Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World

Last updated

Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World
Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World.jpg
Genre Documentary television
Directed by
Narrated by Gordon Honeycombe
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of series1
No. of episodes13
Production
Producers
  • John Fanshawe
  • John Fairley
Running time25 minutes [1]
Production company Yorkshire Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release2 September (1980-09-02) 
25 November 1980 (1980-11-25)
Related

Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World is a thirteen-part British television series looking at unexplained phenomena from around the world. It was produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network and first broadcast on 6 September 1980.

Contents

Each program is introduced and book-ended by author and inventor of the communications satellite Arthur C. Clarke in short sequences filmed in Sri Lanka. The bulk of the episodes are narrated by Gordon Honeycombe. The series was produced by John Fanshawe and John Fairley, and directed by Peter Jones, Michael Weigall and Charles Flynn. It also featured a unique soundtrack composed by British artist Alan Hawkshaw.

In 1980, Book Club Associates published a hardcover book with the same name, authored by Simon Welfare and John Fairley, where the contents of the show were further explored. It featured an introduction written by Clarke as well as his remarks at the end of each chapter or topic. In 1985, a paperback of this book was released by HarperCollins Publishers.

The series was followed by Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers in 1985 and Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe in 1994.

Episodes

No.TitleOriginal air date
1"The Journey Begins..."2 September 1980 (1980-09-02)

This episode introduces the themes that are explored in the remainder of the series. Clarke expounds on his categorisation of mysteries, self-consciously aping the famous 'close encounters' categorisation used by some ufologists:

  1. Mysteries of the First Kind – phenomena which were mysterious to our ancestors but are now well understood. Clarke illustrates this category by observing the Solar eclipse of 16 February 1980 from Hyderabad, India, highlighting that eclipses are still treated with reverence and suspicion in some cultures.
  2. Mysteries of the Second Kind – phenomena which are as yet unexplained, but where we have several clues that hint at an answer. Clarke looks at ball lightning (including one sighting by Roger Jennison in the cabin of an aircraft), the Loch Ness Monster, Remy Van Lierde's encounter with a gigantic snake, a sighting of a sea serpent off the coast of England, the stone spheres of Costa Rica, the Baghdad Battery, the vitrified forts of Scotland, Stonehenge, and the Cerne Abbas Giant. The ruined ancient palace of Sigiriya in Sri Lanka, which Clarke mentions at the beginning of the episode, could also be included in this category.
  3. Mysteries of the Third Kind – phenomena for which we have no rational explanation. Clarke mentions psychic phenomena as something that would be included in this category, and the extremely strange phenomena of raining animals and seeds and nuts "raining" from the sky might also be included.
2"Monsters of the Deep"9 September 1980 (1980-09-09)
Including the giant squid, gigantic octopus, sea serpent and megamouth shark
3"Ancient Wisdom"16 September 1980 (1980-09-16)

This show is concerned with technology from history that was either ahead of its time and subsequently forgotten, or artefacts which are mysteries in themselves. This includes the Baghdad Battery, where German scientist Arne Eggebrecht is shown electroplating a small silver statue with a gold cyanide solution and a replica of the battery using grape juice. There are also segments on the Antikythera Mechanism (including an interview with Derek J. de Solla Price), the Stone Balls of Costa Rica and the so-called 'Skull of Doom' which dominates the opening credits of the series. Also included are the vitrified stone forts of Scotland including Tap o' Noth near Aberdeen.

Clarke opines at the end that had some of these forgotten technologies been developed and not lost that it would now be like it was the year 4000 AD and that we would have already 'colonised the stars'.
4"The Missing Apeman"23 September 1980 (1980-09-23)

This episode is divided equally between considering evidence for the Bigfoot and Yeti. Interviewees for the segment on the Yeti include Don Whillans, Lord Hunt and Eric Shipton. Lengthy consideration is given to the Patterson–Gimlin film, and interviewees include Grover Krantz – who demonstrates several casts of alleged Bigfoot tracks that he feels bolsters his belief that the creature represents a relative of Gigantopithecus.

Clarke concludes that, although Russian scientists who studied the Patterson–Gimlin film declared the stride to be 'quite inhuman', special effects used in the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey showed that it is possible to create very convincing ape-men. He also notes that it would be very difficult for a creature such as Bigfoot to remain undetected in North America.
5"Giants for the Gods"30 September 1980 (1980-09-30)
About the Cerne Abbas giant, Nazca lines and others
6"Monsters of the Lakes"7 October 1980 (1980-10-07)
Including Nessie, Ogopogo
7"The Great Siberian Explosion"14 October 1980 (1980-10-14)
This episode investigated the cause of the Tunguska event. The programme concluded that the explosion was caused by the impact of a comet fragment, or other ice-rich body, that exploded above the ground. The reasons given for this were the fact that there was no crater as might be expected had a stony or iron object been involved and the heightened levels of rare earth elements discovered in the devastated environment afterwards.
8"The Riddle of the Stones"21 October 1980 (1980-10-21)
Newgrange and other megalithic structures, such as Stonehenge, Avebury
9"Out of the Blue"28 October 1980 (1980-10-28)
Discussing ice falls, frog falls, raining animals, etc.
10"U.F.O.s"4 November 1980 (1980-11-04)
Including the Robert Taylor incident and an interview with Kenneth Arnold
11"Dragons, Dinosaurs and Giant Snakes"11 November 1980 (1980-11-11)

Including Mokele-mbembe, giant anaconda, Ameranthropoides loysi as well as sightings and excavations of animals such as the moa and the woolly mammoth.

Also interviews with Roy Mackal and James Powell.
12"Strange Skies"18 November 1980 (1980-11-18)
Including lost planets such as Vulcan, the Martian canals, the identity of the Star of Bethlehem etc.
13"Clarke's Cabinet of Curiosities"25 November 1980 (1980-11-25)
A collection of unrelated subjects and a summing-up – including the sailing stones of Death Valley, the alma, entombed toads, ball lightning in which physicist James Tuck appears, and a summing-up.

Home release

In January 2008 the original series was released on DVD in the UK by Network and Granada. It features all of the 13 original episodes unedited and remastered.

A collection DVD Box Set of all three Arthur C. Clarke documentary series, Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers and Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe was released in July 2013 by Visual Entertainment, which also re-released them separately in September 2013. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Cosmos: A Personal Voyage</i> 1980 science documentary series

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part, 1980-1981 television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles, and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David Oyster, Richard Wells, Tom Weidlinger, and others. It covers a wide range of scientific subjects, including the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe. Owing to its bestselling companion book and soundtrack album using the title, Cosmos, the series is widely known by this title, with the subtitle omitted from home video packaging. The subtitle began to be used more frequently in the 2010s to differentiate it from the sequel series that followed.

Sliders is an American science fiction and fantasy television series created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé. It was broadcast for five seasons between 1995 and 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. Tracy Tormé, Robert K. Weiss, Leslie Belzberg, John Landis, David Peckinpah, Bill Dial and Alan Barnette served as executive producers at different times of the production. For its first two seasons, it was produced in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was filmed primarily in Los Angeles, California, in the last three seasons.

<i>Static Shock</i> US 2000–2004 animated TV series

Static Shock is an American superhero animated television series based on the Milestone Media/DC Comics superhero Static. It premiered on September 23, 2000, on the WB Television Network's Kids' WB programming block. Static Shock ran for four seasons, with 52 half-hour episodes in total. The show revolves around Virgil Hawkins, a 14-year-old boy who uses the secret identity of "Static" after exposure to a mutagen gas during a gang fight which gave him electromagnetic powers. It was the first time that an African-American superhero was the titular character of their own broadcast animation series.

<i>He-Man and the Masters of the Universe</i> 1980s American animated television series

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line Masters of the Universe. The show was one of the most popular animated shows of the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William R. Corliss</span> American physicist and writer

William Roger Corliss was an American physicist and writer who was known for his interest in collecting data regarding anomalous phenomena. Corliss was Charles Fort's most direct successor. Arthur C. Clarke described Corliss as "Fort's latter-day - and much more scientific - successor."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Serios</span> Self-proclaimed psychic

Theodore Judd Serios was a Chicago bellhop known for his production of "thoughtographs" on Polaroid film. He claimed these were produced using psychic powers. Serios's psychic claims were bolstered by the endorsement of a Denver-based psychiatrist, Jule Eisenbud (1908–1999), who published a book named The World of Ted Serios: "Thoughtographic" Studies of an Extraordinary Mind (1967) arguing that Serios's purported psychic abilities were genuine. However, professional photographers and skeptics have argued that Serios and his photographs were fraudulent.

"Transfigurations" is the 25th episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the 73rd episode of the series overall.

Vitrified forts are stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected to vitrification through heat. It was long thought that these structures were unique to Scotland, but they have since been identified in several other parts of western and northern Europe.

<i>The Monocled Mutineer</i> British TV series or programme

The Monocled Mutineer is a 1986 BBC television drama series starring Paul McGann about the Étaples mutiny in 1917 during the First World War. The four-part serial, which was the first historical screenplay written by Alan Bleasdale, dramatised the life of British Army deserter Percy Toplis. It was adapted from the 1978 book of the same name by William Allison and John Fairley.

<i>The Land Before Time</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

The Land Before Time is an American animated television series, based on The Land Before Time film series created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss. It was developed for television by Ford Riley for Cartoon Network and was produced by Universal Animation Studios and Amblin Entertainment, and animated by Wang Film Productions in Taiwan and Toon City in the Philippines. It premiered on YTV in Canada for a test on January 5, 2007 and premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 5.

"Big Foot" is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visual Entertainment Inc.</span>

Visual Entertainment Inc. (VEI) is a home video/television distribution company that is based in Toronto, Ontario. An independent label, it has released several well-known TV series on DVD, some through sub-licensing deals with other labels such as Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and CBS Home Entertainment.

<i>Arthur C. Clarkes World of Strange Powers</i> 1985 British television series

Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers is a thirteen-part British television series looking at strange worlds of the paranormal. It was produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network and first broadcast in 1985. It was the sequel to the 1980 series Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World.

<i>Super Friends</i> (1980 TV series) American TV series or program

Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1980 to 1983 on ABC. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and is based on the Justice League and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics. It was the fifth incarnation of the Super Friends series following Super Friends (1973), The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977), Challenge of the Superfriends (1978) and The World's Greatest Super Friends (1979).

Michael Joseph Cassutt is an American television producer, screenwriter, and author. His notable TV work includes producing or writing, or both, for The Outer Limits, Eerie, Indiana, Beverly Hills, 90210, and The Twilight Zone. In addition to his work in television, Cassutt has written over thirty short stories, predominately in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. He has also published novels, including the 1986 The Star Country, the 1991 Dragon Season, the 2001 Red Moon and the 2011 Heaven's Shadow, in collaboration with David S. Goyer. In addition, Cassutt contributes non-fiction articles to magazines and is the author of the non-fiction book, The Astronaut Maker, a biography of NASA legend George W. S. Abbey (2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur C. Clarke</span> British science fiction writer (1917–2008)

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke was an English science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.

<i>Arthur C. Clarkes Mysterious Universe</i> 1994 British television series

Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe is a 26-part television series looking at unexplained phenomena across the universe. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom by independent television network Discovery Channel. It premiered on 15 July 1994. It was the sequel to Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World and Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers.

<i>Fringe</i> (season 3) Season of television series

The third season of the American science fiction television series Fringe began airing on the Fox network on September 23, 2010, and concluded on May 6, 2011. Twenty-two episodes long, the season was produced by Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, and its showrunners were Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman. Lead actors Anna Torv, John Noble, and Joshua Jackson reprised their roles as FBI agent Olivia Dunham and the father-son duo Walter and Peter Bishop. Previous series regulars Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole, and Blair Brown also returned, along with recurring guest stars Kirk Acevedo, Seth Gabel, and Ryan McDonald.

In his lifetime Arthur C. Clarke participated in film, television, radio and other media in a number of different ways.

John Alexander Fairley FRTS is a British former television producer from Liverpool, who now lives in Yorkshire. With William Allison he wrote the 1978 book The Monocled Mutineer, made into a well-known 1986 BBC One controversial drama series, adapted by Alan Bleasdale.

References

  1. "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World". TheTVDB.com. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  2. Lambert, David (21 August 2013). "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe - Individual Releases for 3 Shows from VEI's 'Clarke Collection'". TV Shows on DVD. TV Guide Online. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2013.