Genres
Networks
Created By
The Real Thing
Overview
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?
Key Crew
Writer: James Burke
Director: Mick Jackson
Producer: Mick Jackson
Top Cast
James Burke
Presenter
Seasons
Season 1 (1983)
Six-part series.
6 episodes
Episodes
Episode 1: The Private Eye
1983-11-01James Burke employs a detective to illustrate how the senses pick up clues from the outside world, how the brain solves the mystery and decides what is out there. Illustrates how easy it is to fool the best detective and asks: 'What is reality?'
Runtime: 21 minEpisode 2: This Way Up
1983-11-08James Burke goes to the top of the Blackpool Tower and turns upside down to discover how the ears talk to the eyes and how we know which way is down
Runtime: 21 minEpisode 3: Time Out of Mind
1983-11-15In order to answer the question 'When is reality?' James Burke finds himself in a Salvador Dali-like landscape and examines what motivates man, why light can never stand still and why one man's 'now' can be another man's 'then'
Runtime: 21 minEpisode 4: The Memory Lingers On
1983-11-22From the stage set of 'The Mousetrap', James Burke examines the memory and asks: does it stay the same, how does it influence everyday actions and is the script for the future already written - from memory?
Runtime: 21 minEpisode 5: The View from Within
1983-11-29Looks at the complexity of the brain handling the simplest activity. James Burke's consciousness steps out of his body for a while to demonstrate how it acts as 'Mission Controller' for his own private universe.
Runtime: 21 minEpisode 6: Life Sentence
1983-12-06James Burke considers whether language is the way in which reality is shared.
Runtime: 21 min
