MILLENNIUM: A magic carpet ride through history

By Jeremy Isaacs
Executive Producer

It takes vision and boldness to tell the story of 1,000 years of history in 10 hours of television. Ted Turner has both, which is why CNN's MILLENNIUM was made. No one other than Mr. Turner would have envisioned it.

Yet his vision left me, as MILLENNIUM's executive producer, the problem of turning 1,000 years of history into compelling television.

At first, it seemed an impossible task -- too many years, events and people and little or no visual record. A turning point came when I read Felipe Fernandez-Armesto's marvelously conceived and researched book, "Millennium." We would not slavishly follow his text, but the book suggested clues, two in particular, as to how to proceed.

We would make the perspective global, unfettered by the perceptions and prejudices of any one of the world's many cultures and histories. We crisscrossed the globe, exploring the richness of cultures other than our own. Travel, they say, broadens the mind. That has been a theme song for MILLENNIUM's happy voyagers.

The second lesson we learned from Mr. Fernandez-Armesto's book was to be very, very selective. MILLENNIUM does not attempt one inclusive sweep of linear history. Instead, it pinpoints moments, catches cultures on the cusp and people on the move. It leaves out far more than it keeps in, sharpening its focus on images that you will remember. Each episode of MILLENNIUM deals with the events of one century in five separate vignettes; it is a magazine, rather than a conventional documentary, that tells five short stories linked together, at times, only by the planet on which we live.

As my colleagues and I progressed, our 50 vignettes began to speak to one another, setting up internal echoes and resonances. Thus, MILLENNIUM's themes emerged: the changing balance of power over the centuries; the rise of science and technology; and the shrinking of the world it once took years to circumnavigate.

MILLENNIUM is, I hope, a feast for the eye. It presents dazzling, colorful imagery -- some captured by the camera, some created by Bernard Heyes' graphic design and animation. Richard Blackford's music and Ben Kingsley's narration will complete your pleasure.

Yes, pleasure! I invite you to join us on a journey around the world and across 1,000 years. Enjoy the trip.