If you're not watching this on BBC1/HD every Sunday, do yourself a favour and catchup. Professor Brian Cox, keyboard player for D:Ream who literally proved that "Things Can Only Get Better" by becoming a particle physicist, is our tour guide to the spectacular sights in our galactic backyard. Wonders Of The Solar System's first episode focused on the Sun, while last night was all about the order that came from the chaotic birth of our solar system, with particular attention given to Saturn and its magnificent rings.
You may think this show will just reiterate facts familiar from your school days, embroidered with fancy computer graphics, but it's proven to be more instructive and entertaining than I expected. I had no idea Saturn was so interesting (its rings are thousands of miles long but only two metres thick), or that it has 61 orbiting moons that are equally as remarkable. Did you know that one, Enceladus, erupts a gigantic boiling geyser into space from its frozen pole, fuelled by the gravity of Saturn literally contorting its surface to create energy through friction? You do now.
Cox himself is the perfect presenter for something like this. He's educated but accessible, passionate and engaging, quite handsome, yet peculiar enough to be kind of a fascinating watch himself -- with his soft Lancastrian accent, thin lips, boyish hairstyle and waxy features. My only complaint is that he sometimes asks stupid questions to other experts (e.g what would happen if you drove a car into a tornado?), which makes him look a bit dense around his peers. If he's only asking on behalf of any dimwits watching at home, I think he should credit us with more intelligence.
It's intriguing how Wonders Of The Solar System has tried to provide a balance with religion, too. The spiritual sensation of a solar eclipse didn't go uncommented on during scenes of one occurring over India, Cox himself admitted the Aurora Borealis resembled green spirits leaving the mountains for the heavens, and last night's episode began in a Mosque. There seems to be a conscious effort to assure people that science doesn't negate religion, they can work in tandem. Where some people see pure cosmic coincidence that our moon's exactly the right size, shape and distance from the Sun to create regular total solar eclipses, others see intelligent design.
Whatever you believe, theists and atheists will surely agree that our universe is a majestic, incredible creation of vivid beauty and hidden wonder. I'm enjoying this immensely, how about you?
14 MARCH 2010: BBC1/BBC HD, 9PM
