An ambitious project that is held out as one of the finest documentaries of the television age, Civilisation is a personal reflection by a leading art historian which charts the story of human endeavour in post-Roman Europe. Kenneth Clark wrote and presented 13 iconic 50-minute episodes in the 1966 series covering philosophy, architecture and artwork from the Dark Ages to the modern day, at the behest of BBC2's controller, the famous natural historian David Attenborough. The continent stood at a crossroads after the collapse of the Roman empire, with pagans and Vikings threatening to eradicate all remnants of intellectual, artistic and cultural history. But sufficient knowledge, teaching and learning survived the Dark Ages and helped to fashion a new civilisation which embraced Christianity, science, exploration and industry.