Horizons : A 21st Century Space Odyssey. The O2.

31 August 2022

Early on in Professor Brian Cox’s Horizons: A 21^st Century Space Odyssey, co-host Robin Ince poses one of the evening’s many interesting conundrums. What could attract 13,000 people to a physics lecture on a Thursday evening in August? He could have added ‘at prices that would make a West End theatre producer salivate’, but obviously did not.

At the simplest level, the answer is because they want to see the hugely popular former erstwhile pop performer, physics professor, and seemingly omnipresent host of TV science shows strut his stuff live. But there is a deeper question that is also worth reflecting on. Just why is Cox’s blend of unbounded optimism in the power of science, and awestruck fascination with the wonder of the universe around us, so very appealing?

The producers have sensibly packed Horizons: A 21^st Century Space Odyssey with all of the most familiar elements of Cox’s TV work. Firstly, there is the man himself, the walking, talking embodiment of all the best teachers you ever had at school, wrapped up in one goofy and compelling package. He attacks the show’s main question, what black holes are, with the exuberance of an evangelist preacher selling you on the benefits of a life eternal. The man really, really, wants you to know what happens when objects fall into a black hole. So awe-inspiring is the sheer force of Cox’s personality, that you just cannot help wanting, no needing to know too (it is called spaghettification by the way).

Then there are the extraordinarily evocative backdrop images produced by visual artists Erik Wernquist and Andreas Wicklund. The show opens with a 5-minute video sequence that takes us on a 13.8 billion year journey through the history of the universe, played to the finale of Jean Sibelius’ fifth symphony, and presented on a state-of-the-art LED screen that extends almost the entire breadth of the O2 arena. Cox distinguishes between dark holes and super-massive dark holes that engulf entire galaxies. The production values here definitely tend towards the super-massive end of the theatrical spectrum. It is a glory to behold. You could almost call it universe porn.

Cox pitches the show at a somewhat more demanding level than much of his TV work. Particularly in the second half there is an occasional but palpable audience-wide scratching of heads. But so rapid is the stream of intriguing ideas, fascinating facts, and extraordinary images that it is easy to simply go with the flow, picking up what one can, and admiring the sheer technical expertise of the team that put all this together.

Where the show struggles most obviously is in the transition from the pacing of a TV programme to the demands of a live audience. Ince’s role is to add a little comic relief through a combination of one-man comedy and on-stage banter. It is easy to see why the producers feel the need to add light and shade to what is, basically, a physics lecture, albeit an expensive one. Opinions will vary about how much stand-up comedy you need interrupting your physics class. But there are occasions when the all-too-predictable jokes about the apparent agelessness of Cox’s appearance seem like time-fillers.

The repartee between the host and co-host can also feel a little scripted, a result perhaps of too many nights doing the same show. One suspects what the audience for Horizons: A 21^st Century Space Odyssey mainly shells out for is to see TV’s Brian Cox and it is fair to say that the best bits of the show are the bits with the man himself in it.

Beyond his ebullience, wit, and charm, there is a deeper answer to the enigma of Cox’s enduring appeal. It resides in the enduring optimism of the professor’s belief in the power of science as a potent source of good. His final heart-felt peroration to the audience, that the world would benefit from applying a sensible measure of scientific scepticism to entrenched political dogma, strikes a deep chord. Cox describes the forming of stars after the big bang as “snowdrops falling on an infinite sky”. It may be, metaphorically-speaking, that his words have the same impact on our world as a dusting of winter snow. But they are worth hearing all the same.

If you enjoy TV’s Brian Cox, you will certainly enjoy this.

Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes. One interval.

This Review First Appeared in The Reviews Hub