Horizon 

British documentary series that covers a variety of subjects in science and philosophy.

Creators:

Nicola Cook, Adriana Timco, Catherine Wyler

Stars:

Paul Vaughan, Jack Fortune, Dilly Barlow

11 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Paul Vaughan	...	Self - Narrator / ... 134 episodes, 1968-2013

Storyline

British documentary series that covers a variety of subjects in science and philosophy.

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Plot Keywords:

science | reenactment | technology | nature | spatial awareness | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Timeshift: Flights of Fancy: Pigeons and the British (2017)

User Reviews

Varies by subject

Horizon is a prism... it is mostly scientific, retaining much of its earliest episodes in its latter ones (although not quite the details, especially when it concerns physics).

Its episodes concerning astronomy, in particular, are usually awe-inspiring, and although Horizon attempts to add in musical details that add to the whole picture (thus sensationalizing it, effectively) it does mostly succeed in conveying both the artistic aspect of what science could achieve and the actual details themselves, although when tackling topics that are more philosophical, like infinity, sensationalism may take over with not as many details.

Horizon also tries to explain sociological issues that verge on the scientific, like the placebo effect and autism; with the former it does succeed (in my opinion) in conveying both the hard science and psychology behind it, despite involving some random people... whereas, with autism, it fails scientifically, and seems to involve random people for no apparent reason.

Generally, as long as Horizon concentrates on the science it succeeds, but when it ends up speculating on anecdotes it doesn't so well (even with the earlier episodes, individual scientists were interviewed but they didn't necessarily talk about themselves).

Science should be at the centre of any documentaries that attempt to tackle such questions (autism clearly involves neurotransmitters e.g. and yet none were mentioned). Anecdotes should be used only in rare, specific cases like Henry Molaison's.

Overall, though, Horizon does seem to present science well...

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [UK]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 May 1964 (UK)

Also Known As:

Horizon

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1