The Search for the Nile

This series was one of the best that I have ever seen on TV. In trying to find out if it was available on VHS or DVD I discovered a web site that lets you vote and comment on your favorite movie or TV shows to put on DVD or VHS. It then sends your vote and comments to the company that owns the rights. As of this moment there are only 19 votes for this wonderful series to be released. So please take a moment and go to TVShowsOnDVD.com and register your vote. Hopefully enough people will see my message and get the count up so that this series will finally be released. This is the type of mini-series that I would love my grandchildren to see, so I will check on the site to see how the voting is going. Thanks.

After watching Mountains of the Moon (1990), I was reminded of this excellent film made by the BBC for television in 1971. For reasons unknown to me, it has not been released in any home video format (as of 2001). The beautiful sweeping music of Smetana's Moldau and Kenneth Haigh's true Brit portrayal of Burton make this the romantic's choice for the film version of this story. The violence and graphic detail found in Mountains is absent in Search. I have always respected Michael Gough, who is perfect as the great David Livingstone. James Mason, one of the best narrators of all time, holds the mini-series together through its episodes. The BBC ought to release it so that we could have the chance to enjoy it as a whole.

Quite a few of the best BBC films have been locked away. There is a possibility that, in the minds of a very politically correct and left leaning BBC upper management, the advertising of Empire and Africa is not a truth that should be allowed anymore. The standard of documentary's, and that of the news itself for which the BBC used to be renowned, has been lowered dramatically over the past 20 years. The BBC are ashamed of British involvement in Africa in the nineteenth Century and do their best to make certain that any programs which reflect otherwise are not available. It's a great pity. No quality anymore just proselytizing. The BBC is being systematically dumbed down to make certain it reflects a government view of the world.

I loved that series when I saw it as a teenager. It's one of the few that I still remember vividly and keep praising among friends - who often haven't even heard of it. I was mesmerized by the characters: I adored Burton and marveled at his choice in wife, and (being a naive teenager at that time) was shocked by the character depictions of other prominent adventurers like Speke and Stanley. What a gripping view this mini-series gives of the discovery of the dark continent and of colonialism and imperialism. "Mountains of the Moon" is pale and superficial in comparison, and I was disappointed by the movie's quite different view of the Burton marriage. I so much enjoyed "The Search for the Nile", and I cannot understand why this fantastic series isn't available on DVD!

I saw this when I was 13 years old and I will never forget it.I have always loved this period of History( which is why I hate the fact I've never seen Mountains of The Moon),and this is a terrific treatment. It has one of the most literate scripts, and some of the most complex,fascinating characters, ever seen on the small screen.I will note, for instance, the brilliant performance by Kenneth Haigh as Sir Richard Francis Burton..one of the most astonishing, half-mad half-genius figures in human history.everybody else is also superb, including the actress who played Burtons devoted, if bigoted , wife.This film belongs on DVD..is it ever run on cable?