"The Universe"
Beyond the Big Bang (2007)

Director:

Luke Ellis

Writer:

Matthew P. Hickey (writer)

TV Series:

"The Universe" (2007)

Original Air Date:

4 September 2007 (Season 1, Episode 14)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

"Where Do We Begin?"

Plot:

Documentary that explores how mankind came to understand the Universe and its origins in the Big Bang...

Cast

David Ackroyd	...	Narrator
Thaine H. Allison Jr.	...	Galileo Galilei
Ralph Alpher	...	Interview
Nima Arkani-Hamed	...	Interview
Michael Bosemen	...	Johannes Kepler
Gerald Brodin	...	Nicholas Copernicus
James Casey	...	Isaac Newton
Owen Gingerich	...	Interview
Marcelo Gleiser	...	Interview
Brian Greene	...	Interview
Sterling Greene	...	Early Man
Alan Guth	...	Interview
Maya Harvey	...	Girl at Carnival
Michio Kaku	...	Interview
Jonathan Kelley	...	Pope Urban VIII
Lawrence Krauss	...	Interview
Geoffrey Landis	...	Interview
David Leeming	...	Interview
Glen McDougal	...	Carnival Barker
Simon Mitton	...	Interview
James Peebles	...	Interview
John Polkinghorne	...	Interview
Martin Rees	...	Interview
Maxie J. Santillan Jr.	...	Shaman
Wolfhard Schlosser	...	Interview
Charles Seife	...	Interview
Max Tegmark	...	Interview
Neil Tyson	...	Interview
Robert Wilson	...	Interview

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Workaholic Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Physicist Ralph Alpher, a pioneer of the Big Bang theory, gave his last interview for this documentary.

Double-Length Episode

This is the only two-hour episode. Accordingly, this the meatiest.

It covers the entire history of astronomy and astrophysics to the present. It is amazing how much territory they cover in just this one episode. No way could they do that with just the one hour of a typical episode.

We can think of this episode as a series synopsis, overview or condensed version of the series in one episode. It is by no means a substitution for the plethora of knowledge the entire series offers. Many subjects aren't even touched upon, which are gone into fine detail in some episodes, like "The Colonization of Space." However, this one episode could stand alone as a magnificent presentation of humankind's ascent of the "ladder of knowledge" of astronomy, astrophysics and particle/macro-physics to date.

This is the episode by which one can judge the entire series. You can see that I gave it a 10. Perfection of presentation, it may not have. But up-to-date content, it has in spades. It might be lacking for detail in some places. But that's the hook to watch the rest of the series. I'm surprised this wasn't the pilot episode.

This is an aside: I was watching this episode when a UPS delivery arrived needing my signature. I paused the recording, which leaves the title lettered over the screen. As I was signing for the packages the driver noticed what I had been watching and said, "The Universe! I love that series!" I was flabbergasted to find a fellow "Universe" enthusiast randomly at my door. This series must be more popular than I realized.