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Space Race & Space: Two BBC series

€6.00EUR

The beauty of these series is that we get a lot more understanding about how insignificant our planet is in the 'whole scheme of things' for instance, there are a million stars in the universe for every grain of sand on Earth. Distances become meaningless

Product description

SPACE and SPACE RACE: TWO COMPLETE BBC SERIES

Space is a visually impressive six-part popular science series from the BBC that follows their runaway successes Walking with Dinosaurs and The Planets into the realm of lavish computer animation. In a stroke of inspired casting Jurassic Park's Sam Neill (no stranger to acting alongside CGI effects) is our earthbound anchor, and he takes the viewer on journeys across the universe in each half-hour segment, thanks to some nifty special effects. Like Carl Sagan's pioneering Cosmos from 1980, Space delves in to the mysteries of how stars and planets were created; but unlike Sagan's visionary and optimistic view of cosmic wonders, Space is astronomy for the Age of Anxiety, revealing with terrifying clarity and in graphic detail how fortunate we are to exist at all, and how it could all end at any moment as a result of space-bound monsters like rogue comets and asteroids that might crash into our planet; or, the worst horror of the universe, wandering black holes that could tear our sun apart. Even if we survive these implacable cosmic forces bent on our destruction, viewers will not be reassured to be told that the sun is doomed anyway, and its inevitable death will swallow our planet whole (but not before burning it to a crisp first). Finally, the series finds cause for faint optimism with Star Trek-style speculations on the development of Ion-drive and solar-powered spaceships, terraforming new worlds and wormhole technology that might, just might, allow humanity to escape from a doomed Earth and seek refuge somewhere else in the galaxy. A series that sheds light on both the secrets of the universe and, implicitly, the anxious state of our new millennial society, Space is a compelling combination of popular astronomy and really, really scary cosmology.

Space is a BBC/TLC co-production and won two RTS Television Awards for Best Visual Effects - Digital and for Design & Craft Innovation in 2001.

Source: DocuWiki http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=Space_(BBC)

Space Race is a BBC docu-drama series first shown in Britain on BBC2 between September/October 2005, chronicling the major events and characters in the American/Soviet space race. It focuses on Sergei Korolev, the Soviets' chief rocket designer, and Wernher von Braun, his American counterpart. The series was a joint effort between British, German, American and Russian production teams.

It is a BBC/Channel One Russia/National Geographic Channel/NDR co-production and was nominated for an RTS Television Award for Best Production Design - Drama in 2006.

Source: DocuWiki http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=Space_Race

All episodes of these two BBC TV series are presented in a box set of 4 DVD discs. The two series are sold separately by Amazon for £12 each.

See the list of episodes and other details under Additional information.

This movie comes from our personal collection and only one piece is available
DVD Rating	Like New: a DVD in perfect condition. The box or jewel case is clean and vivid, with no signs of wear.
= New = Like New = Very Good = Good = Acceptable

Additional information

Starring	Sam Neill (presenter), Richard Dillane, Steve Nicolson, Max Bollinger, John Warnaby, Ravil Isyanov, Chris Robson, Mariya Mironova, Robert Lindsay, Stuart Bunce, Vlad Theodor Cacinschi, Mark Dexter, Mikhail Gorevoy, Stephen Greif, Rupert Wickham, Tim Woodward
Format	Boxset, Colour, PAL
Main soundtrack	English or Greek (selectable), Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles	OFF or Greek (selectable)
Special features	-
Region
Aspect ratio	16:9
Number of discs	4
Classification	*Space:* Exempt *Space Race:* BBFC
Studio	2 Entertain Video
DVD release date	Space: 3 Dec 2001 in the UK *Space Race:* 28 Nov 2005 in the UK
Run time	380 minutes (6 hours 20 mins)
EAN	-

List of episodes

Space (2 discs)

Star Stuff

Where did we all come from? Star Stuff explores the origins of life on planet Earth and comes to the surprising conclusion that we all may be aliens...

Staying Alive

Sam Neill voyages into space in search of the cosmic killers which could threaten our very existence - comets and asteroids.

Black Holes

An exploration of the strange and terrifying world of the universe's ultimate monster - the black hole. More of them are being discovered all the time, but where are they - and is our planet in danger?

Are We Alone?

A journey through the cosmos in search of alien life. We seek out planets around distand stars and dive into the oceans of other worlds - seeking an answer to the question: is there anybody out there?

New Worlds

Sam Neill explores humanity's long-term future - a future where we make new homes for ourselves on other worlds as we flee from the slow but inevitable death of our sun.

Boldly Go

Will we ever see the wonders of space for ourselves? Sam Neill goes in search of the technologies which may one day take our children's children to the stars.

Space Race (2 discs)

Race For Rockets

1944-1949. We see Wernher von Braun's work on the V-2 for the Nazis during the last years of the Second World War, his surrender to American troops and his move to the USA. We see Sergei Korolev's release from the Gulag, and how he is set to work on Soviet rockets, first attempting to copy the V-2, then building a more efficient rocket of his own.

Race For Satellites

1953-1958. As the Cold War intensifies, Korolev is asked to build a rocket capable of carrying a five-ton warhead to America - he designs and constructs the R-7 Semyorka, and is later allowed to use it to launch the first satellite, Sputnik 1. Meanwhile, von Braun struggles to persuade the US government to allow him to launch his own satellite - after Sputnik's launch and the failure of the US Navy to launch a Vanguard satellite, he is finally allowed to launch the first American satellite, Explorer 1.

Race For Survival

1959-1961. Both the Americans and Soviets are planning manned space flight, and we see both sides preparing to do so with the development of the Vostok programme (Russia) and Project Mercury (USA). After difficulties and failures on both sides, the Soviets succeed in putting Yuri Gagarin into space first, with the Americans putting Alan Shepard up shortly afterwards.

Race To The Moon

1964-1969. Both sides now plan to put a man on the Moon - while the Soviets struggle, the Americans pull ahead in the space race with Project Gemini, but then suffer a disaster with the Apollo 1 fire. The Soviet space programme suffers its own blows: Sergei Korolev dies when his heart fails during an operation, Soyuz 1 crashes and kills cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, and their planned moon rocket, the N-1 rocket, fails to successfully launch. In America, von Braun has difficulties with the Saturn V, but they are overcome, and the rocket successfully launches the first manned lunar mission, Apollo 8, and the first manned lunar landing, Apollo 11.