499 Cosmos

First   viewed  : July  1981

This  monumental  documentary  series  about  life, the  universe  and  everything  seemed  like  archetypal  BBC2  fodder  but  was  actually  a  late  night  item  on  BBC  One. We  never  made  an  appointment  to  watch  it  but  often  stayed  in  our  seats  as  it  followed  a  repeat  series  of  Shoestring  on  Wednesday  nights.

The  BBC  was  actually  a  partner  in  the  production  of  the  series  which  was  partly  written  by  its  presenter  Carl  Sagan . It  was  first  screened  in  the  USA  where  it  was  wildly  popular  with  both  critics  and  public  and  won  numerous  awards.  An  astronomy  professor  from  Cornell  University  in  his  mid-forties,  Sagan  was  a  likable  and  telegenic  host  with  a   full  repertoire  of  unusual  intonations  which, had  the  series  been  shown  in  prime  time, would  have  made  him  an  absolute  gift  to  impressionists It  was  though  a  little  unfortunate  as  the  content  was  so  cerebral  you  really  didn't   want  to  be  distracted  by  the  eccentricities  in  the  delivery. Vangelis  provided  much  of  the  music.

The  series  ran  for  13  episodes  which  had  been  slightly  trimmed  to  fit  a  50  minute  time  slot.
It  hasn't  been  repeated  here  since  1982. In  the  US  it  was  regularly  re-shown  and  Sagan would  add  new  bits  in  the  light  of  recent  discoveries  until  his  death  from  pneumonia  nearly twenty  years  ago.