The Universe

Season One

Blu Ray

Roadshow Region B

The Universe is one of the most daring series on the nature of the universe ever made. Made by the History Channel in the United States for Cable T.V, it is exhaustive in content having five series so far each with episodes of 45 minutes each presented on three Blu Ray discs, the series are 13 episodes extra but a bonus documentary. It uses the latest in CGI and special effects coupled with down to earth experiments and explanations. There are a wide range of experts who challenge you to “think up” to their level rather than reducing the subject matter to a populist level. Each episode is truly packed with information and it is surprising just how much you can learn from each program without feeling overloaded. At times the presentation can be a little “popularized” with attention grabbing titles and loud intro voice overs but these distract little from the overall quality of the series. Some of the content does occasionally seem repetitive but this is probably hard to avoid when exploring subjects in a thematic manner. At the same time new details are given or new interviews are included when covering the same ground so it does seem justified.

This is one of the very best series on astronomy, space and the universe I have very seen and highly recommend it.

The Universe Season One Episode Guide

Episode 1 offers amazing insights into the nature of the sun from the fact that it is known as a yellow dwarf star to the reality that it will die out in five billion years. We come to understand how the sun works, it various layers and about solar storms. The presentation is easy to follow but not simplistic and personally I came away with an incredible respect for that bright ball in the sky we so often take for granted.

Episode 2 Mars extensively covers the red planet, discussing the history of its discovery and strange ideas about its possible inhabitants from the canals of Mars to Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds. There is lots of fascinating information on the once watery surface of Mars and what reduced it to its present condition.

Episode 3 End of the Earth is a true apocalyptic nightmare covering all manner of possible catastrophes from space including meteors, gamma rays bursts and the big rip where the universe continues to expand until it literally tears itself apart.

Episode 4 covers Jupiter and offers a fascinating examination of its constitution as well as coverage its various moons.

Episode 5 is on the Moon examining everything from its effects on the tides to the various theories about its origin.

Episode 6 Spaceship earth explores the history of earth, its development and various theories about its end.

Episode 7 explores the inner planets of Mercury and Venus.

Episode 8 focuses on Saturn and its rings, its forty eight named moons and its most unique moon Titan.

Episode 9 is a change of pace and looks outside our universe at the nature of galaxies, the big bang, black holes, dark matter and dark energy. It is illustrated with some truly astounding footage.

Episode 10 explores the birth and death of a star and looks at a bewildering arrange of unusual subjects from the nature of white dwarves to neutron stars.

Episode 11 moves back to the planets and explores Neptune, Uranus and the controversy regarding the now demoted Pluto.

Episode 12 covers the most dangerous places in the universe and did tend to repeat material covered elsewhere.

Episode 13 explored the search for life in the universe and as fascinating, looking at what sort of life we may find and where as well as covering the SETI program.

The final doco Beyond the Big Bang on this first set was a 90 minute special covering the history of astronomy, it is quite exceptional, beautifully made and explores both the science and the personalities behind what makes up astronomy today. From Copernicus to Einstein, Solid Slate theory to the Big Bang, this is a superb overview.

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This review will appear in Volume 4 No. 2 of the digital and print edition of Synergy.

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