Universe (1976)

Anyone remember the pocket “Observer” books that offered us a beginners guide to things? I used to have the astronomy one and it was great as an introduction to all things cosmic. William Shatner narrates a sort of video equivalent here as we start with the Big Bang and whizz through time to the creation of galaxies, stars, planets, nebulae, super novas and big black holes. Using some animation and a few telescopic images, it regales us with facts galore about the sun, the solar system and even speculates about what might happen next - well, in the next five billion years. Whilst there are some fairly incomprehensible statistics provided about size, distance and scale the vast majority of this amiably presented documentary offers us little more than a teaser to go and read about, or watch, something more substantially scientific. Did you know that Jupiter is larger than all the other objects (including the now downgraded Pluto) in the solar system put together? You do now.