Yogesh Patel Hats of to Michael Wood for his extensive research and such a wonderful representation. Your enthusiasm mesmerizes me while watching the series. Also we have watched it with a view of foreigners. it is full of information. It has all the thing needed to be a great documentary be it direction, representation, music, sites etc. Really I felt enormous pleasure watching all the episodes. :)It describes the beauty of culture and a great history of the India. I would like to admit that, even after being an Indian I did not know some minute things which I have come to know after watching the documentary. So a great thanks to BBC for presenting such a great series in India. I am looking forward to upcoming series. please bring more such series on India.

Bipin Bhosale The Story shows real history of India. Not from the books taught in the school all over the country. The voice and face expression of Micheal Wood is fantastic and heart touching. Its the Real History of India. Specially the Part of Buddhism and Chandragupta Mourya is very informative. The culture followed since so many years. The belief of people. Why do they believe in reincarnation. "Ages of Gold" - mind blowing "Freedom and Liberation" - its focuses on stories unheard by the Indians till date. Go buy a DVD right now. Its a must collection item. I have enjoyed every scene of this documentary and strongly recommend it.

Paul Papadopoulos The man is incredible I have also watched his long trek in the series he produced "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great" and his voyages to pursue Jason and the Argonauts , as well as the Himalayan myth of Shangri-La and biblical one of the Queen of Sheba I in his "Myths and Heroes" series for the BBC.This series is a brilliant and unorthodox cinematographic account of India (which also includes what are now Pakistan and Bangladesh) and its entire history from its prehistoric times, through its ancient civilisations, the invasions of the middle ages and the later arrival of the Moguls to the East India Company, superseded after the 1857 uprising by the ninety years of the British Raj and thence the 1947 independence and partition to the present day .Michael Wood is truly an intrepid traveller in the Victorian mould who seems to be prepared to take all kinds of personal risk in his quest to produce this compelling documentary epic. The term "documentary" is perhaps, misleading as he has succeeded in producing a work of art much different for the usual dull, albeit informative programmes of that genre so often sat through while watching TV on a rainy day. His approach to demonstrate that history is a living phenomenon and not just something that dwells in the past. He emphasises the way that the historic past is ever fresh and present in Modern India. He walks the souks and the bazaars, follows pilgrims, cruises on the Ganges, toils up the steps of numerous mosques, palaces and temples and climbs the remotest and most difficult mountain paths in the Himalayas and struggle along jungle tracks of the Tamil south to make his points.Culture, religions, traditions, festivals and daily life of the Indian people and its symbiotic relationship with animals of all kinds, tigers, elephants, holy cows and urban or temple simians is well covered here in a carefully crafted mosaic. He's not afraid to discus India's relatively untroubled sexual relations with an attractive high-caste Indian woman clad in a sari who has written a book in English about the Karma Sutra "It's not all about different positions" she says with a smile over a cup of tea in her garden. He also discusses the importance for Hindus of cremation with the low-caste foreman in charge of lighting the funeral pyre from a charcoal fire that has been burning continuously for 3000 years on the banks of the River Ganges (where the ashes are scattered) : "Well you see most people won't touch us. They will avoid us in the street but even if they are the prime minister when a relative of theirs dies they must come only to us, "the untouchables" as no other caste may light the funeral fire".Mr. Wood also hobnobs with the maharajahs in their palaces. Nevertheless, he seem to greatly enjoy his long journeys across the sub-continent in shabby third-class overcrowded railway carriages whose only form of air conditioning are pane less windows and dangerously open doors. He has really spurred my own interest to plan some future trip to the sub-continent and see first hand some of the images he has so cannily projected through my TV screen.

dromasca This is the first series by Michael Wood that I see and I really enjoyed watching it. The history of India is certainly so rich that one could do a sixty episodes series as well. Wood has a colloquial style that makes complex subjects attractive. Here he catches the pulse of the Indian history and of the diverse civilizations that succeeded on the sub-continent and brings them to life, filming on site and interviewing people who are not only experts but also survivors, continuators and keepers of the traditions of the different religions and peoples who lived and survived in this huge country. His style is never dry, although a little bit superficial, but in the limits of time he is doing quite well. Even folks who were very little familiar with the subject end by learning some useful information and especially by having their interest open to learn more.