A Darwin movie that will be shown in the United States

While you may or may not be lucky enough to have the Darwin biopic Creation show in a theatre near you, if you have a tv or access to the internet you'll be able to view PBS NOVA's 2 hour drama Darwin's Darkest Hour, which appears tonight at 8 EST. (With the film being available for on-line viewing probably tomorrow or the next day.)

This two-hour scripted drama tells the remarkable story behind the unveiling of the most influential scientific theory of all time, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. The program is a special presentation from NOVA and National Geographic Television, written by acclaimed British screenwriter John Goldsmith and directed by John Bradshaw.

Darwin, portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick (Lost), spent years refining his ideas and penning what he called his "big book." Yet, daunted by looming conflict with the orthodox religious values of his day, he resisted publishing—until a letter from naturalist Alfred Wallace forced his hand. In 1858, Darwin learned that Wallace was ready to publish ideas very similar to his own. In a sickened panic, Darwin grasped his dilemma: To delay publishing any longer would be to condemn his greatest work to obscurity—the brilliant argument he had pieced together with clues from his voyage on the Beagle, his adventures in the Andes, the bizarre fossils of Patagonia, the finches and giant tortoises of the Galapagos, as well as the British countryside. But to come forward with his ideas risked the fury of the Church and perhaps a rift with his own devoted wife, Emma, portrayed by Frances O'Connor (Mansfield Park, The Importance of Being Earnest), who was a devout Christian.

"Darwin's Darkest Hour" is a moving drama about the genesis of a groundbreaking theory seen through the inspiration and personal sufferings of its originator.

And, as usual for NOVA programs, the website features a number of valuable resources relating to the film's subject material.

For example, I recommend Sean Carroll's - author of Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo - essay on Alfred Russell Wallace having independently arrived at the theory of evolution by natural selection, thus providing the impetus for Darwin to finally go public with his decades long research on the subject.