Micro Men

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Micro Men

Micro Men title card.
Genre Documentary drama
Created by Andrea Cornwell
Written by Tony Saint
Directed by Saul Metzstein
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
Production
Executive producer(s) Elinor Day
Jamie Laurenson
Producer(s) Andrea Cornwell
Editor(s) Ian Davies
Cinematography Hubert Taczanowski
Running time 84 mins
Broadcast
Original channel BBC Four
Original airing 8 October 2009[1]
External links
Website

Micro Men is a one-off BBC drama television show set in the late 1970s and the early-mid 1980s, about the rise of the British home computer market. It focuses on the rivalry between Sir Clive Sinclair (played by Alexander Armstrong), who developed the ZX Spectrum, and Chris Curry (played by Martin Freeman), the man behind the BBC Micro.[2]

Plot

The drama is centered on two of the leading players and their respective companies in the home computer market of the late 1970s and early 80s focusing on the race to become the provider of a home computer for the BBC's programming for schools.[3] Certain parts of the drama are based on historical fact whilst others are dramatization and a version of events at the time.

Production and release

The programme was created by independent production company Darlow Smithson and was written by Tony Saint, directed by Saul Metzstein and produced by Andrea Cornwell.[4] It was produced as a BBC Drama, shot in the UK, with some scenes shot in and around the colleges of Cambridge on 15 July 2009. Computers were supplied by The Centre for Computing History, then in Haverhill.[5] Other technical props, including the Sinclair C5, were also provided for the production.[citation needed]

The programme's working title was Syntax Era.[6][7]

The programme's opening title theme is "Pulstar" from the 1976 album Albedo 0.39 by Vangelis.

It was first shown on the UK channel BBC Four on 8 October 2009.

Trivia

The scene in which the BBC Micro prototype was developed under an extremely tight deadline was paid homage to by indie rock band the British IBM in the music video for their self-titled second single. The band's name was also taken from a line of dialog from Micro Men, after a pub brawl Curry says to Sinclair "We could have been the British IBM."

Cast

Cameo appearances

Sophie Wilson, part of the Acorn development team, played the part of the pub landlady calling time[8] (around 1h 21m).

Chris Serle and Ian McNaught-Davis also make cameo appearances through use of stock footage from The Computer Programme which was woven into certain scenes.

Jim Westwood can be seen reading a magazine behind Martin Freeman in WH Smith.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Teeman, Tim (9 October 2009). "Last Night's TV". The Times (The Times). Retrieved 16 May 2011. 
  2. ↑ Sam Wollaston. "Micro Men". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2012. 
  3. ↑ Arnott, Jack (8 October 2009). "Micro Men preview". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2012. 
  4. ↑ Lyle, Peter (7 October 2009). "Micro Men: Sir Clive Sinclair and the heyday of British computing". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 March 2012. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Museum-piece computers programmed into TV show". Haverhill Weekly News (Cambridge Newspapers). 7 October 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2012. 
  6. ↑ "British Comedy Guide: Micro Men". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 16 February 2012. 
  7. ↑ "Sir Clive Vs The BBC". Edge. Future Publishing. 25 August 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2012. 
  8. ↑ Williams, Chris (8 October 2009). "BBC4's Micro Men: an interview and review". Drobe. Retrieved 8 March 2012. 

External links

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