Video Documentaries

The Story of India episode 2 - The Power of Ideas Michael Wood’s epic series moves on to the revolutionary years after 500BC - the Age of the Buddha. Travelling by rail to the ancient cities of the Ganges plain, by army convoy through Northern Iraq, and on down the Khyber Pass, he shows how Alexander the Great’s invasion of India inspired her first empire. The world's largest democracy and a rising economic giant, India is now as well known across the globe for its mastery of computer technology as it is for its many-armed gods and its famous spiritual traditions. But India is also the world's most ancient surviving civilisation, with unbroken continuity back into prehistory.Like other great civilisations - Greece or Egypt for example, over the millennia it has enjoyed not just one but several brilliant golden ages in art and culture. Its great thinkers and religious leaders have permanently changed the face of the globe. But while the glories of Rome, Egypt, and Greece, have a

Life of the Buddha is a major new landmark documentary following Buddha on his journey from the lap of luxury to the verge of starvation and final enlightenment. Shot on location in Nepal and India, documentary uses dramatic computer-generated images and recent archaeological discoveries to piece together this remarkable story. Siddhartha Gautama, who would one day become known as Buddha ("enlightened one" or "the awakened"), lived in Nepal during the 6th to 4th century B.C. While scholars agree that he did in fact live, the events of his life are still debated. According to the most widely known story of his life, after experimenting with different teachings for years, and finding none of them acceptable, Gautama spent a fateful night in deep meditation. During his meditation, all of the answers he had been seeking became clear, and achieved full awareness.

  Bettany Hughes's three-part series profiles three very different thinkers - Buddha, Socrates, and Confucius - and assesses the major contribution they have made to different philosophical and religious traditions. [video width="1280" height="720" id="935" src="" poster="" loop="false" autoplay="false" preload="metadata" videopress_guid=""][/video]   Content-wise, the programs are extremely good: Hughes interviews several experts in Buddhism, classical philosophy, and Confucianism; and visits several of the ancient sites associated with all three of them. Although the arguments are sometimes difficult to follow - especially in the Buddhist program - they are crisply advanced by a presenter who possesses an obvious enthusiasm for her subjects. And yet there is a strange feeling of similarity about all three programs, despite the diversity of subject-matter. We witness Hughes tramping across va