Review of Christians, The

Introduction

In 1977 Bamber Gascoigne wrote and presented a 13 part series on The Christians. This documentary series was not really about the central story of Christ and the many parables (although some were touched upon), it was about the spread of Christianity across the Middle East to Europe and then across the world. Starting effectively with the aftermath of the crucifixion, the series continues with the travels of St Paul and continues through the likes of Constantine, Charlemagne et al.

The series is not just about the spread of the Christian message and it`s embedding into Western culture in particular. It`s also about the controversies and threats that the religion has faced, and still faces. The sciences in particular come upon scrutiny, with focus on the Church`s reaction to such events as Galileo`s theories on astronomy and Darwin`s theory of Evolution.

Here is a 4 disc set of all 13 episodes.

1. A Peculiar People
2. The Christian Empire
3. The Birth Of Europe
4. Faith And Fear
5. People And The Book
6. Princes And Prelates
7. Protest And Reform
8. The Conquest Of Souls
9. In Search Of Tolerance
10. Politeness And Enthusiasm
11. Missions At Home And Abroad
12. The Roots Of Disbelief
13. The Godless State?

Video

Another Network release, another terrible picture. As well as the damage to the picture itself, there is something not quite right with the quality of the picture. Inside shots are generally too dark, outside shots are too light and too bright. Regardless there are long lingering shots of architecture that just make some quite magnificent buildings look their age as well as just dull and flat.

Audio

A mono track that comes across as dull and uninteresting, emanating solely from the front speaker. This being the case, the sound effects employed and background noise of whatever is being filmed sometimes feels very cluttered. The soundtrack is by and large grating as well.

Features

Not an extra as such, but there is a modern introduction with writer/presenter Bamber Gascoigne where he ponders how much the series would have changed in the post-9/11 world. Not much, he reckons.

Conclusion

Religion is one of those things that shouldn`t be discussed in polite company, so I won`t. Suffice to say, this is a dated but rather detailed look at how Christianity evolved from a few blokes following another around to one of the predominant movements in the Western world, if not the whole world. Whilst I quite liked presenter Bamber Gascoigne`s style and the kinds of questions he asked, the series as whole just felt too long and dry to me rather than interesting.

I`m not really sure who this will appeal to. Certainly not enthusiasts of the DVD format due to the lack of effort put in by Network, and I can`t really imagine hordes of fans waiting in the wings for near on 30 years for the release of this.

As a snapshot of the time, it`s a curiosity but no more than that.