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Civilisation

TV·1969–1969·1 season, 13 episodes·BBC Two·Documentary·50m·Created by Kenneth Clark

Streaming on (US) Britbox Apple TV Channel BBC Select Apple Tv channelSee all

Sir Kenneth Clark guides us through the ages exploring the glorious rise of civilisation in western man. Beginning with the bleakness of the dark ages to the present day, we consider civilisation's articulations and expressions in some of man's finest works of art.

Highest-rated episodes all ranked

  1. 01Civilisation S01E01The Skin of Our TeethS01E01 · 9.0In this the first episode Clark travels from Byzantine Ravenna to the Celtic Hebrides, from the Norway of the Vikings to Charlemagne's chapel at Aachen, telling his story of the Dark Ages; the six centuries following the collapse of the Roman Empire.
  2. 02Civilisation S01E02The Great ThawS01E02 · 9.0In the second episode Clark tells of the sudden reawakening of European civilisation in the twelfth century . He traces it from its first manifestations in the Abbey of Cluny to its high point, the building of the Chartres cathedral.
  3. 03Civilisation S01E09The Pursuit of HappinessS01E09 · 9.0Here Clark talks of the harmonious flow and complex symmetries of the works of Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart — and the reflection of these in the Rococo churches and palaces of Bavaria.

Cast

Episodes by season

Season01Episode ratings across the season — the gold bar is its best episode13Episodes1969Aired 8.4Season avg
  1. S01E01Civilisation S01E01Season's bestThe Skin of Our TeethFebruary 23, 1969 9.0In this the first episode Clark travels from Byzantine Ravenna to the Celtic Hebrides, from the Norway of the Vikings to Charlemagne's chape
  2. S01E02Civilisation S01E02The Great ThawMarch 2, 1969 9.0In the second episode Clark tells of the sudden reawakening of European civilisation in the twelfth century . He traces it from its first ma
  3. S01E03Civilisation S01E03Romance and RealityMarch 9, 1969 8.0Beginning at a castle in the Loire, then travelling through the hills of Tuscany and Umbria to the cathedral baptistry at Pisa as he examine
  4. S01E04Civilisation S01E04Man: The Measure of all ThingsMarch 16, 1969 8.5Visiting Florence, where, Clark argues, European thought gained a new impetus from its rediscovery of its classical past. He also visits the
  5. S01E05Civilisation S01E05The Hero as ArtistMarch 23, 1969 8.3Here Clark takes us back to 16th century Papal Rome noting the convergence of Christianity and antiquity. He discusses Michelangelo, Raphael
  6. S01E06Civilisation S01E06Protest and CommunicationMarch 30, 1969 8.0Here Clark takes us back to the Reformation. That is to the Germany of Albrecht Duerer and Martin Luther, the world of the humanitarians Era
  7. S01E07Civilisation S01E07Grandeur and ObedienceApril 6, 1969 8.0Again in Rome of Michelangelo and Bernini, Clark tells of the Catholic Church's fight against the Protestant north, the Counter-Reformation
  8. S01E08Civilisation S01E08The Light of ExperienceApril 13, 1969 8.0Here Clark tells of new worlds in space and in a drop of water that the telescope and microscope revealed, and the new realism in the Dutch
  9. S01E09Civilisation S01E09The Pursuit of HappinessApril 20, 1969 9.0Here Clark talks of the harmonious flow and complex symmetries of the works of Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart — and the reflection of these
  10. S01E10Civilisation S01E10The Smile of ReasonApril 27, 1969 8.0Here Clark discusses the Age of Enlightenment tracing it from the polite conversations in the elegant Parisian salons of eighteenth-century,
  11. S01E11Civilisation S01E11The Worship of NatureMay 4, 1969 8.0Belief in the divinity of nature, Clark argues, usurped Christianity's position as the chief creative force in Western civilisation and ushe
  12. S01E12Civilisation S01E12The Fallacies of HopeMay 11, 1969 8.5Here Clark argues that the French Revolution led to the dictatorship of Napoleon and the dreary bureaucracies of the nineteenth century and
  13. S01E13Civilisation S01E13Heroic MaterialismMay 18, 1969 9.0Clark concludes the series with his discussion of materialism and humanitarianism of the past century. This takes us from the industrial lan

Season 1 ranked & reviewed

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