a magnificent program. Fantastic graphics, great science, poetic descriptions, all held together by Prof Brian Cox, who I swear could make the physics of cleaning a toilet sound fascinating and magical and wondrous. The guy feels absolute and genuine joy when he's talking about the universe, he revels in being a part of it, and if you're an astronomy or space enthusiast it's impossible to watch this program, and listen to him, and not feel like you're suddenly a seven year old again, reading your first astronomy book and learning about the wonders of the universe for the first time.

Has the UK finally got its own Carl Sagan? Time will tell, but the signs are promising.

( If I had one criticism - which is nothing to do with the content of the show, or its presenter - it would be that, again, the BBC is trying its hardest to drown out the narration with the background music. This is becoming increasingly common with BBC programs, both factual and entertainment, and seriously, someone at Auntie needs a slap, because it's getting to the point where it's distracting at best and ********** annoying at worst. There's no point in having someone as knowledgeable as Prof Cox narrating so wonderfully if you can't hear what he's saying because THE MUSIC IS SO LOUD!!!!!!! )

[Explorer1]

When will this be coming to Canada, any ideas?

[Stu]

From Prof Cox himself (via Twitter):

I think Science Channel starts showing wonders in the US / Canada at the start of August

[SFJCody]

My mum phoned me tonight to say she had seen 'a teenager talking about space and physics and things' on BBC2 and he reminded her of a young me.

I'm 14 years younger than Prof Cox!

[PFK]

Two things I found gratifying about it:

(i) Contrary to so many documentaries dealing with space matters it didn't feel obliged to show an explosion every 3 minutes to keep people's attention.

(ii) There was much less emphasis on Cox "discovering" facts - so often nowadays these things are framed as journeys of discovery, and in previous examples of his work this, to my mind, has come across as a bit false. If you've got him beaming in mock wonder at being told something you know damn well he already knew then it can trivialise things.
In this - maybe driven by the script or by him maturing as a host - he talked to us about things he clearly knew. The beauty then was that the TRUE scenes of wonderment on his part (eg the eclipse or the aurora) came across as the genuine thing - and all the more powerful for that. Much as - away from astronomy - 30 years ago David Attenborough told us stuff in Life on Earth and then was gobsmacked when he met the gorillas.