Civilisation

Interesting talk at Charleston Farmhouse as part of the Charleston Festival looking at the original and the new Civilisation television series.

James Stourton, the biographer of Kenneth Clark, talked about the original series which he said was made by the BBC as a beacon for colour TV. It aimed to tell the story of Western civilisation and pioneered the idea of filming on location. He talked about the criticisms of the series and how these were highlighted by the fact that it came out at a time when society was changing and it hadn’t reflected this.

David Olusoga, the historian and one of the presenters of the new series being made at the moment talked about the vision for this new version. He says it will still have personal views but there will be three presenters, himself, Simon Schama and Mary Beard, Olusoga’s sections focus on when cultures come together not just in crushing ways but also when they come together for mutual benefit. He also pointed out the new series is called Civilisations, plural.

Frances Spalding, the art historian, led a good discussion at the end covering whether TV is the right medium for this now and Olusoga talked about how the series will supported by a website with short clips. They talked about how the first series only looked at Christianity but how the new version will include other religions.

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