The BBC set themselves an audacious challenge in making this series - to document the entire history of rock and roll from its origins in the 1950s through to the 1990s, and to do it in only 10 episodes. The result is one of the finest music documentaries ever produced.
Through archival footage and interviews with key musicians (some of whom rarely gave interviews), it breaks the story down into distinct (but overlapping) eras and genres. For anyone looking to understand the history of rock music I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Unfortunately, the series has never been released on DVD (most likely due to rights issues over the songs and clips used in the show). It was released on VHS in abridged form, with each episode suffering cuts and omissions, and one episode (#2 - Be My Baby) removed entirely. The result was still good, but incomplete.
If any music documentary needs and deserves a proper DVD release, it is this one.
In the meantime, to watch it you'll need to either a) find a copy of the VHS, b) catch a repeat on television c) locate an off-air recording of the original broadcast (some university libraries hold copies) or d) find a streaming video online. If you do decide to seek it out, good luck - this series is worth the effort.
