Seven Wonders of the Industrial World (7 Parts)

Synopsis

Drama-documentary series recreating epic moments in the industrial revolution. Each episode explores a specific triumphal construction of the era.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2004

Year of production

2003

Notes

Broadcast in 7 weekly parts on BBC2 beginning 4/9/03

Subjects

Engineering; History; Technology; FE

Keywords

construction engineering; history of technology; industrial archaeology; Industrial Revolution

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£39.99

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

350 minutes

Year

2004

Type

VHS

Format

PAL

Price

£29.99

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

350 minutes

Year

2004

Sections

Title

Great Ship, The

Synopsis

In the 1850s, the world’s most brilliant engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, dreamed of creating the largest ship ever seen. The Great Eastern would come to destroy him and all who were associated with it, leading some to believe it was cursed.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Brooklyn Bridge

Synopsis

In the mid-19th century, a seemingly impossible scheme was devised to link Manhattan with Brooklyn by the longest suspension bridge ever built. The ambitious dream of engineer John Roebling fast turned into a nightmare dogged by gross political corruption.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Bell Rock Lighthouse, The

Synopsis

The deadly Bell Rock Reef, eleven miles off the east coast of Scotland, terrorised seamen for centuries. Robert Stevenson’s plans to build a lighthouse on the almost permanently submerged rocks was widely ridiculed, but against all odds, he succeeded, and it continues to save lives.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Transcontinental Railway

Synopsis

In 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act authorising the construction of 1800 miles of track. Two corporate giants were pitched against each other in a race to join the East and West coasts of America.
The Union Pacific Company was led by the corrupt Dr Thomas Durant while the Central Pacific was funded by the "big four" Sacramento shopkeepers: Crocker, Stanford, Huntington and Leland. Rivalry between the two companies was ruthless, but on 10th May 1869 the tracks from East and West were finally joined, allowing America to become a great industrial giant.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Sewer King, The

Synopsis

Joseph Bazalgette’s ambitious scheme in the mid-19th century to create a network of sewers under a London where outbreaks of disease, caused by dirty water and unsanitary conditions, killed thousands. His vision required extraordinary and novel engineering solutions involving watertight tunnels and vast steam pumping engines.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Panama Canal, The

Synopsis

Describes the engineering triumph of the Panama Canal, completed in 1914 after 35 years of struggle and the deaths of at least 20,000 men, including its designer, Ferdinand de Lesseps. Theodore Roosevelt and his engineer John Stevens finished the job just before World War I broke out, in which the canal played an important strategic role.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Hoover Dam, The

Synopsis

The Colorado River was once one of the world’s most dangerous and unpredictable waterways to cross. But in 1902, engineer Arthur Powell-Davis dreamed of creating the largest dam ever and taming the wild river. With electricity and irrigation, the deserts of the West would bloom and the face of America would change forever.

Duration

50 mins

Distributor

Name

Acorn Media UK

Email

customerservices@acorndvd.com

Web

http://www.acorndvd.com/ External site opens in new window

Fax

020 7627 250

Address

55 Drury Lane
London
WC2B 5SQ

Notes

Founded in 1997, Acorn specialises in distributing archival television programmes, predominantly licensed from the BBC and ITV. Sale on DVD and Blu-Ray, in Region 2 PAL format, direct and via retail outlets.

 

Available from retail outlets