Date : Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:37:56 +0100
From : jgh@... (Jonathan Graham Harston)
Subject: Review: Micro Men
Micro Men, BBC4, 9pm, 8th October.
I was looking forward to Micro Men with slight trepidation.
Television has a reputation for dramadocumentaries that are more
drama than documentary, but Micro Men is up there with Horizon's
Life Story dramatising Franklin, Watson, Crick & Wilkins working
out of the structure of DNA.
It was perfectly paced, Alexander Armstrong and Martin Freeman got
Sinclair and Curry's personalities to a tee. As soon as the music
started I felt myself being dragged back to my formative years.
It's essentially a story of a businessman/designer in one camp
versus a close-knit team of engineers in the other. Sinclair's
significant phrase was "an affordable and elagant machine with a
few basic functions", which sums up the fundamental difference
between the Sinclair and Acorn stables.
While Clive was drawing pictures of his "BBC" Spectrum, Steve and
Roger were busily wire-wrapping and programming.
They covered all our foundation myths - Herman telling Roger and
Steve that each other had claimed the prototype could be built in
four days, Herman cutting the umbilical wire to get it working at
the last minute, Roger looking uncomfortable in a suit.
I particularly liked the bit where Steve showed Herman how to make
a pot of tea ;)
While, like any dramatisation, there were some inaccuracies and
reinterpretations, it essentially got a core part of our history
correct. It's well worth watching, and I've already watched the
repeat while typing this up.
...and wow, guess who's the extra special uncredited guest in the
final scene?
At the time I owned a Spectrum but aspired to have a BBC and used
BBCs at school. In fact, I really wanted a BBC/Spectrum hybrid, and
even tried to port BBC BASIC to the Spectrum. A task I finally
accomplished when I discovered Z80 BBC BASIC.
At the end of the day, what system I am still using for word
processing, email and programming? Not my Spectrum, but my BBC
Master.
--
J.G.Harston - jgh@... - mdfs.net/User/JGH
BBC BASIC for Windows and Internationalisation
See http://mdfs.net/Software/BBCBasic/Windows/ProgTips