Alpha is the name of a fictional computer in Mike Walker's radio drama of the same name.
Alpha has been broadcast several times over the past few years on BBC7 as part of a pair of plays, Alpha and Omega.
Alpha and Omega were first broadcast on the BBC World Service in 2001 and 2002 respectively before being aired on BBC Radio 4 and BBC 7. Both plays feature David Calder as the lead actor.
The first play won the Drama Award (World Service) in 2001's Sony Radio Awards and the second play did even better, winning two Worldplay awards in 2002.[1][2]
Alpha examines issues of artificial intelligence from the viewpoint of established Christian teaching on the soul and human existence in the world. The main character in Alpha is a priest employed by the Vatican as a sort of troubleshooter.
The other play, Omega,[3] was also written by Mike Walker and focuses on belief in God and in miracles, contrasting these issues with the central character's belief in structure and reality. The central character of Omega is an architect's building contractor whose daughter has miraculously survived a car crash.