# Civilisation (1969)

> Kenneth Clark guides viewers across western art, architecture and ideas from the dark ages to the present day.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/8605

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 13
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: documentary
- Created by: Kenneth Clark
- Network: BBC Two
- Cast: Kenneth Clark, Ian Richardson, Ronald Lacey, Patrick Stewart, William Devlin, Eric Porter, Cecil Day-Lewis
- TMDB rating: 8.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264234/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: none
- Tone: erudite, reflective, rapturous, measured, contemplative

## Synopsis

Civilisation (1969) is a British documentary miniseries created by Kenneth Clark for BBC Two. Presented entirely by Clark himself, who appears on camera as the host and guide, the thirteen-episode series walks viewers through the history of western art and ideas, beginning in the bleakness of the dark ages and moving toward the present day. Each episode is built from location visits to cathedrals, monasteries, palaces and galleries, where Clark stands before paintings, sculpture and architecture and explains what they reveal about the people who made them. Short dramatised readings of Shakespeare and poetry appear across the run, adding a literary texture to the visual tour. The engine of the series is Clark's argument that civilisation is a fragile human achievement, shaped by faith, reason, and the courage to build beautiful things. Its tone is measured, erudite and quietly rapturous, with a calm, reflective pace that rewards patient attention. Set across roughly a thousand years of European history, it is a single continuous survey rather than a set of separate stories. Fans of The Ascent of Man, Ways of Seeing and Cosmos will find resonance in its authoritative presenter and its ambition to explain an entire civilisation through its art.

## Shows like Civilisation

- [Ways of Seeing (1972)](https://ember.film/tv/43191)
- [The Living Planet (1984)](https://ember.film/tv/8856)
- [Cold War (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/12599)
- [The World at War (1973)](https://ember.film/tv/712)
- [The Planets (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/5941)
- [The Civil War (1990)](https://ember.film/tv/8991)
- [Planet Earth (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/981)
- [Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/12500)
- [The Day the Universe Changed (1985)](https://ember.film/tv/834)
- [Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980)](https://ember.film/tv/1346)

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