Doctor Who star David Tennant has a new project–Einstein And Eddington, a BBC/HBO film about Albert Einstein and Arthur Eddington and their investigations of the theory of general relativity.
This human story chronicles two men who, during the First World War, refused to accept narrow nationalistic boundaries and, against the odds, continued to strive for a greater truth. Between them, they changed the world and proved one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century.
Opening in 1913, the then obscure German theorist Albert Einstein (Serkis) had spent years working on his General Theory of Relativity, a theory that threatened two centuries of Newtonian certainty and the foundations of British science. British scientist Arthur Eddington (Tennant) was one of the most prominent astrophysicists and was Director of the Cambridge Observatory, a seat originally held by the father of British science, Sir Isaac Newton.
Eddington’s wholehearted belief that “truth knows no boundaries” led him to start a correspondence with Einstein and to solely champion Einstein’s theories at a time when the rest of the British scientific community and the public at large were rejecting anything German, due to their role in the war. Eddington’s expedition to Africa to photograph light bending round the sun during an eclipse lead to his proof that Einstein’s theory is right, turning Einstein into a worldwide superstar in 1919. A star is born.
This film sounds quite intriguing. Andy Serkis probably would never have been on my list of actors to play Albert Einstein (but for that matter, neither would Walter Matthau, and he did a fantastic job in IQ). This should make for an interesting film. I imagine we’ll see it debut on HBO on this side of the pond late this early or in early 2008.