Andrew Marr covers 70,000 years in eight episodes, filming almost every re-enactment within a 90-minute drive of Cape Town. The same cathedral doubles as Notre Dame and Wittenberg, a car park stands in for revolutionary Paris, and sand dunes become Mesopotamia. Budget travel constraints turned South Africa into the whole world.
The series opens with nomads leaving Africa and closes with the atomic age, pausing for the usual BBC greatest-hits package: Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Renaissance, industrial Britain, two world wars. Marr delivers links from a desk perched on cliffs, deserts or city rooftops, while supporting actors in bargain costumes replay everything from mammoth hunts to moon landings.
Viewing figures peaked at 3.6 million for episode one and stayed healthy enough for BBC Two to repeat the lot within six months. The Open University mailed 200,000 study packs to students who wanted academic credit for watching.
Production Details
BBC One / 1 Season / 8 Episodes / 2012
Created by: Andrew Marr
Writer(s): Andrew Marr
Producer(s): Kathryn Taylor (series)Neil Rawles (1, 2)Renny Bartlett (3
Main Cast
Andrew Marr as Self - Presenter
