The Voyage of Charles Darwin

I have heard that the so-called 'christian' right has had something to do with this first-class film biography of one of the world's greatest scientists not being made available to the public. If this is so, why do contributors, like myself, continue to support Public Television if the directors of WGBH, WNET, and the other PBS stations that are constantly begging us for money refuse to have this marvellous six-part series issued as a DVD or VHS?

This series has been repeated on BBC from its initial transmission in the UK - about five years ago I think. Why it has not re-appeared in the USA is an interesting point but I do know that there is a new TV production about Darwin's life which used his house to shoot some scenes .

That will be interesting to see but should not take anything away from this earlier effort which does remain an excellent introduction to the life and work of arguably one of the most influential people who have ever lived. With the exception of religious or creationist cranks, the evolution of species by natural selection remains the corner stone of biology - and in this series we can see how the young Darwin comes across this insight. Perhaps the debt owned to others is not always acknowleged in this series and the important role of Alfred Russel Wallace who came to the same conclusion as Darwin is glossed over but undoubtedly the series is best when it is on board the Beagle. The role of Captain Fitzroy is also important - and he does not come across as a religious bigot but as a man who ridiculed in his efforts to assist the poor indians he found in Terra Del Fuego . Only recently in England was his name immortalised as well when an area of sea used for weather forcasting was changed to his - in debt to his other work as a map maker and a pioneer in accurate weather forecasting .

A recommended series - and perhaps the BBC have got round to re-issuing it on DVD sometime,

I have this series online. All one person has to do is download a program called Limewire (they have their own site just search for it) and download it from me. I have one through 3 online right now and i will get the rest on line soon. I HST want to see how these download. They do not look or sound good because they were taped 26 years ago. This is an excellent mini series and I would really like for people to download it as I would like to see if putting them on line was worth my effort. This is a first rate biography of one of the worlds greatest scientists. Like I said they don't look or sound good but are still watchable.

Video tapes of the series are available on interlibrary loan from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. As one would expect, the quality of the images after 28 years of sitting on the shelf is not good. Nonetheless, I used copies in my two-quarter course on Darwin and evolution. My course, attended by 50 retired persons from our lifelong learning institute program, gave the series rave reviews. My online search indicates that the series is also available via interlibrary loan from Idaho State University. Like many of you, I'd like to purchase DVD's of the series from Time-Life. Please contact me if DVD's become available.

The 4 DVD set, "The Voyage of Charles Darwin", can be purchased through a seller on eBid for a reasonable price (not auction). I despaired of ever seeing this inspiring series again. I had been looking online every few years, but someone recently wrote that it could be found at eBid. After I got mine, I inquired whether the seller could get more, and he replied that he could. What I especially liked about the series was/is the realism: I believe the scenes were shot on location, and the ship certainly looks like how the Beagle must have been (or how I imagined it). Darwin is portrayed by an actor, Malcolm Stoddard, who looks and acts like what I envisioned Darwin would have been like. Enjoy! Finally!