The Ascent of Man poster

The Ascent of Man (1973)

Documentary · History

The Ascent of Man is a thirteen-part documentary television series produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films first transmitted in 1973, written and presented by Jacob Bronowski. Intended as a series of "personal view" documentaries in the manner of Kenneth Clark's 1969 series Civilisation, the series received acclaim for Bronowski's highly informed but eloquently simple analysis, his long unscripted monologues and its extensive location shoots.

IMDb rating
8.8 (980 votes)
Seasons
1
Language
EN
Type
Mini-series

Ratings refreshed Jul 3, 2026 · 1 season indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1973)

8.30 avg 13 episodes 8.2 → 8.3

Ep 1: 8.2 · 80 votesEp 2: 8.1 · 68 votesEp 3: 8.0 · 70 votesEp 4: 8.2 · 69 votesEp 5: 8.2 · 66 votesEp 6: 8.4 · 64 votesEp 7: 8.2 · 60 votesEp 8: 8.2 · 56 votesEp 9: 8.5 · 60 votesEp 10: 8.4 · 53 votesEp 11: 8.7 · 65 votesEp 12: 8.5 · 51 votesEp 13: 8.3 · 56 votes
Season 1 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Lower Than the Angels8.280
2The Harvest of the Seasons8.168
3The Grain in the Stone8.070
4The Hidden Structure8.269
5Music of the Spheres8.266
6The Starry Messenger8.464
7The Majestic Clockwork8.260
8The Drive for Power8.256
9The Ladder of Creation8.560
10World Within World8.453
11Knowledge or Certainty8.765
12Generation Upon Generation8.551
13The Long Childhood8.356