ABC TV’s new locally produced 6 part documentary series Voyage To The Planets offers the viewer a chance to imagine they have gone on a journey to explore our outer solar system, giving them a guide to what’s needed to be prepared for the trip and living on the planet.
Have you ever dreamed of going somewhere special? Far from the crowds and off the beaten track … it’s possible to take the Road Less Travelled on Earth but going off-world is not so easy.
Catching a rocket to the red planet Mars and seeing some of the most barren scenery in the whole solar system would be fun and that’s where the first episode of the ABC TV media preview DVD took me, revealing interesting issues like having to design space suits and habitats which stop the fine red martian dust from entering.
We then travelled further and further away from Earth towards the outer limits of our solar system and beyond as the series progressed with episodes featuring Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Venus, Mercury and the asteroid belt containing the Planetoid Pluto.
Most documentaries shown on Australian TV have an American or British voiceover so well done to the production company for choosing Australian actor/director Richard Roxburgh (Blue Murder, Hamlet, Romulus My Father) as the narrator. The soundtrack is energetic without getting in the way of narration, it reminded me of the soundtrack in the recent Bourne trilogy movies based on Robert Ludlam’s novels.
Voyage To The Planets is sure to have a broad appeal, with children for whom Space & Dinosaurs are perennial favorites as well as adults who want to learn more about our planetary neighbours.
It is of course a given that space/astronomy enthusiasts like me will enjoy the series as we have movies in our collection like Star Trek, Star Wars and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and wish that humankind was still putting serious efforts into exploring the Universe as we did decades ago with satellite surveyors like the Voyager missions to interstellar space as well as manned missions to the moon.
Voyage To The Planets is broadcast in 6 one hour weekly episodes on ABC1 TV from Thursday May 13th at 830pm onwards and will most likely appear in ABC shops on DVD/Bluray in the near future. Visit the program website for more educational information about our Solar System.
I have seen a documentary not sure if it was this one but I was captivated and excited I have always been captivated of whats beyond earth what life is going to be like im kinda a sci-fi fanatic documentary like this really helps widen my knowledge on our universe I guess what makes it fascinating is that trying to know the unknown
Wow, fantastic, I just saw the episode on ABC’s iView, on Jupiter and its moons, and was utterly blown away. I was totally mesmerised by it. The graphics are awe-inspiring and I’ve learned things I never knew – I had no idea that Jupiter kept us from being annihilated by asteroids, or that one of its moons has a sea around it that’s estimated to be around the same temp as ours (and has the greatest probability of life of any planet in our solar system). Richard Roxburgh is as spot on a pick for narrator as Bill Nighy was for the meerkat series.
I wasn’t interested in science at school…not at all. I was a humanities girl (English, history, economics) and didn’t get the attraction to science. But in my old age (30s) I’ve become utterly fascinated with space, biology, the brain etc, mainly on account of series like this one. This ‘Voyage to…’ series is (in my opinion) a testament to those aspects of our film/TV industry that put us well out in front of the pack and make me pretty damn proud.
Seriously – well done ABC!
Just regarding my last post, in which I said this Australian-produced series makes me “pretty damn proud”…I meant “…to be an Australian”. I can’t take credit (or blame) for the things our TV/film industry does really well, like this series, (or really badly – eg all Aussie soaps, a large number of Aussie dramas and the great majority of Australian movies, with some notable exceptions of course). But on this type of series (Voyage to the planets), I’m happy to take a bit of in-no-way-deserved-personal credit for just being an Aussie 🙂
I love this series! I’ve been fascinated by space since I was a toddler and have been an avid consumer of space programmes ever since. This one is special. The graphics are amazing and the information is up to date and mind blowing.
It is the week’s viewing highlight for me and will live on my hard drive forever.
The downside is that there is maybe a little too much about extra terrestial biology for my taste, but hey, I’m sure others like the emphasis on this.
Fantastic show. Puts my dreams to life
Hi, everyone! I adore documentaries about our solar system. I like to learn every day about different planets which are the neighbors of the Earth. I’ll like this video and watch undoubtedly.
Very much enjoying the series. Congrats to all that helped make it happen.
@Graham, but isn’t that *one* of the greatest unanswered mysteries left to us?
Not for me it isn’t – it doesnt stretch my imagination to think a thin scraping of algae growing on a cold rock somewhere. I see it as a biology… not planetology.
But each to their own – I’m glad that you enjoyed that part.
This movie could have been a very good documentary about the planets. For me the background music, actually the background noise is too loud, made the movie uninjoyable. My friends have the same opinion as well. At the Venus, the so called “Global Warming” was advertised, I did not like it. In this movie we were told that, long time ago the climate in the Venus was Earthlike, but because of the too much CO2 turned into hell. I can hear this theory since 1995. It is not true, the climate in the Venus never was earthlike. I think this can be a great documentary film after reediting: decreacing of the volume of background noise, changing the so called background music for real music, and cut out of the global warming advertising.
Watched this series on Youtube (American Narration), loved it, had no idea it was an Australian production.
This series is inspirational on all levels. It’s a visual treat, with some amazing graphics that truly take the viewer on a “voyage to the planets”. One the best pieces of entertainment I’ve seen that makes you want to learn more about … nearly everything. Bravo to all involved!