# Micro Men > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Micro_Men > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Micro_Men.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Men > Source revision: 1356982654 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) British TV programme "Syntax Era" redirects here. For the hip hop song, see [T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind's Eye)](/source/T.I.M.E._(The_Inner_Mind's_Eye)). Micro Men Title card Genre Documentary drama Created by Andrea Cornwell Written by Tony Saint Directed by Saul Metzstein Starring Alexander Armstrong Martin Freeman Theme music composer Vangelis Opening theme "Pulstar" Composer Ilan Eshkeri Country of origin United Kingdom Original language English Production Executive producers Elinor Day Jamie Laurenson Producer Andrea Cornwell Cinematography Hubert Taczanowski Editor Ian Davies Running time 84 mins Original release Network BBC Four Release 8 October 2009 (2009-10-08)[1] ***Micro Men*** is a 2009 one-off BBC [drama](/source/Drama) television programme set in the late 1970s and the early-mid 1980s, about the rise of the British [home computer](/source/Home_computer) market and the early fortunes of [Sinclair](/source/Sinclair_Research) and [Acorn Computers](/source/Acorn_Computers). It focuses on the rivalry between Sir [Clive Sinclair](/source/Clive_Sinclair) (played by [Alexander Armstrong](/source/Alexander_Armstrong)), who developed the [ZX Spectrum](/source/ZX_Spectrum), and [Chris Curry](/source/Christopher_Curry_(businessman)) (played by [Martin Freeman](/source/Martin_Freeman)), the man behind the [BBC Micro](/source/BBC_Micro).[2] ## 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](/source/BBC) to become the provider of a home computer for the BBC's programming for schools.[3] Certain parts of the drama are based on historical fact while others are a dramatisation. The main characters are [ZX Spectrum](/source/ZX_Spectrum) creator [Clive Sinclair](/source/Clive_Sinclair) and [BBC Micro](/source/BBC_Micro) creators [Chris Curry](/source/Christopher_Curry_(businessman)), [Sophie Wilson](/source/Sophie_Wilson), [Steve Furber](/source/Steve_Furber) and [Hermann Hauser](/source/Hermann_Hauser). The real-life Wilson also makes a brief cameo as a barmaid. ## Cast - [Alexander Armstrong](/source/Alexander_Armstrong) as Clive Sinclair - [Martin Freeman](/source/Martin_Freeman) as Chris Curry - [Edward Baker-Duly](/source/Edward_Baker-Duly) as [Hermann Hauser](/source/Hermann_Hauser) - [Sam Phillips](/source/Sam_Phillips_(English_actor)) as [Steve Furber](/source/Steve_Furber) - Stefan Butler as [Roger Wilson](/source/Sophie_Wilson) - Colin Michael Carmichael as [Jim Westwood](/source/Jim_Westwood) - [Derek Riddell](/source/Derek_Riddell) as [Nigel Searle](/source/Nigel_Searle) - [Peter Davison](/source/Peter_Davison) as Bank Manager ### Cameo - [Sophie Wilson](/source/Sophie_Wilson) plays a pub landlady. - [Chris Serle](/source/Chris_Serle) and [Ian McNaught-Davis](/source/Ian_McNaught-Davis) also appear through the incorporation of [stock footage](/source/Stock_footage) from *[The Computer Programme](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Tony_Saint), directed by [Saul Metzstein](/source/Saul_Metzstein) and produced by Andrea Cornwell.[4] 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](/source/The_Centre_for_Computing_History), then in [Haverhill](/source/Haverhill%2C_Suffolk).[5] They also supplied other technical props, including the [Sinclair C5](/source/Sinclair_C5), and Jason Fitzpatrick, director of the museum, played the part of [David Johnson-Davies](/source/David_Johnson-Davies).[6] The programme's titles use a green lettering font 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](/source/Electronica) tracks:[7] Though not all tracks are limited to that decade. - "[Paranoid](/source/Paranoid_(Black_Sabbath_song))" by [Black Sabbath](/source/Black_Sabbath) - "[Layla](/source/Layla)" by [Eric Clapton](/source/Eric_Clapton) - "[A Fifth of Beethoven](/source/A_Fifth_of_Beethoven)" by [Walter Murphy](/source/Walter_Murphy) - "Pulstar" by [Vangelis](/source/Vangelis) - "[Zoolookologie](/source/Zoolookologie)" by [Jean Michel Jarre](/source/Jean_Michel_Jarre) - "[Oxygène (Part IV)](/source/Oxyg%C3%A8ne_(Part_IV))" by [Jean Michel Jarre](/source/Jean_Michel_Jarre) - "[Two Tribes](/source/Two_Tribes)" by [Frankie Goes to Hollywood](/source/Frankie_Goes_to_Hollywood) - "[99 Red Balloons](/source/99_Red_Balloons)" by [Nena](/source/Nena_(band)) - "[Pipes of Peace](/source/Pipes_of_Peace_(song))" by [Paul McCartney](/source/Paul_McCartney) - "[Another Brick in the Wall](/source/Another_Brick_in_the_Wall)" by [Pink Floyd](/source/Pink_Floyd) - "[Title](/source/The_Cat_(album))" from *[The Carpetbaggers](/source/The_Carpetbaggers_(film))* by [Jimmy Smith](/source/Jimmy_Smith_(musician)) - "Computer World 2" by Kraftwerk - "[Wouldn't It Be Good](/source/Wouldn't_It_Be_Good)" by [Nik Kershaw](/source/Nik_Kershaw) - "Planet Earth" by Duran Duran ## Release It was first shown on [BBC Four](/source/BBC_Four) on 8 October 2009. ## Reaction When asked about the programme in an interview for *[The Independent](/source/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."[8] ## See also - *[Micro Live](/source/Micro_Live)* ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Teeman, Tim (9 October 2009). ["Last Night's TV"](http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6866534.ece). *The Times*. Retrieved 16 May 2011.[*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*] 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Wollaston, Sam (9 October 2009). ["Micro Men"](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2009/oct/09/micro-men-sinclair-curry). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. London. Retrieved 25 April 2012. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-guardian_2009_3-0)** Arnott, Jack (8 October 2009). ["Micro Men preview"](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2009/oct/08/armstrong-freeman-micro-men-bbc). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. London. Retrieved 13 March 2012. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-telegraph_2009_4-0)** Lyle, Peter (7 October 2009). ["Micro Men: Sir Clive Sinclair and the heyday of British computing"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6255809/Micro-Men-Sir-Clive-Sinclair-and-the-heyday-of-British-computing.html). *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*. London. Retrieved 13 March 2012. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-cambridge-news_2012_5-0)** ["Museum-piece computers programmed into TV show"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120515222121/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Haverhill/Museum-piece-computers-programmed-into-TV-show.htm?ID=454280). *Haverhill Weekly News*. Cambridge Newspapers. 7 October 2009. Archived from [the original](http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Haverhill/Museum-piece-computers-programmed-into-TV-show.htm?ID=454280) on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Centre_for_Computing_History_News_2009_6-0)** ["Syntax Era / Micro Men Trailer"](http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/news/5293/Syntax-Era-Micro-Men-Trailer/). *Centre for Computing History*. Centre for Computing History. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2014. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Smith, Tony (14 February 2014). ["Micro Men: The story of the syntax era"](https://www.theregister.com/2014/02/14/monitor_micro_men/?page=2). *www.theregister.com*. Retrieved 6 September 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Sir Clive Sinclair: Down but never out, the eternal optimist is back"](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/sir-clive-sinclair-down-but-never-out-the-eternal-optimist-is-back-1863277.html). *The Independent*. 10 January 2010. [Archived](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) from the original on 14 May 2022. ## External links - [*Micro Men*](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n5b92) at [BBC Online](/source/BBC_Online) - [*Micro Men*](http://www.comedy.org.uk/guide/tv/micro_men/) on the [British Comedy Guide](/source/British_Comedy_Guide) - [*Micro Men*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1459467/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) - [The Guardian: Battle between ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro to be BBC4 comedy drama](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/30/martin-freeman-alexander-armstrong-sir-clive-sinclair-bbc4-drama) - [TechRadar article](http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/new-bbc-comedy-celebrates-syntax-era--612296) - [BitterWallet blog entry by Andy Dawson (09.10.2009, just a day after Micro Men was broadcast first)](http://www.bitterwallet.com/commercial-break-sir-clives-misguided-leap-of-faith/19467) - [The Jitty: Interview with the British IBM](https://archive.today/20130708123804/http://www.thejitty.com/articles/britishibminterview) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Micro Men](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Men) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Men?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.