Watch all three hours of the acclaimed documentary series on the history of Atheism, online. The program, produced in 2004 in the UK but aired on Thirteen in 2007, is hosted by British personality/presenter Jonathan Miller. Parts 2 and 3 of the program will also air on Thirteen at 11:30 pm on Jan. 18 and 25.

Part I:
Shadows of Doubt
Jonathan Miller visits the absent Twin Towers at New York’s Ground Zero to consider the religious implications of 9/11, and meets with Arthur Miller and the philosopher Colin McGinn. He searches for evidence of the first “unbelievers” in ancient Greece and examines some of the modern theories around why people have always tended to believe in mythology and magic.

Part II:
Noughts and Crosses
From within the dominant Christianity of the Middle Ages, Jonathan Miller asks how disbelief began to emerge in the 15th and 16th centuries. He discovers that division within the Church was an even more powerful force than the scientific discoveries of the period. He also visits Paris, the home of the 18th century atheist, Baron D’Holbach, and shows how politically dangerous it was to undermine the religious faith of the masses.

part III:
The Final Hour
Host Jonathan Miller explores the ideas of self-taught philosopher Thomas Paine, the revolutionary studies of geology, and the evolutionary theories of Darwin. Miller looks at the Freudian view that religion is a “thought disorder.” He also examines his motivation behind making the series, touching on the issues of death and the religious fanaticism of the 21st century.

Other Links

Original BBC4 site.
U.S. presentation site

Veoh, an online video service, also has all three parts available in high-quality, full-screen video AND the unedited, full-length interviews from the series available. See their ‘Brief History of Disbelief’ channel.

embeds from Goosing the Antithesis.