E = M6, This is not rocket science, Time X… On the small screen, a handful of programs have managed to talk about science, without taking viewers’ heads. Clicks is their heiress. This documentary series, broadcast by
Art, tackles subjects that are not easy at first glance (fluid mechanics, quantum physics, electromagnetic waves, chaos theory or plate tectonics) and popularizes them, “so that everyone, at any age, can retain the essentials, and then tell them in your own words”, explain its creators.
« Pierre Lergenmüller [l’auteur et le co-réalisateur de l’émission, avec Benjamin Barbelet] and I are former teachers, notes Jean Mach, the producer of the series. And, as a former math teacher, I often had literature. I quickly realized that when we did classic lessons, they were quickly dropped. It’s not at all that they were ill-willed, it’s rather that the way things were presented to them didn’t suit them. » Thus was born the idea of Clicks, designed to “reconcile scientists and non-scientists”. Its writing was entrusted to literary experts, supported by a pool of experts. “It was designed for the family, not just for the children,” explains Jean Mach.
An affiliation with “It’s not rocket science”
And if the recipe hits the bull’s eye, it’s thanks in particular to the construction of this show. The Montpellier production company Mad Films, to which we already owe the three seasons of the historic series Landmarks, articulated Clicks in two overlapping phases, throughout the approximately 26 minutes of each episode: a first, in which a voice-over (Julien Masdoua, one of the actors ofsuch a big sun) recalls the genesis of the great scientific discoveries, and a second, in which the theories are explained, simply, thanks to 3D models.
A formula reminiscent of the one that contributed to the success of This is not rocket science, on France 3, from 1993 to 2014. “It’s a reference that we completely accept, we really like This is not rocket science, confides the producer of the series. Moreover, Pierre Lergenmüller wanted them to be thanked. If you look closely at the credits, Fred, Jamy and Sabine appear there. » Clicks has been broadcast since January 10 on Arte and all episodes are also available for streaming,
on the channel’s website.