The story of Stonehenge is fascinating, bringing together ancient technology and beliefs, combined with interesting speculation and research over the generations trying to make sense of its construction and use in prehistoric times. This show promised to help us make sense of those achievements. Unfortunately, its claims stretch beyond what is accepted; too often the archaeologists and cultural anthropologists speculate poetically on what might have been true for the builders of Stonehenge, and then the show's producers move the storyline forward, assuming that their imaginings are fact. It brings "modern day Druids" to the reconstruction to "bless it," then mention offhandedly that the original Druids did not show up in the region until more than a thousand years after Stonehenge was completed. Other times the show suggests that the scientists are making new and startling discoveries about Stonehenge, discoveries about its orientation (equinox alignments, for example) - claims that Hawkins presented in his book "Stonehenge Decoded" in the 1960s. The scientists here are building on the shoulders of earlier scientific research, research that is much more complex (what, for example, of the outside circle of wooden posts?). What is good about the show is that the full-size reproduction is indeed good for experiencing the space, to enjoy for example the open area in the middle of the stones. Also a useful expansion is the visit to the site where the blue stones were (probably) mined to seek out prehistoric evidence - but that story is nipped before seeing more than just the clues of an ancient stone wall.
