''Life Story'' (known as ''The Race for the Double Helix'' in the United States) is a 1987 television

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

which depicts the progress toward, and the competition for, the discovery of the structure of DNA in the early 1950s. It was directed by Mick Jackson for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...

'' science series, and stars

Jeff Goldblum Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels. ...

Tim Pigott-Smith Timothy Peter Pigott-Smith, (13 May 1946 – 7 April 2017) was an English film and television actor and author. He was best known for his leading role as Ronald Merrick in the television drama series '' The Jewel in the Crown'', for which he wo ...

Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actor of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leadin ...

, and

Alan Howard Alan Howard may refer to: * Alan Howard (actor) (1937–2015), English actor * Alan Howard (cricketer) (1909–1993), English cricketer * Alan Howard (engineer) (1905–1966), American engineer * Alan Howard (hedge fund manager) (born 1963), hedge f ...

. It won several awards in the UK and U.S., including the 1988 BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama.

Summary

The film dramatises the rivalries of the two teams of scientists attempting to discover the structure of DNA:

Francis Crick Francis Harry Compton Crick (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004) was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. He, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins played crucial roles in deciphering the helical struc ...

and

James D. Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick and ...

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

; and

Maurice Wilkins Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins (15 December 1916 – 5 October 2004) was a New Zealand-born British biophysicist and Nobel laureate whose research spanned multiple areas of physics and biophysics, contributing to the scientific understanding o ...

and

Rosalind Franklin Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 192016 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, co ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. They are also competing with other scientists in the UK, and with international scientists such as American

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...

. The film manages to convey the loneliness and competitiveness of scientific research but also educates the viewer about how DNA's structure was discovered. It explores the tension between the patient, dedicated laboratory work of Franklin and the sometimes uninformed intuitive leaps of Watson and Crick, against a background of institutional turf wars, personality conflicts, and sexism. In the film, Watson, extolling the path of intuition, says: "Blessed are they who believed before there was any evidence." It also shows how Watson and Crick made their discovery, overtaking their competitors in part by reasoning from genetic function to predict chemical structure, helping to establish the field of

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

Cast

James Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick and ...

Production

The film script was written by William Nicholson, based on

's 1968 memoir '' The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA''. It was produced and directed by Mick Jackson for ''

'', the long-running British documentary television series on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

that covers science and philosophy. The film was produced by the BBC in association with the American A&E network Original music was composed for the film by

Peter Howell Peter Howell may refer to: *Peter Howell (musician) (born c. 1948), musician and composer *Peter Howell (actor) (1919–2015), British actor *Peter Howell (historian) (born 1941), British academic and historian *Peter Howell (psychologist) Pete ...

of the

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...

. The main music theme is the ''Le Grand Choral'' by

Georges Delerue Georges Delerue (12 March 1925 – 20 March 1992) was a French composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. Delerue won numerous important film music awards, including an Academy Award for ''A Little Romance'' (1980), three C� ...

, first used in the 1973 French film ''

Day for Night Day for night is a set of cinematic techniques used to simulate a night scene while filming in daylight. It is often employed when it is too difficult or expensive to actually shoot during nighttime. Because both film stocks and digital image s ...

'' directed by Truffaut. Detailed 1950s-style molecular models were recreated for the film.

Accuracy

In his book '' What Mad Pursuit'', Francis Crick wrote that there were a few inaccuracies, such as portraying Watson as too manic and as always chewing gum, but wrote that overall "it tells a good story at a good pace so that people from all walks of life can enjoy it and absorb some of its lessons. All in all, ''Life Story'' must be considered a success. In other hands it could easily have been nothing quite as good."

Video recordings

The film has had a number of VHS and DVD releases, but most have been exclusively for institutional educational use and are held by the libraries of colleges and universities. A VHS in PAL format, with the title ''Life Story'', was produced for the educational market. A shortened 90-minute VHS in NTSC format was produced in 1993 by EDDE Entertainment under the title ''The Race for the Double Helix''. In the 2000s, Films for the Humanities & Sciences produced a full-length DVD exclusively for the institutional and educational market, under the title ''Double Helix''.

References

External links

*
''Life Story''
at the

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Life Story 1987 television films 1987 films Biographical films about scientists British television films Films about Nobel laureates Films directed by Mick Jackson History of genetics Horizon (British TV series) 1980s British films