Mixing plentiful dramatic reconstructions, CGI bits and insightful narration from the always erudite Andrew Marr, History of the World is definitely an epic 8 part Documentary series that attempts to tell just that as the series flows form the dawn of human history to the massively complex world we live in now.
Marr begins in Africa to trace the origins of our ancestors as they spread out in nomad fashion across the world. One of the most intersting sections here is the glimpses into the inventions created then that are still with us today.
From there it is on to the rise and fall of empires, devastating wars, incredible discoveries and our new global society.
Marr himself said of the series “We can’t hope to know all of the human story, but it does help to have the big picture because it’s really the story of who we are now. We’ve been brilliantly clever at reshaping the world around us – almost as clever as we think we are – though not perhaps as wise. There will be challenges, triumphs and surprises – all the essentials of the story, except, of course, how it ends…”
production details
UK / BBC-1 / 8×60 minute episodes / Broadcast 16 September – 4 November 2012
