Micro Men
Encyclopedia
Micro Men is a one-off BBC drama
television show set in the late 1970s and 1980s, about the rise of the British
home computer market, particularly the rivalry between Sir Clive Sinclair
who developed the ZX Spectrum
, and Chris Curry
- the man behind the BBC Micro
; played by Alexander Armstrong
and Martin Freeman
respectively.
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.
The opening title's theme tune is called 'Pulstar' which is on the 1976 album Albedo 0.39
by Vangelis
.
on 8 October 2009. The programme was directed by Saul Metzstein
and produced by Andrea Cornwell. The programme was created by independent production company Darlow Smithson and was written by Tony Saint
. It originally had the working title Syntax Era.
, part of the Acorn development team, played the part of the pub landlady calling time (around 1h 21m).
Jim Westwood
can be seen reading a magazine behind Martin Freeman in WH Smith.
were supplied by The Centre for Computing History
in Haverhill
which is just outside Cambridge
.
would not be introduced until 1984. Throughout the show, they call the Z80A processor the ZX80A processor. In the advert where Clive Sinclair announces the ZX Spectrum, it shows MIDI OUT port, the MIDI standard would not be published until 1983, one year after the Spectrum's release, however the MIDI OUT port would be part of the Sinclair Spectrum 128 model.
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
television show set in the late 1970s and 1980s, about the rise of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
home computer market, particularly the rivalry between Sir Clive Sinclair
Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair is a British entrepreneur and inventor, most commonly known for his work in consumer electronics in the late 1970s and early 1980s....
who developed the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, and Chris Curry
Chris Curry
Christopher Curry is the co-founder of Acorn Computers, with Hermann Hauser and Andy Hopper.-Early life:...
- the man behind the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
; played by Alexander Armstrong
Alexander Armstrong (comedian)
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is a British comedian, actor and television presenter.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius...
and Martin Freeman
Martin Freeman
Martin John C. Freeman is an English actor. He is known for his roles as John in Love Actually, Tim Canterbury in the BBC's Golden Globe-winning comedy The Office, Arthur Dent in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. John Watson in Sherlock and Mr. Madden...
respectively.
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.
The opening title's theme tune is called 'Pulstar' which is on the 1976 album Albedo 0.39
Albedo 0.39
Albedo 0.39 is an album by the artist Vangelis, released in 1976. It is a concept album around space and space physics.Albedo 0.39 was the second album produced by Vangelis in Nemo Studios, London, which was his creative base until the late 1980s...
by Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
.
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 80s focusing on the race to become the provider of a home computer for the BBC's programming for schools. Certain parts of the drama are based on historical fact whilst others are mere dramatisation and a version of events at the time.Release
It was first shown on the UK channel BBC FourBBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
on 8 October 2009. The programme was directed by Saul Metzstein
Saul Metzstein
-Selected films:*Dredd Second unit director*Micro Men starring Alexander Armstrong and Martin Freeman*Guy X starring Jason Biggs and Natascha McElhone*Late Night Shopping -External links:...
and produced by Andrea Cornwell. The programme was created by independent production company Darlow Smithson and was written by Tony Saint
Tony Saint
Antony David Saint is an English writer.-Early life:He had contact with the theatre through the People's Theatre in Heaton. Whilst at university he was guitarist in the courageous but ultimately unsuccessful rock band The Little Caesars.In 1993, he joined the UK Immigration Service where he worked...
. It originally had the working title Syntax Era.
Cameo appearances
Sophie WilsonSophie Wilson
Sophie Wilson is a British computer scientist. She is known for designing the Acorn Micro-Computer, the first of a long line of computers sold by Acorn Computers Ltd, as well as the instruction set of the highly successful ARM processor.- Life and career :...
, part of the Acorn development team, played the part of the pub landlady calling time (around 1h 21m).
Jim Westwood
Jim Westwood
Jim Westwood was the chief engineer at Sinclair Research Ltd in the 1980s, starting at the company in 1963. Westwood was the technical mastermind behind many of Sinclair's products and worked there for more than twenty years...
can be seen reading a magazine behind Martin Freeman in WH Smith.
Props
The computers and technical props including the Sinclair C5Sinclair C5
The Sinclair Research C5 is a battery electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair and launched by Sinclair Research in the United Kingdom on 10 January 1985. The vehicle is a battery-assisted tricycle steered by a handlebar beneath the driver's knees. Powered operation is possible making it...
were supplied by The Centre for Computing History
The Centre for Computing History
The Centre for Computing History is a museum in Haverhill, Suffolk, England, established to create a permanent public exhibition telling the story of the Information Age. It is believed to be the only museum in the United Kingdom dedicated to exploring the social impact of computers.The museum acts...
in Haverhill
Haverhill, Suffolk
Haverhill is an industrial market town and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England, next to the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It lies southeast of Cambridge and north of central London...
which is just outside Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
.
Factual Errors
In the pub at 5:20, it shows someone playing a Tempest arcade machine, which would not be released until 1981, 3 years after the scene is meant to be set in. At the computer show, where Curry is promoting the Acorn Atom and Clive Sinclair is promoting the ZX80, library footage at 27:04 shows visitors using Amstrad CPCs, embedded in a counter, with their distinctive coloured keyboards and integrated cassette decks. However, Amstrad had not entered the computer market at that time and the Amstrad CPCAmstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
would not be introduced until 1984. Throughout the show, they call the Z80A processor the ZX80A processor. In the advert where Clive Sinclair announces the ZX Spectrum, it shows MIDI OUT port, the MIDI standard would not be published until 1983, one year after the Spectrum's release, however the MIDI OUT port would be part of the Sinclair Spectrum 128 model.
Cast
- Alexander ArmstrongAlexander Armstrong (comedian)Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is a British comedian, actor and television presenter.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius...
: Clive SinclairClive SinclairSir Clive Marles Sinclair is a British entrepreneur and inventor, most commonly known for his work in consumer electronics in the late 1970s and early 1980s.... - Martin FreemanMartin FreemanMartin John C. Freeman is an English actor. He is known for his roles as John in Love Actually, Tim Canterbury in the BBC's Golden Globe-winning comedy The Office, Arthur Dent in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. John Watson in Sherlock and Mr. Madden...
: Chris CurryChris CurryChristopher Curry is the co-founder of Acorn Computers, with Hermann Hauser and Andy Hopper.-Early life:... - Edward Baker-DulyEdward Baker-Duly-Biography:He was born in Sweden but moved to South Africa where he acted in television and theatre, later moving to the United Kingdom to work.His television work includes playing no-nonsense sports master Chris Malachay in the long-running BBC school drama, Grange Hill, from 2003-2006...
: Hermann HauserHermann HauserHermann Maria Hauser, CBE FREng FinstP CPhys , is an entrepreneur who was born in Vienna, Austria but is primarily associated with Silicon Fen in England.... - Sam Phillips: Steve FurberSteve FurberProfessor Stephen Byram Furber CBE, FRS, FREng is the ICL Professor of Computer Engineering at the School of Computer Science at the University of Manchester but is probably best known for his work at Acorn where he was one of the designers of the BBC Micro and the ARM 32-bit RISC...
- Stefan Butler: Roger WilsonSophie WilsonSophie Wilson is a British computer scientist. She is known for designing the Acorn Micro-Computer, the first of a long line of computers sold by Acorn Computers Ltd, as well as the instruction set of the highly successful ARM processor.- Life and career :...
- Colin Carmichael: Jim WestwoodJim WestwoodJim Westwood was the chief engineer at Sinclair Research Ltd in the 1980s, starting at the company in 1963. Westwood was the technical mastermind behind many of Sinclair's products and worked there for more than twenty years...
- Derek RiddellDerek RiddellDerek Riddell is a Scottish television actor.He was born in Glasgow, the son of actress Hope Ross and former St Mirren footballer Ian Riddell...
: Nigel SearleNigel SearleNigel Searle was the managing director of Sinclair Research Ltd, and one of the company's longest-serving employees. He joined Sinclair Radionics in 1973, and for most of the 1970s, Searle worked for Sinclair in the United States to promote the company's calculators and other products. In 1977,... - Rhona Croker: Valerie
- Jason Fitzpatrick: David Johnson-Davies
- Amy Beth HayesAmy Beth Hayes-Career:Amy Beth Hayes was born in Abergavenny, Wales, but grew up in England.She made her screen debut in the 2008 Doctor Who episode "The Stolen Earth" and the same year she was cast in a lead role in the ITV drama Whatever It Takes....
: Cynthia - Nicola Harrison: Ann Sinclair
- Peter DavisonPeter DavisonPeter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1982 to 1984.-Early life:Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham,...
: Bank Manager - Michael Keating: Holley
- Jon GloverJon GloverJon Glover is a British actor. He has appeared in various television programmes including Play School, Survivors, the Management consultant in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Casualty, Bodger and Badger and Peak Practice....
: Radcliffe - Theo Barklem-Biggs: Ralph
- Renny Krupinski: Foreman
- James Garnon: Journalist
- James FleetJames FleetJames Edward Fleet is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film Four Weddings and a Funeral, and the dim-witted Hugo Horton in the BBC situation comedy television series The Vicar of Dibley.-Personal life:Fleet...
: Kenneth BakerKenneth BakerKenneth Wilfred Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking, CH, PC , is a British politician, a former Conservative MP and a Life Member of the Tory Reform Group.-Early life:... - Rasmus HardikerRasmus HardikerRasmus Kip Hardiker is an English actor from Sutton Coldfield. He is best known for his roles as Raymond in Steve Coogan's sitcom Saxondale and Ben in the Jack Dee comedy Lead Balloon. Hardiker was also in the BBC3 sketch series The Wrong Door.-Personal life:Hardiker was born in Sutton Coldfield,...
: Luke - Alison Dowling: Shopper
- Perdita Avery: Susan
- Elizabeth BowerElizabeth BowerElizabeth Bower , is an English actress, best known for starring as Dr Melody Bell in Doctors from 2007 to 2009.-Biography:...
: Mindy - Tim DownieTim DownieTim Downie is an English actor and writer.He was born in England. Before starting his professional career, Downie trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.-Television:...
: Tony Wood Rogers - Mark Mansfield: Rick Dickinson
- Sophie WilsonSophie WilsonSophie Wilson is a British computer scientist. She is known for designing the Acorn Micro-Computer, the first of a long line of computers sold by Acorn Computers Ltd, as well as the instruction set of the highly successful ARM processor.- Life and career :...
(uncredited): Pub Landlady - Louise Wilkinson (uncredited): Barbara
External links
- Micro Men on the British Comedy GuideBritish Comedy GuideThe British Comedy Guide or BCG is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, the BCG has published guides to more than 1,200 individual British comedies - primarily TV and radio situation comedy, sketch shows, comedy dramas, satire, variety...
- The Guardian: Battle between ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro to be BBC4 comedy drama
- TechRadar article
- BitterWallet blog entry by Andy Dawson (09.10.2009, just a day after Micro Men was broadcasted first)