Canadian Learning Channel television series features UPEI voices

Members of the University of Prince Edward Island's history and religious departments are featured in a P.E.I.-produced television series that is being broadcast on the Canadian Learning Television (CLT) at 9 p.m. AST on Monday nights this winter.

'Voices in Time: Great Speeches of the 20th Century' is a 13-part, half-hour television series focused on the people, events and moments in time captured by a famous speech or speeches that helped shape the course of history during the last century. This series blends archival footage, interviews and re-enactments to give viewers an insightful and moving look at historical events and the people involved in them.

Produced by Seahorse Entertainment, a P.E.I. production company, this second cycle of programs (episodes 14-26) includes shows about Fidel Castro, Lech Walesa, Ayatollah Khomeini, Mahatma Gandhi, Mikhail Gorbachev and Harry S. Truman. The episodes about Castro and Walesa aired on December 10 and 17 respectively.

The series is hosted by Professor Ian Dowbiggin, chair of the Department of History at UPEI. In several episodes, he is joined by Professors Phil Davis and Joe Velaidum, of the Department of Religious Studies, who provide additional insight and commentary on specific subjects.

Executive producer Larry LeClair is very pleased with the results. 'It's no easy task to produce a TV series using P.E.I. talent entirely at every stage of production. Certainly it wouldn't have been possible without the participation of Ian and his colleagues at UPEI.'

For his part, Dowbiggin was also happy to have been involved. 'This series is a tribute to LeClair's imagination, skills, knowledge and hard work. It's great when different parts of the P.E.I. community, including UPEI, can come together to produce such fine programming,' he says.