Our ancestors knew the warmth of the Sun was essential for their survival; and in a world without artificial illumination, the cool light of the Moon was critical, too. It is fitting that each of the BBC documentaries included on this DVD starts with a visit to a Neolithic monument. In The Sun, we see the setting Sun on the day of the winter solstice shining through a long, narrow passage into the chamber at the centre of Maes Howe in Orkney; in The Moon, we visit Callanish in the Outer Hebrides, where a group of huge stones seems to track the movement of the Moon in the sky.
The two, hour-long documentaries aren’t quite a matched set; they have different producers and narrators, and follow somewhat different formats, but each combines interviews with experts, impressive scientific images and useful archival footage. They make good companion pieces.
The Sun gives an overview of many topics associated with our closest star, including experimental fusion reactors, which aim to harness the power that drives the Sun, and new, efficient solar power arrays that will be used as a commercial power station for San Diego, California. There is incredible footage of the turbulent face of the Sun, looking like a bubbling “giant bowl of porridge”. The documentary is at its most interesting when it focuses on sunspots, the fascinating dark spots that appear on the surface of the Sun, and disappear, in cycles of around 11 years.
The Moon is structured around the concept of a human “love affair” with the mysterious Moon. This age-long affair faded, according to the documentary, after the anticlimax of several Apollo landings. Finding that the love object was just a cold, dry lump of rock disappointed the public so much that the final Apollo missions were quietly cancelled. It turns out, though, that the Moon is a “giant fossil”, and represents one of our best sources of data about the history of the Earth and our Solar System. Now, decades after the last man set foot on the Moon, NASA is planning a permanent presence there.
