Around The World In 80 Treasures: Complete BBC Series [2005]

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Customer reviews

review by: Fishybaz date: 2008-09-24 rating:
Thank God!
Thank you BBC! They have finally released this fantastic series onto DVD! And in time for Xmas!
I was so desperate to own a copy, I even started a petition to send to the BBC as I've waited so long for it!
My husband and I are huge fans. This series is delightful, awe-inspiring, magnificent and jaw dropping. It is fantastic.
Dan Cruickshank is inspirational. I love the way he is passionate about all his subjects, and even carries around his notebook, in which he had notes to jog his memory for facts about a place, but also made extra notes in to then write the book which accompanied the series.
He has inspired my trip to Jordan, and we will watch the Petra episode several times before then so that I'm all clued up!

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review by: gadfly date: 2008-07-22 rating:
a warrior for civilisation
A wonderfully civilised man is our Dan, who introduces you to 80 locations around the planet and conveys much more than treasures as objects, but the more profound search for the ineffable as manifest in the great spiritual yearnings apparent in all cultures except the current phase of dedication to Mammon. The wonderful benefit of a DVD is that you can select the episode or with freeze frame, the image you wish to concentrate upon. This is a five month trip with Dan and his crew, and they don't hang around for the best visual condition or the most optimum bureaucratic benefit of access. This is worth every penny and will provide a crash course in humanity for anyone over 35, hopefully, a few younger persons might like to jump through it for possible adventure locations.

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review by: date: 2008-05-28 rating:
Delighful Dan on a personal tour
The transfer to DVD features all 10 episodes on 4 discs. It's packaged in a single box with two DVDs overlapping on each side + a rather pointless cardboard oversleeve. No extras but there are English subtitles.

Dan Cruickshank is a delightfully gentle presenter and this series features the first serving at the buffet for the world architectural gems and incredible objects that are his passion. It features some fairly well known items- the Taj Mahal, the Parthenon, Machu Pichu, the death mask of Tutankhamun and so on. There are also more surprising items- Inca saltpans which are still in operation, the Samarkand skyline and the rebuilt Bridge at Mostar in Bosnia (signifying a first tentative reconciliation after the Yugoslav war). He doesn't stint on modern objects either- I was most intrigued by the sinister origins of the VW Beetle.

As this represents a staged journey around the world- it's a great guide for adventurous travellers to the less well trodden but accessible world treasures.


review by: date: 2008-04-19 rating:
Open your eyes to a world of treasures
How do you pick 80 artefacts, places or things which represent what humans have done over thousands of years? A great deal of in-depth knowledge helps, for a start. Dan Cruickshank certainly has that. This series is the story of how he travelled to 40 countries in search of the treasures on his list. Some are well known: the Taj Mahal; the Parthenon; the Great Wall of China (but no less impressive just because of their fame.) Others are less famous: Leptis Magna in Libya (I knew nothing of this before watching the programme); Angkor Wat in Cambodia; the underground city of Goreme in Turkey. There are surprising choices, too: the Volkswagen Beetle, the Seagram building in New York and the Sydney Harbour bridge. Dan Cruickshank has a distinctive presentation style and his vocal inflexions take a little getting used to but we can forgive him this because of his overwhelming enthusiasm for everything he sees. He interprets the treasures and places them in context for the layman without ever being patronising. If you like to see the world but don't feel you'll ever get to these far flung places, watch this series. It's an astonishing eye-opener.

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Similar categories

Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Documentary . All Documentaries
Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Television . All Television
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . DVD
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Box Set
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Region(feature_browse-bin) . Region 2
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 2000 and later
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . English

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