Richard Dawkins - The Genius of Darwin

[faceless]

Here's Dawkins on today's Richard and Judy promoting his new 3-part series on Charles Darwin which starts this evening. (apologies for the audio lag in this stream)

CLICK HERE for the Channel 4 page.

Here are the three episodes in six parts - you need a free humyo account to download

Part 01a
Part 01b
Part 02a
Part 02b
Part 03a
Part 03b

[Twirley]

That looks really interesting. I'm always fascinated by Darwin and his ideas. I think it's the geologist/anthropologist in me...!! Hopefully, we'll get to see it over here soon.

Thanks for posting the link, Face.

[nekokate]

Nice one, Face. I likes old Dicky Dawkins. His documentary about spiritualism and supernatural stuff was great - he showed those charlatans.

Are you going to be capping the series? It will be on 4oD for people in the UK to download, obviously, so I might check it out from there.

[faceless]

I will be capping it for sure - I'll have it available later.

[Twirley]

[faceless]

[faceless]

God's revenge on Darwin? Dawkins
AA Gill
10/08/2008
Sunday Times

Next year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. For a person who was never a member of the Groucho Club and never owned a production company, Darwin has been responsible for an enormous amount of television: nature programmes, police and medical dramas, reality shows. It will also be the 150th anniversary of his reluctant publication of The Origin of Species, a book that not only changed the world, but also explained it. Television likes an anniversary, and this is a particularly auspicious one, for our greatest scientist and arguably Britain’s pre- eminent original thinker. Unlike the ideas of Newton or Hobbes or Adam Smith, natural selection is clearly understandable and explainable. And the path that led to The Origin of Species is properly exciting. In fact, it is probably one of the few significant scientific discoveries of the past two centuries that is accessible to everyone, as well as affecting everyone.

So, Darwin deserves a landmark, flog-it-round-the-world showcase series. And, just as obviously, the natural selection for a presenter should be David Attenborough. In survival of the fittest, there is no second best: there are just winners and lunch. Richard Dawkins is lunch. In fairness, Darwin is his thing, his fundamental belief; he has been a devoted acolyte of the great bearded ape all his life. His day job is Oxford professor of science PR, so being asked to make the defining series on his hero was a big opportunity that he grasped with both hands — then dropped. Maybe it was nerves, perhaps he’s just too emotionally involved, but the first episode of The Genius of Charles Darwin (Monday, C4) left Dawkins blinking in the headlights.

It also revealed a sorry truth. He is much happier, and much more accomplished at, knocking things down than building them. He’d rather be against something than for it. Confronting a class of quiet, respectful, eager and religious schoolchildren, he became tongue-tied and muddled about selling evolution. He was much happier attacking religion. His anger and bombast stand in stark contrast to Darwin’s quiet, inquisitive humility. Darwin was a gentle man who thought deeply and went out of his way to avoid confrontation or to incommode others. Tellingly, he managed to live his entire life with a devout Christian.

This was a great opportunity for a lush, life-affirming, invigorating series, but what we got was a confused liturgical spat. Much of the blame must fall to the producer, who really should have made sure there was a far more rigorous and inspiring script. In the end, the wisest and most memorable observation came from the mouth of a schoolboy. After a day on the Jurassic coast, discovering ammonites, he said that yes, he believed in evolution, then paused and, with a faint smile, added: “But I’ll still say my prayers.”

---------------

I noticed the difference in Dawkins style as compared to when he is putting something down, but I thought he did ok really. The first half of episode one could probably have done without so much focus on those schoolkids, but by the second half it became a lot more intersting. I'll be watching the other episodes and have them available in this thread as and when they're shown...

[Twirley]

I really enjoyed the first episode, but then again I don't need to be convinced about Darwin's theories and speculation. I enjoyed Dawkins' presentation but I also felt he could have left the schoolkids out of it. I will mention this series to my Geology professor as I think she'd find it interesting.

I look forward to the next episode. Thanks for posting this, Face!

[nekokate]

[Twirley]

Ha ha ha - like it Kate! I'm glad it depicts a man and not a woman...now that would be quite different...!!

[faceless]

Here's tonight's episode

http://www.humyo.com/F/56153-176834585
http://www.humyo.com/F/56153-176845031

[faceless]

[faceless]

here's the third and final episode

Part 1
Part 2

[nekokate]

Thank you so much for uploading these, Face. Brilliant series of programmes.

[faceless]

no worries, I really enjoyed it myself. I swear Dawkins wanted to slap the science-teacher in the third episode square ion the jaw - and I wouldn't have blamed him...