Date   : Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:03:27 +0100
From   : zeem.uk@... (Alex Taylor)
Subject: Weird places that BBC micros could be found

2008/7/2 Rob <robert@...>:

> Thinking about it. I think lots of set computer graphics in Blake's 7
> looked suspiciously Beeb-like, too..

I bet there's loads of BBC TV shows from the 80s with Beeb graphics
inserted on screens when they needed some kind of background computer
effect.

I remember an episode of 2 Point 4 Children from the late 90s, which
involved something to do with chatting to someone over the internet.
The computer was an Archimedes A440, with weird full-screen goings off
including squares zooming in and out, during the "chat". Probably all
programmed in BASIC.

There's method behind some of the madness though. The Bill used Amigas
for years, hiding behind the desks which had real PCs on them. They
were programmed to show screens directly replicating those of the real
police computers, and also to type the correct characters on the
screen when the actors hit whatever key on the keyboard, so they
didn't have to actually type stuff in. The main point is that the
Amiga's got a 50Hz screen output, so it wouldn't flicker on the TV
cameras. Probably the same reason that Beeb and Arc graphics have made
it into quite a few TV shows. I've spotted Spectrum and Commdore stuff
too.