''The Computer Programme'' is a TV series, produced by Paul Kriwaczek, originally broadcast by the BBC (on

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

) in 1982. The idea behind the series was to introduce people to computers and show them what they were capable of. The BBC wanted to use their own computer, so the

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

was developed as part of the ''

BBC Computer Literacy Project The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphasi ...

'', and was featured in this series. The series was successful enough for two series to follow it, namely '' Making the Most of the Micro'' in 1983 and ''

Micro Live ''Micro Live'' is a BBC Two, BBC2 TV series that was produced by David Allen as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, and followed on from earlier series such as ''The Computer Programme'', ''Computers In Control'', and ''Making the Most ...

'' from 1984 until 1987.

Presenters

The two studio presenters were Ian McNaught-Davis (known as 'Mac') and

Chris Serle Christopher Richard Serle (born 13 July 1943 in Bristol, England) is a former BBC TV presenter, reporter and actor. Biography Serle was educated at Clifton College and Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied modern languages. He appeared a ...

, the former showing the latter some of the rudimentary basics of computer operation and

BASIC BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...

programming. The 'on location' reporter was Gill Nevill. The studio made heavy use of the new

, which had recently been launched.

Production

Filming of the series took place in October 1981, before Acorn had fully completed the development and productionization of the BBC Micro. The machines used on the demonstration segments were in fact early pre-production models which barely worked, and Acorn engineer

Steve Furber Stephen Byram Furber (born 21 March 1953) is a British computer scientist, mathematician and hardware engineer, currently the ICL Professor of Computer Engineering in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, UK. A ...

was working behind the set to keep the machines running. One of the issues found with the early units was their ULA chips overheating under the studio lights. The linear power supply units (PSU) on the early BBC Micros were also prone to overheating and in some cases, catching fire - something that dogged the early production machines. Fellow Acorn engineer

Sophie Wilson Sophie Mary Wilson (born Roger Wilson; June 1957) is an English computer scientist, who helped design the BBC Micro and ARM architecture. Wilson first designed a microcomputer during a break from studies at Selwyn College, Cambridge. She ...

also recounted that some of the BBC Micros used in the studio were in fact dummy units connected to an Acorn System 1 hidden out of sight which was actually running the software.

Format

Each programme would normally start with either Serle or McNaught-Davis introducing a real-life situation where computers are being (or could be) applied – examples included the office, a car factory and the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

. This would form the theme which would underpin the demonstrations shown on the programme.

Distribution

The programme was broadcast in the United States in 1983 by PBS. In addition,

stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stoc ...

from ''The Computer Programme'' was incorporated into the 2009 BBC one-off drama '' Micro Men'', which focused on the early fortunes of British computer manufacturers

Sinclair Research Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. It was originally incorporated in 1973 as Westminster Mail Order Ltd, renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, then Science of Cambridge Ltd, then ...

and

Acorn Computers Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK, including the Acorn Electron and the Acorn Archimedes. Acorn's ...

(manufacturers of the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

and BBC Micro, respectively), which both featured heavily on the show during its original run. The show was aired as ''Connecta el micro, pica l'start'' (''Connect the micro, push start'') on the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

channel

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television * Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by E ...

. This adapted version included the original 30 minutes taken from the BBC's show plus 15 minutes with original footage. In this original footage the

computers were substituted by Dragon 200 computers, which were made in Spain.Dragon, El BBC Micro Español
article in "Fase Bonus", 17 September 2011

Programmes

The series was split into 10 programmes, each about 25 minutes long and dealing with a particular subject area. They were as follows (original airdates in brackets): # ''It's Happening Now'' – (11 January 1982) # ''Just One Thing After Another'' – (18 January 1982) # ''Talking to a Machine'' – (25 January 1982) # ''It's on the Computer'' – (1 February 1982) # ''The New Media'' – (8 February 1982) # ''Moving Pictures'' – (15 February 1982) # ''Let's Pretend'' – (22 February 1982) # ''The Thinking Machine'' – (1 March 1982) # ''In Control'' – (8 March 1982) # ''Things to Come'' – (15 March 1982)

Theme music and opening titles

The theme music to the programme was

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize t ...

's ''Computer World'', taken from their 1981 album of the same name. The opening titles was an animation of an owl – the mascot (and

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

) of the BBC Microcomputer system – flying into a domestic living room. The "owl" theme would be used on the two successor shows. The ending was ''Computer World 2'', taken from the same album.

References

External links

*
''The Computer Programme'' at the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Computer Programme, The BBC Television shows Computer science education in the United Kingdom Computer television series 1982 British television series debuts 1982 British television series endings English-language television shows