Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Carlos Barton When I look back at sci-fi documentaries of the last decade, I often think of this BBC-produced two-parter from 2004, about a cluster of astronauts setting off on, in their universe, the greatest exploration mission in human history, a trip to the edge of the solar system on the mile-long, nuclear-powered Pegasus. They encounter the infinite wonders of out region of space, landing on Mars and Venus, inspecting the rings of Saturn. The astronauts even go to the surface of Pluto (VTTP was made before it was demoted from planet status)! The journey gets inevitably sad in some places, with the loss of several probes and one of the astronauts to lymphoma.But what makes the program so special is that it tries to be as realistic as possible, with endlessly fascinating info being exchanged with the viewers along the way and manages to add the dangers of space travel e.g. debris, radiation sickness, yet without making the whole thing feel so depressing.The CGI used by the BBC plus the narration of David Suchet aka. Poirot can only add to the outstanding quality of VTTP and the John Williams-esque music, especially that used for the intro, is mindblowing to listen to against the images of the planets. In some people it will shed tears. So will this documentary. An underrated masterpiece of science- fiction that would leave Arthur C Clarke grinning from ear to ear if he were here to see it.

Marcwolf-2 After reading many of the other reviews here I felt that I should add my views on this wonderful simulation of a voyage to the planets.This is a 2 hour film set as an accurate as possible documentary on a Voyage to the Planets. The plot lines to add the humanity into this were well though out and covered most aspects of human frailty (considering that the astronauts had worked together for many years and were all professionals in their own right) People will get sick, people when trying to discover new things will push their own limits - these are the two aspect that I felt were realistic. Not the fake bravado of an action movie but viewing a dedicated professional who has trained for years for a task and then trying to achieve it.Mentioned in other posts is the time lag of conversations over an extended distance. It was mentioned very early in the movie that these were expected and had been EDITED out for the audiences benefit.Technology was likewise well though out. A trip to Venus has a suit that had been tested in a blast furnace and has a time limit on use on the planets surface.. plus additional example of how hostile the environment was.A visit to IO likewise had a suit that used a magnetic field to protect the wearer for a set duration.All in all the anticipated problems had been well though out and a solution provided - as if it was a real trip we were watching. And yes - even professionals have spats during stress as shown in Apollo 13 and the over monitoring of the astronaut's physical condition.all in all this is a program that I have watched many times, and will watch again - feeling a welling of hope and pride in my heart that maybe - with work - humanity could undertake this trip and really see the wonders of the solar system. Until then excellent programs like this can give us a realistic glimpse of the "What If's"

r-c-s 1 let's suspend belief for a moment and let's stop pretending we could, might or ought know "how it is" or "ought to be" there in space. Human knowledge in that area is probably primitive as say middle ages maps are compared to today's satellite maps, so we really have no clue. 2 considering this is "just" a BBC TV docu-simulation, it gets much better than many big budget Hollywood blockbusters, and that is just incredible. 3 all in all, a show worth watching as it portrays the CGI enhanced and fictionalized account of what we know of the solar system this far. 4 probably fictionalizing and CGI-ing the whole thing is the only way to make it palatable to a large public. Ever watched clips from REAL space missions and REAL space probes? The quality is generally average to poor and the comparison would be between looking at a chest x-ray (and what it tells about the human body ) and compare it with a CGI-ed cyborg movie...which one would be most entertaining? Yet the chest x-ray is real, while the cyborg flick is just fictionalized SFX. 5 actors do a good job. None i'll tell my grandchildren about, but very fair for it being a BBC docu-simulation.

Skaffen-Amtiskaw Despite missing the first episode and having to frantically find out when the repeat was on, I was not disappointed having to wait a little longer to see this mini-series on viable space exploration today or in the near future.As with the BBC's other "Walking With...", "Seven Wonders Of The Industrial World" series and Space ("Hyperspace" to US viewers), this is a well scripted, CGI and fact filled venture played out to the tune of a fictional mission to visit the major planets of our solar system: Sol.From visiting Mars to a slingshot manoeuvre around the Sun and a tricky landing on a passing comet, this highlights what information we could well be finding if an international effort to make such a mission comes about.I hope this comes out on DVD (and not limited to, say, Australian DVD as with the equally amazing "Seven Wonders Of The Industrial World") as the accompanying book cannot do full justice to what a great insight this two-parter is to our corner of the universe. I'm certain beginners in astronomy and experts in the field will find this an enjoyable feature. The music by Don Davis (as with the previous mentioned series) is ideally epic and moving and the screenplay by Joe Ahearne makes the characters believable and adds suspense. This is far from a simple lesson on the planets you'd get at school.