BBC – Seven Wonders of the Industrial World (2003) Part 5: The Panama Canal
English | Documentary | Size: 980 MB
How the Modern world was forged. The Industrial Revolution changed the world in countless ways – and produced many technical wonders in the process. Seven of the most notable are described here, each one proving that human creativity is as much alive in the modern world as it was in ancient times. From city sewers to the Panama Canal, these phenomenal man made creations changed the world forever.
BBC TWO presents a a ground breaking drama documentary series that tells the story of how our modern world was forged in rivets, grease and steam; in blood, sweat and human imagination. Narrated by Robert Lindsay, Seven Wonders Of The Industrial World recreates the epic monuments of the industrial revolution from Brunel’s extraordinary ship, the Great Eastern, the Titanic of its day that helped to bridge the two ends of the empire, to the Panama Canal which linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans half a century later.
The series encounters the most brilliant pioneers of the industrial age and recreates their stories of burning ambition, extravagant dreams, passion and rivalry. Meticulous research of the original source materials, from private letters to newspaper reports of the day, reveal a wealth of fascinating facts, brought to life by leading actors including Steven Berkoff, Mark McGann and Ron Cook. Using CGI and reconstructions based on records and journals of the time, the epic monuments of the Industrial Revolution are brought to life. The great achievements celebrated in this series reveal as much about the human spirit as they do about technological endeavour.
The period of over 125 years from beginning of the 19th Century saw the creation of some of the worlds most remarkable feats of engineering, now celebrated as great wonders of the industrial world. The slowly evolving Industrial Revolution was the fertile ground that gave life to dreams in iron, cement, stone and steel. Dreams such as Isambard Kingdom Brunels extraordinary Great Eastern, the Crystal Palace of the Seas that he hoped would join the two ends of the British Empire and Ferdinands de Lesseps Panama Canal that linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans more than half a century later. The pioneers of the age were practical visionaries, seeing beyond the immediate horizon, the safe and the known, as they cut a path to the future. Yet their unique masterpieces could never have been built without an army of unsung heroes, the craftsmen and workers also willing to risk their lives as they laboured to bring each dream to life. Not to mention the financiers and shareholders hanging on for the ride as reputations were lost and won.
Series Producer: Deborah Cadbury ; A BBC/TLC Co-Production
Part 5: The Panama Canal
With the growth in travel and trade, by the late 19th century shipping had become big business. Having completed the building of the Suez Canal in 1869, a Frenchman, Vicomte Ferdinand de Lesseps, dreamed of an even bolder scheme: the Panama Canal. Work started in 1880, but, rocked by financial scandal, the plan was not completed until 20 years after de Lessep’s death in 1894.
Hailed as a triumph of engineering upon its completion in 1914, the Panama Canal linking the great oceans of the Atlantic and the Pacific, took 35 years of struggle to complete and cost 25000 lives. Lesseps decided he would cut a path across the isthmus of Panama,and thus unite the great oceans of the Atlantic and Pacific. Once out in the tropical heat of Panama, however, the French found themselves facing impenetrable jungle, dangerous mudslides and deathly tropical diseases, as the project proved to be an undertaking of nightmare proportions. The passage was finished just before World War I broke out by Theodore Roosevelt and his engineer John Stevens.
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