The Story of India (2007)
BBC

Description

The world's largest democracy and a rising economic giant, India is now as well known across the globe for its mastery of computer technology as it is for its many-armed gods and its famous spiritual traditions. But India is also the world's most ancient surviving civilization, with unbroken continuity back into prehistory.

Like other great civilizations—Greece or Egypt, for example—over the millennia it has enjoyed not just one but several brilliant golden ages in art and culture. Its great thinkers and religious leaders have permanently changed the face of the globe. But while the glories of Rome, Egypt, and Greece, have all been the subject of TV portraits, as yet there has been no television story of India on our screens. This series sets out for the first time to do that: to show a world audience the wonders of India; the incredible richness and diversity of its peoples, cultures and landscapes; and the intense drama of its past, including some of the most momentous, exciting and moving events in world history.

Tags

India

Collected reviews and ratings

10 Los Angeles Times | Robert Lloyd

Although the series, which goes back to the very beginnings of human habitation on the subcontinent, is full of information - it registers mainly as a sensory experience [...] there is hardly a minute that isn't gorgeous, in terms of camerawork or subject matter, to the point that it makes one's own life seem quite drab.
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9.0 Amazon user reviews

The six hour series by Michael Wood is filled with verbal information, as well as gorgeous shots of the Indian landscape and towns. It traces the history of the sub-continent from 30,000 years ago to the present, discussing the exploration and settling of the country by the earliest immigrants, and the spread of languages and language groups over the region.
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8.0 New York Times | Mike Hale

If you like the idea of watching a really good National Geographic article brought to life, with the lush photography, fascinating facts, sense of discovery and slight superficiality that implies, you’ll love “The Story of India.”
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8.0 Wall Street Journal | Michael Judge

Seldom is a documentary television program as relevant to current headlines as Michael Wood's wondrously informative and visually dazzling six-hour series.
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7.0 PopMatters.com | Cynthia Fuchs

Bright colors, splashy and vibrant. Faces painted verdant green and hot pink, clothes dyed golden yellow and iridescent blue, foods in vendors’ stalls, cooked and raw. And elephants, adorned and at work.
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