Micro Men
{{Short description|British TV programme}}
{{redirect|Syntax Era|the hip hop song|T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind's Eye)}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Micro Men.png
| caption = Title card
| alt_name =
| genre = Documentary drama
| creator = Andrea Cornwell
| developer =
| writer = Tony Saint
| director = Saul Metzstein
| creative_director =
| starring = {{Nowrap|Alexander Armstrong}}
Martin Freeman
| judges =
| voices =
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer = Vangelis
| opentheme = "Pulstar"
| endtheme =
| composer = Ilan Eshkeri
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| num_series =
| num_episodes =
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer = Elinor Day
Jamie Laurenson
| producer = Andrea Cornwell
| editor = Ian Davies
| location =
| cinematography = Hubert Taczanowski
| camera =
| runtime = 84 mins
| company =
| channel = BBC Four
| first_aired = {{start date|2009|10|8|df=y}}{{cite news | first = Tim | last = Teeman | title = Last Night's TV | date = 9 October 2009 | url = http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6866534.ece | work = The Times | accessdate =16 May 2011}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
| last_aired =
| related =
}}
Micro Men is a 2009 one-off BBC drama television programme set in the late 1970s and the early-mid 1980s, about the rise of the British home computer market and the early fortunes of Sinclair and Acorn Computers. 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.{{cite news |first=Sam |last=Wollaston |title=Micro Men |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2009/oct/09/micro-men-sinclair-curry |work=The Guardian |accessdate=25 April 2012 |location=London |date=9 October 2009}}
Plot
The drama is centred on two of the leading players and their respective companies in the home computer market of the late 1970s and early 1980s focusing on the race to win a grant from the BBC to become the provider of a home computer for the BBC's programming for schools.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2009/oct/08/armstrong-freeman-micro-men-bbc | title=Micro Men preview | work=The Guardian | date=8 October 2009 | accessdate=13 March 2012 | author=Arnott, Jack | location=London}} Certain parts of the drama are based on historical fact while others are a dramatisation.
The main characters are ZX Spectrum creator Clive Sinclair and BBC Micro creators Chris Curry, Sophie Wilson, Steve Furber and Hermann Hauser. The real-life Wilson also makes a brief cameo as a barmaid.
Cast
- Alexander Armstrong as Clive Sinclair
- Martin Freeman as Chris Curry
- Edward Baker-Duly as Hermann Hauser
- Sam Phillips as Steve Furber
- Stefan Butler as Roger Wilson
- Colin Michael Carmichael as Jim Westwood
- Derek Riddell as Nigel Searle
- Peter Davison as Bank Manager
=Cameo=
- Sophie Wilson plays a pub landlady.
- Chris Serle and Ian McNaught-Davis also appear through the incorporation of stock footage from The Computer Programme, during the scenes when Steve Furber is desperately trying to keep the demonstration BBC Micros running behind the studio set.
- Jim Westwood appears in the background of a scene set in the computer department of a WH Smith store.
Production
= Development =
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.{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6255809/Micro-Men-Sir-Clive-Sinclair-and-the-heyday-of-British-computing.html | title=Micro Men: Sir Clive Sinclair and the heyday of British computing | work=The Daily Telegraph | date=7 October 2009 | accessdate=13 March 2012 | author=Lyle, Peter | location=London}} 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.{{cite news | url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Haverhill/Museum-piece-computers-programmed-into-TV-show.htm?ID=454280 | title=Museum-piece computers programmed into TV show | work=Haverhill Weekly News | publisher=Cambridge Newspapers | date=7 October 2009 | accessdate=2 May 2012 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515222121/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Haverhill/Museum-piece-computers-programmed-into-TV-show.htm?ID=454280 | archivedate=15 May 2012}} They also supplied other technical props, including the {{nowrap|Sinclair C5}}, and Jason Fitzpatrick, director of the museum, played the part of David Johnson-Davies.{{cite news | url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/news/5293/Syntax-Era-Micro-Men-Trailer/ | title=Syntax Era / Micro Men Trailer | work=Centre for Computing History | publisher=Centre for Computing History | date=21 August 2009 | accessdate=28 July 2014}}
The programme's titles use green lettering similar to that produced by the 1980s monitors to which BBC Microcomputers would have typically been connected.
= Soundtrack =
The soundtrack uses a number of early 1980s electronica tracks:{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Tony |title=Micro Men: The story of the syntax era |url=https://www.theregister.com/2014/02/14/monitor_micro_men/?page=2 |website=www.theregister.com |access-date=6 September 2022 |language=en |date=14 February 2014}} Though not all tracks are limited to that decade.
- "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath
- "Layla" by Eric Clapton
- "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy
- "Pulstar" by Vangelis
- "Zoolookologie" by Jean Michel Jarre
- "Oxygène (Part IV)" by Jean Michel Jarre
- "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
- "99 Red Balloons" by Nena
- "Pipes of Peace" by Paul McCartney
- "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd
- "Title" from The Carpetbaggers by Jimmy Smith
- "Computer World 2" by Kraftwerk
- "Wouldn't It Be Good" by Nik Kershaw
- "Planet Earth" by Duran Duran
Release
It was first shown on BBC Four on 8 October 2009.
Reaction
When asked about the programme in an interview for The Independent — despite being involved in the production — Sinclair himself stated: "It was a travesty of the truth. It just had no bearing on the truth. It was terrible."{{Cite news|title=Sir Clive Sinclair: Down but never out, the eternal optimist is back|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/sir-clive-sinclair-down-but-never-out-the-eternal-optimist-is-back-1863277.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220514/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/sir-clive-sinclair-down-but-never-out-the-eternal-optimist-is-back-1863277.html |archive-date=14 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|date=10 January 2010|work=The Independent}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{BBC programme}}
- [http://www.comedy.org.uk/guide/tv/micro_men/ Micro Men] on the British Comedy Guide
- {{IMDb title|1459467}}
- [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/30/martin-freeman-alexander-armstrong-sir-clive-sinclair-bbc4-drama The Guardian: Battle between ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro to be BBC4 comedy drama]
- [http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/new-bbc-comedy-celebrates-syntax-era--612296 TechRadar article]
- [http://www.bitterwallet.com/commercial-break-sir-clives-misguided-leap-of-faith/19467 BitterWallet blog entry by Andy Dawson (09.10.2009, just a day after Micro Men was broadcast first)]
- [https://archive.today/20130708123804/http://www.thejitty.com/articles/britishibminterview The Jitty: Interview with the British IBM]
Category:2009 British television series debuts
Category:BBC television docudramas
Category:Biographical films about computer and internet entrepreneurs
Category:Documentary films about computer and internet entrepreneurs
Category:History of computing in the United Kingdom