Just having seen "What we still don't know", a show that used about the same basic layout at this series, even some of the video footage, but was completely devoid of useful information, I was glad to see an interesting, factual documentary film about the universe.It's funny, though, how we hear Stephen Hawking talking in the show (since he can't pronounce anything he uses a speech synthesizer), and one has to wonder, did he even bothered to say those things in front of the camera, or did they use the same video footage of himself in the wheelchair and the content was just emailed. That would be terribly productive. Unless, of course, Stephen Hawking does not exist and he is a manufactured persona, like Shakespeare! OK, just kidding.Back to the show, it uses some of the usual popular science show tricks, but in a decent way. It is basically a history of cosmological science up to today, and filled with interesting information that can actually be used to expand one's horizons, even without using Google at every mention of a person's name or physics theory.Conclusion: really worth seeing by any science lover, kids and adults alike.

This is an incredible piece of work. Each step of the way is carefully explained: who and why it is correct, who and why the competing theories were wrong, and how it lead to the next step. What's the value of knowing that there are galaxies millions of light years away and black holes?: Just knowing. And, if you can identify with that, you have to see this series.

Having read Mr. Hawking's books and loving them, i was very much looking forward to watching this documentary. I was not disappointed. It covers the science of cosmology from the ancient Greeks to modern day in a way which is both thorough (for a non-cosmologist) yet understandable to anyone. This is quite an accomplishment for many of the subjects are abstract, highly mathematical and hard (sometimes impossible) to visualize. The accompanying (computer-) animations and photographic material are of a very high standard and serve well in clarifying the narrator's text. I will watch this one over and over again, which is not something i usually do. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in physics, astronomy, cosmology or natural sciences in general.