The Skin of our teeth; The Great thaw

United Kingdom, 1969

TV show
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Episode numbers 1 and 2 of Series “Civilisation”.
Part one. Sir Kenneth Clark looks at the Dark Ages and unravels the extraordinary story of how European thought and art were saved by “the skin of our teeth”, travelling from Byzantine Ravenna to the Celtic Hebrides, from the Norway of the Vikings, to Charlemagne’s chapel at Aachen. Part two. Traces the sudden re-awakening of European civilisation from the first manifestations at the Abbey of Cluny in France to its high point, the building of the Chartres cathedral.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

co-producer

Michael Gill

Peter Montagnon

director

Michael Gill

production company

BBC

Duration

01:40:00:00

Production places
United Kingdom
Production dates
1969

Appears in

Civilisation

Group of items

Civilisation

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Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

324608

Language

English

Subject categories

Crafts & Visual Arts → Art - History

Crafts & Visual Arts → Arts - History

Crafts & Visual Arts → Church architecture

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Great Britain

History → Europe - History - 392-814

History → Europe - History - 476-1492

Television

Television → Television programs

Television → Television programs → Television programs - Great Britain

Television → Television series

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/80590--the-skin-of-our-teeth-the-great-thaw/ |title=The Skin of our teeth; The Great thaw |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=5 July 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}