The Missus and I love the movies. In less busy times we would go twice a week.  Now we rely more on Netflix to serve our passion.  It’s a hobby for me – one of two – the movies and the Yankees.

I love a good adventure and will sit through most chick flicks and even get a little teary-eyed along with the Missus. We’ve also gotten into the documentaries of late because when it comes to the normal everyday movies, well, they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

I don’t know whether it’s me or the industry, but it just seems that there’s really less and less that I want to drag my weary bones to. So Netflix really has been a kind of savior for us. If I can’t find anything new that’s of interest, then I can always go and visit an old chestnut.

Occasionally I take a chance and stumble across something terrific. In the case of The Adventure of English, I did just that. To fortify my new tangential direction as writer/blogger, I decided that this was a title that might even teach me something.

Usually with the documentaries, when they come in multi- parts, I like to break them up a bit and pepper them with a good war story or even a chick flick, but in this case I forgot to check and ended up getting all 8 episodes in a row. I groaned at the thought of going back to English class 8 nights in a row.

But baby, now I’m into it. The Adventure of English is a British television series (ITV) on the history of the English language presented by Melvyn Bragg as well as a companion book, also written by Bragg. The series ran in 2003. As usual, with British documentary television, this is superbly done.

The series and the book are cast as an adventure story, or the biography of English as if it were a living being, covering the history of the language from its modest beginnings around 500 AD as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its rise as a truly established global language.

In the television series, Bragg explains the origins and spelling of many words based on the times in which they were introduced into the growing language that would eventually become modern English.

If this sounds like it may not float your boat, check it out anyway. I believe this would be of great interest to anyone who writes, reads or speaks the English language.

Not only is it fascinating as a study of our main mode of communication, but I’ve also found it to be an amazing point of view into the history of the western world. It makes a pretty darn good case for language being the driver for many of the historic changes in the western world.

One example in particular is the impact on the world of the advent of the English Bible. For me, it set the history of our forefathers in a new and most fascinating light. I’ve sat spellbound night after night as Mr. Bragg weaves his dramatic tale and takes us from one historic place of import to another on this great adventure.

I know, it sounds dry and scholarly, but trust me. It’s not. It’s always gorgeous to look at and written with great heart and love for the language and its story. It’s shot beautifully and my new friend, Melvyn Bragg proves to be a most charming host. Watch closely and it’s even funny and actually sometimes a bit sexy.

And why not?  It’s our language – the symbols of our communication and the way we think. I look at life and language in a new way today.  I shall watch Episodes 7 and 8 tonight and send them back sadly to their bins at Netflix.

It’s been a great adventure.

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