Hyperspace with Sam Neill

I normally watch sitcoms while doing my half-hour on the treadmill most mornings, but I decided to take a break this week and watch the BBC science-documentary series Hyperspace with Sam Neill (also known, apparently in its original UK run, as just Space).

This one is worth watching. The information content is not high, but the photography is beautiful, and the special-effects sequences are stunning: Earth forming from the accretion of planetesimals, a solar-sail ship unfurling in flight, probes diving into the ocean of Europa. Although the series is now six years old, the effects rival anything on the best science-fiction shows today, and really do convey the classic sense of wonder.

Six twenty-eight-minute episodes on one DVD, with Sam Neill (of Jurassic Park fame) a very congenial guide.

Nice to see Seth Shostak interviewed in the episode on SETI, and David Brin in the one called "New Worlds." Amazon.com has the series for $17.99, and it's well worth that.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site