Einstein and Eddington

1914. Albert Einstein is working in Berlin on general relativity; the theory is not finished and Germany is going to war. At the same time Arthur Eddington is an astronomer at Cambridge in England. During the war, taking an interest in German science is not welcome. Eddington reads Einstein's work anyway and sees a way to test the theory: during a solar eclipse the bending of starlight passing near the sun can be measured. For that he has to travel to an island off the coast of Africa. Philip Martin directs. Andy Serkis plays Einstein and David Tennant plays Eddington. It was made for the BBC. The event behind the narrative is real: the measurements taken during the 1919 eclipse were accepted as the first experimental support for the theory and the results were reported widely in the world press. The matter the film puts at the centre is the nationality of science in wartime; both sides expect scientists to stand with their own country. Eddington's Quaker faith and his stance against the war are an important strand. The production is at television scale and the scientific explanation is simplified; the theory is described through visual analogies. The narrative never brings the two men together, and that choice determines its structure. Who it is for: viewers who like drama from the history of science and the work of these two actors. Who it is not for: the production is small, the scientific content shallow, and there are dramatic additions.