Civilisation: A Personal View (often called simply Civilisation) was a popular and influential TV series outlining the history of Western art, architecture, and philosophy since the Dark Ages. It was produced by the BBC and aired in 1969 on BBC Two. The series was written and presented by art historian Kenneth Clark (1903-1983) who also published a companion book under the same title.
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Production
Civilisation was one of the first UK documentary series in colour, and one of BBC2's first major productions, at the time of David Attenborough's controllership. One of Attenborough's aims of the series was that it should showcase colour television. For technical reasons colour television was to come to BBC2 before BBC1 and so, as a channel aimed at minority audiences, it was possible to commission a major series about the Arts.[1] The director and co-producer of the series was Michael Gill (1923-2005). (The other co-producer was Peter Montagnon). At first, Clark's patrician attitudes annoyed Gill and the project was almost abandoned. However eventually Gill formed a great respect for Clark's aesthetic judgment. During the filming on location, they formed a close and enduring friendship.[2] The series was replayed on BBC Four and released on DVD in 2005. The DVD release included a short interview with David Attenborough about the commissioning and production of the series.
Reception
Clark attended an early public screening of one of the programmes and was received with huge applause and cheers. He was so overwhelmed by this recognition that he hid himself away in the lavatory and wept for fifteen minutes; he had long been respected in academic circles but was utterly taken aback by the response of the public at large.[1] Further proof of the programme's popularity was given in anecdotal evidence of Civilisation parties. Since ownership of a colour television set was rare on the series' first broadcast, those that did own one found themselves popular hosts.[1] The series had difficulty at first in finding a home on American television, but success was assured after the National Gallery of Art in Washington put it on at lunchtime in the gallery theatre. This seated 300 people, but on the first day 24,000 turned up.[2] The series' groundbreaking format, in which Clark travelled around the world to illustrate his thesis, became a template for such later programmes as The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski, Life on Earth and sequels by David Attenborough, Alistair Cooke's America, and Cosmos by Carl Sagan. Clark earned a peerage on the strength of the series.[2]
Series outline
- The Skin of our Teeth (Dark Ages )
- The Great Thaw (12th century)
- Romance and Reality
- Man - the Measure of all Things (Renaissance)
- The Hero as Artist (List of Renaissance figures)
- Protest and Communication (Reformation)
- Grandeur and Obedience (Counter-Reformation)
- The Light of Experience
- The Pursuit of Happiness (Rococo)
- The Smile of Reason (Age of Enlightenment)
- The Worship of Nature
- The Fallacies of Hope (Romanticism)
- Heroic Materialism
References
- ^ a b c Civilisation: A Personal View — DVD set, disc 4 (Extra features — David Attenborough talks about the programme's development).
- ^ a b c Obituary of Michael Gill in Daily Telegraph 26 Oct 2005
