James Burke

Acting

James Burke

Born

1936-12-22 (89)

Place of birth

Derry, Northern Ireland, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

18 titles

James Burke is a British broadcaster, science historian, author, and television producer, who is known, among other things, for his documentary television series Connections, and for its more philosophically oriented companion series, The Day the Universe Changed, which is about the history of science and technology. The Washington Post called him "one of the most intriguing minds in the Western world".

Known for

Tomorrow's World poster
6.4

Tomorrow's World was a long-running BBC television series on new developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003.

Tomorrow's World

1965

Doomwatch poster
6.4

Doomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC 1 between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present-day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist, responsible for investigating and combating various ecological and technological dangers. The series was followed by a film adaptation produced by Tigon British Film Productions and released in 1972, and a revival TV film was broadcast on Channel 5 in 1999.

Doomwatch

1970

Connections poster
8.2

Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention, Connections explores an "Alternative View of Change" that rejects the conventional linear and teleological view of historical progress. To demonstrate this view, Burke begins each episode with a particular event or innovation in the past (usually ancient or medieval) and traces a path from that event through a series of connections to a fundamental and essential aspect of the modern world.

Connections

1978

Apollo: Missions to the Moon poster
7.3

National Geographic's riveting effort recounts all 12 crewed missions using only archival footage, photos and audio.

Apollo: Missions to the Moon

2019

The Day the Universe Changed poster
8.8

Documentary series about the effect of advances in science and technology on western society in its philosophical aspects.

The Day the Universe Changed

1985

The Real Thing poster
8.2

Asking how you tell what's real and what isn't sounds like an obvious question. But in this series of six programmes, James Burke shows that the more you think about it the harder it is to answer. After all, what have you got, apart from your five senses, to prove those senses are giving you the real thing?

The Real Thing

1980

Film credits

1990s · 1 titles

Series credits

Tomorrow's World poster
6.4

Tomorrow's World was a long-running BBC television series on new developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003.

Tomorrow's World

1965

Doomwatch poster
6.4

Doomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC 1 between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present-day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist, responsible for investigating and combating various ecological and technological dangers. The series was followed by a film adaptation produced by Tigon British Film Productions and released in 1972, and a revival TV film was broadcast on Channel 5 in 1999.

Doomwatch

1970

Connections poster
8.2

Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention, Connections explores an "Alternative View of Change" that rejects the conventional linear and teleological view of historical progress. To demonstrate this view, Burke begins each episode with a particular event or innovation in the past (usually ancient or medieval) and traces a path from that event through a series of connections to a fundamental and essential aspect of the modern world.

Connections

1978

The Day the Universe Changed poster
8.8

Documentary series about the effect of advances in science and technology on western society in its philosophical aspects.

The Day the Universe Changed

1985

The Real Thing poster
8.2

Asking how you tell what's real and what isn't sounds like an obvious question. But in this series of six programmes, James Burke shows that the more you think about it the harder it is to answer. After all, what have you got, apart from your five senses, to prove those senses are giving you the real thing?

The Real Thing

1980

Connections with James Burke poster
8.2

Historian James Burke continues his journey through random historical connections that together have shaped our world and provide important clues to our future.

Connections with James Burke

2023

Connections 3 poster
NR

In the third edition of his groundbreaking series, James Burke continues to make incredible connections to history's most important discoveries and inventions.

Connections 3

1997

After the Warming poster
7.0

Set in 2050, social journalist James Burke looks back at events of the world from the dawn of civilization and shows how climate change has affected human history. At the point of the Industrial Revolution, humans began to do things to the climate, rather than the other way round. When he brings us up to date (1989), that is when the predictions begin. From Kyoto to the two Gulf Wars, Burke accurately predicts many of the events that have taken place so far. His predictions have been sound, even to the tune of carbon credits and climate change agreements. Using virtual reality computer simulations, Burke traces the Earth's history of ice ages and warming trends and presents several possible scenarios caused by the greenhouse effect during the 1990s to 2050.

After the Warming

1989

Connections 2 poster
8.5

Historian James Burke walks the viewer through the tenuous threads of history that link seemingly obscure scientific breakthroughs and the events and products that exist today.

Connections 2

1994

Behind the camera