CNN Millennium

CNN Millennium or Millennium: A Thousand Years of History or MM Millenium or Millennium was a CNN Perspectives[2] television series or miniseries[1] about world history[4] during the 2nd millennium from the 11th to the 20th centuries.[5]

CNN Millennium
GenreDocumentary[1]
Inspired byMillennium: A History of Our Last Thousand Years
by Felipe Fernández-Armesto[2]
Creative directorBernard Heyes[3]
Narrated byBen Kingsley
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10
Release
Original networkCNN
Original releaseOctober 10 (1999-10-10) –
December 12, 1999 (1999-12-12)

The Millennium series should not be confused with the CNN Millennium 2000 DVD, which documented the celebrations around the world for the arrival of the year 2000.

Sir Jeremy Isaacs, filmmaker of "The World at War" and CNN's Cold War, and Pat Mitchell, president of CNN Productions and Time Inc. Television, served as executive producers. The CNN website elaborates:

Each of the 10 episodes of MILLENNIUM focuses on a single century, brought to life by five vignettes from five different locations worldwide.

. . . Its producers and crews . . . traveled 100,000 miles gathering footage. MILLENNIUM reconstructs the visual images of past ages using this footage, along with . . . re-enactments and computer-generated graphic animation.

Ben Kingsley's role as narrator remained confined to introducing the subject matter and placing it into context. Main protagonists such as Genghis Khan tell their individual stories in their native tongues, relayed to viewers through simultaneous translation.

Bernard Heyes was in charge of graphic design and animation. Richard Blackford composed the original musical score for the series.

Production

The production of the series lasted for over two years.[6] Filming for the series took place in 28 countries.[5]

Episodes

Millennium has ten episodes, each of which revolves around a common theme, or tool:

Episode 1: Century of the Sword. The 11th century is the century of the sword (referring to such calamitous events as the Norman conquest of England in 1066). Producer: Henry Chancellor.[7][8]

Episode 2: Century of the Axe. The 12th century features the axe (used to fell forests in order to build fleets and housing). Producers: Neil Cameron and Emma de 'Ath.[9][10][11]

Episode 3: Century of the Stirrup. The stirrup moves the 13th century. Director: Caroline Ross Pirie.[12][13]

Episode 4: Century of the Scythe. The scythe wreaked havoc in the 14th century, due to plague outbreaks and bad weather. Directors: Mark Kidel, Peter Sommer and David Wallace.[14][15]

Episode 5: Century of the Sail. The sail assisted explorers in the 15th century, from China to Spain. Producers: Neil Cameron and Emma de Ath.[16][17]

Episode 6: Century of the Compass. The compass was the colonizers' tool in the 16th century Director: Richard Curson Smith.[18][19]

Episode 7: Century of the Telescope. The telescope fueled expanding knowledge about earth and universe in the 17th century. Director: Neil Cameron.[20][21]

Episode 8: Century of the Furnace. The furnace sparked industrial and human revolutions in the 18th century. Director: Neil Cameron.[22][23]

Episode 9: Century of the Machine. The machine age began with the 19th century Director: Mike Dibb.[24][25][26]

Episode 10: Century of the Globe. The series concluded with the 20th, the century of the Globe. Producers: Neil Cameron and Emma De'Ath.[27][28]

Approach

CNN Millennium endeavours to make history accessible to a culturally and socially diverse audience through the extensive use of animation, costumes and recreating places of historical significance around the world.

Broadcast and release

Millennium: A Thousand Years of History was first broadcast on BBC2 in the United Kingdom on Mondays between 18 October 1999 and 20 December 1999.[29] CNN Millennium was first broadcast on CNN in the United States between 10 October 1999 and 12 December 1999, at 10pm on Sundays.

The series Biography of the Millennium was also about the history of the 2nd Millennium, and was first broadcast on A&E in the United States on 10 October 1999. The first broadcast of the first two hour episode of Biography of the Millennium ended at 10pm, just before the start of Millennium on CNN.[30][31]

CNN Millennium was released on VHS cassettes.[32] A CD of the Millennium soundtrack was available at the time of the broadcast.

CNN Interactive (now called CNN.com) created a dynamic companion website for the television series that includes animation, interactivity and 3-D effects.[32][33][34] A companion book by Anthony Coleman was published by Bantam Press in 1999 under the title "Millennium".[35]

Awards and nominations

Bernard Heyes won a News & Documentary Emmy for the title sequence.[36] Richard Blackford was nominated for an Emmy for the music.[37]

References
  1. Paley Center for Media
  2. "About the Series", Millennium, CNN.com
  3. (1999) 19 Metropolis, Issues 3-6, p 38
  4. Bahn, "CNN's Millennium Project" (2000) 53 Archaeology 80
  5. Shales, Tom (1999-10-09). "A Journey Of a Thousand Years". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2018-08-24. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  6. Chris Kaltenbach. "1,000 years of history squeeze into 10 hours". Baltimore Sun. 6 October 1999. Archive.
  7. The Radio Times, Issue 3948, 16 October 1999, reprinted at BBC Programme Index
  8. "CNN's Millennium Series: The 11th Century, The Century of the Sword". The Paley Center for Media.
  9. Radio Times, Issue 3949, 23 October 1999, reprinted at BBC Programme Index
  10. "CNN's Millennium Series: The 12th Century, The Century of the Axe". The Paley Center for Media.
  11. For a review of this episode, see "Pick of the Box", Daily Record, Glasgow, 25 October 1999
  12. Radio Times, Issue 3950, 30 October 1999, reprinted at BBC Programme Index
  13. "CNN's Millennium Series: The 13th Century, The Century of the Stirrup". The Paley Center for Media.
  14. Radio Times, Issue 3951, 6 November 1999, reprinted at BBC Programme Index
  15. "CNN's Millennium Series: The 14th Century, The Century of the Scythe". The Paley Center for Media.
  16. Radio Times, Issue 3952, 13 November 1999, reprinted at BBC Programme Index
  17. "CNN's Millennium Series: The 15th Century, The Century of the Sail". The Paley Center for Media.
  18. Radio Times, Issue 3953, 20 November 1999, reprinted at BBC Programme Index
  19. "CNN's Millennium Series: The 16th Century, The Century of the Compass". The Paley Center for Media.
  20. Radio Times, Issue 3954, 27 November 1999, reprinted at BBC Programme Index
  21. "CNN's Millennium Series: The 17th Century, The Century of the Telescope". The Paley Center for Media.
  22. Radio Times, Issue 3955, 4 December 1999, reprinted at BBC Programme Index
  23. "CNN's Millennium Series: The 18th Century, The Century of the Furnace". The Paley Center for Media.
  24. Radio Times, Issue 3956, 11 December 1999, reprinted at BBC Programme Index
  25. "CNN's Millennium Series: The 19th Century, The Century of the Machine". The Paley Center for Media.
  26. For commentary on this episode, see Merryfield and Wilson, "Combining US and World History", Social Studies and the World: Teaching Global Perspectives, Bulletin No 103, National Council for the Social Studies, 2005, p 100
  27. The Radio Times, Issue 3957, 18 December 1999, reprinted at BBC Programme Index
  28. "CNN's Millennium Series: The 20th Century, The Century of the Globe". The Paley Center for Media.
  29. See issues of The Radio Times cited above
  30. "Digesting the millennium made easy thanks to cable". Tampa Bay Times. 10 October 1999.
  31. Lisa Leigh Parney. "What's On TV". The Christian Science Monitor. 8 October 1999.
  32. Mike Burns. "CNN: Millennium". Heidi Roupp (ed). Teaching World History in the Twenty-first Century. ME Sharpe. 2010. Routledge. 2015. p 89
  33. John E Wills Jr. "CNN Millennium". The World from 1450 to 1700. (New Oxford World History). Oxford University Press. 2009. p 164
  34. Official website
  35. For a scan of this book, see Google Books
  36. Title Sequences, Individual Achievement in a Craft, Winners Index, 1999 National News and Documentary Emmy Awards, NATAS. Archived on 3 March 2001.
  37. "Richard Blackford: we explore the composer's music", Gramophone, 11 April 2022
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