The Celts

The Celts is the title of a 1986 documentary series produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

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Broadcast over the course of six, one-hour episodes, The Celts examined the origins, growth and influence of Celtic culture in Great Britain and throughout Europe. The series was released on DVD in Europe and North America in 2004.

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The series is best known for introducing mainstream audiences to the music of Irish singer Enya. Enya, formerly a member of the Celtic band, Clannad, was commissioned to compose the score for this series. In addition, Enya is shown performing the theme song, "The Celts" at the start of each episode, and two episodes also include music videos of her performing the songs "I Want Tomorrow" and "Aldebaran." The performance of "I Want Tomorrow" is notable for the out-of-character way in which Enya is presented: she appears clad in leather biker gear in one sequence and shooting fire from her fingertips in another. (The DVD release capitalizes upon Enya's notoriety by including bonus interviews and musical performances.)

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The soundtrack album for The Celts was first released in 1986 by BBC Records under the title Enya. It was later reissued in North America by Atlantic Records. In 1992, Reprise Records, the licensees of Enya's subsequent popular recordings such as "Orinoco Flow", obtained the rights to the Enya album and it was remastered and reissued under the title The Celts. Aside from the remastering, the release substituted one track for an identical piece of music with a longer running time. Also, Enya appeared in a new music video to promote the title song, and a CD-single of the theme song was released.

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The song "Boadicea" from the soundtrack has been sampled by a number of artists, including The Fugees and Mario Winans.

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This mini-series also paid tribute to the 1960s series, The Prisoner by filming scenes in Portmeirion, Wales (the setting for the series) and parodying the earlier show's opening credits.

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A second documentary series on the subject of Celtic culture, also entitled The Celts, was broadcast in the mid-1990s, much to the confusion of Enya fans hoping to see the original series.

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1986: 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar....

Documentary: A documentary is a work in a visual or auditory medium presenting political, scientific, social, or historical subjects in a factual and informative manner....

British Broadcasting Corporation: REDIRECT BBC...

The Celts related Images and Photos (experimental)

Celts, The: Rich Traditions and Ancient Myths (DVD)