Civilizations (BBC 2017)

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This is only available on blu-ray in the UK so I ordered it and watched it. It's a fantastic update and expansion upon Kenneth Clark's Civilization. In the very title, you can tell what the difference is between this series and the 1968 one. Clark saw civilization as a single thread from ancient Greece and Egypt to Rome to Europe. This series sees the growth of civilization as the progress of humanity in different cultures and parts of the world. There's amazing footage of Olmec statues and Persian miniatures and the Chinese terra cotta army. It's made clear that the foundation of world culture is based on elements of humanity and how we value and interact with art, not just classical Greek architecture and art.

In six episodes, the series travels all over the world, spanning almost 100,000 years, explaining why man creates, and why what he creates is vital to us as a culture. I can't think of a more important undertaking, and they totally nail it. There are three hosts, each taking on a subject with their own particular point of view... Simon Schama, Mary Beard and David Olusoga. They don't always see things at all the same, but the underlying understanding is there. The sound and photography is up to the standards of the BBC natural history series, with fantastic cinematography and tightly constructed editing and writing designed to clearly explain its points.

There are a handful of truly great art documentary series: Kenneth Clark's Civilization, Robert Hughes' Shock of the New, Goya: Crazy Like A Genius and Mona Lisa Curse, Simon Schama's Power of Art... This one belongs up there with the best of them. Worth getting and watching more than once.

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By the way, I think this is currently on Netflix if you want to sample it before you order it.