Micro Men (TV 2009)

In 1979 Clive Sinclair, British inventor of the pocket calculator, frustrated by the lack of home investment in his project,the electric car, also opposes former assistant Chris Curry's ... See full summary »

Director:

Saul Metzstein

Writer:

Tony Saint

Stars:

Alexander Armstrong, Martin Freeman, Edward Baker-Duly

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alexander Armstrong	...	Clive Sinclair
Martin Freeman	...	Chris Curry
Edward Baker-Duly	...	Hermann Hauser
Sam Phillips	...	Steve Furber
Stefan Butler	...	Roger Wilson
Colin Michael Carmichael	...	Jim Westwood
Derek Riddell	...	Nigel Searle
Rhona Croker	...	Valerie
Amy Beth Hayes	...	Cynthia
Nicola Harrison	...	Ann Sinclair
Anthony Smee	...	Norman Hewett
Michael Keating	...	Derek Holley
Peter Davison	...	Bank Manager
Jon Glover	...	John Radcliffe
Theo Barklem-Biggs	...	Sinclair Journalist

Storyline

In 1979 Clive Sinclair, British inventor of the pocket calculator, frustrated by the lack of home investment in his project,the electric car, also opposes former assistant Chris Curry's belief that he can successfully market a micro-chip for a home computer. A parting of the ways sees Curry, in partnership with the Austrian Hermann Hauser and using whizz kid Cambridge students, set up his own, rival firm to Sinclair Radionics, Acorn. Acorn beat Sinclair to a lucrative contract supplying the BBC with machines for a computer series. From here on it is a battle for supremacy to gain the upper hand in the domestic market.

---

Plot Keywords:

computer | electric car | bbc | business rivalry | business life | 

---

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 October 2009 (UK)

Also Known As:

Syntax Era

Company Credits

Production Co:

Darlow Smithson Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the sequence when Chris Currie is driving to London to meet with the BBC, he is seen nervously chain-smoking at the wheel of his car. The roof-line of the vehicle used for the interior shots is clearly not a Ford Fiesta.

---

Quotes

Clive Sinclair: Games! Games! Everywhere I go games! This is what my lifetime of achievement has been reduced to! Clive Sinclair the man who brought you Jet Set fucking Willy!

---

Connections

Featured in Grierson 2010: The British Documentary Awards (2010)

User Reviews

The rise and fall of the UK computer business

Just saw this on BBC4. A very interesting take on how close the UK came to dominating the world computer development and manufacturing industry in the early 80s, only for it to all fall apart just 5 years later.

Despite some garish and unconvincing make-up, Armstrong shows he can do serious drama in his portrayal of Sir Clive Sinclair, the man who brought affordable computing to the masses. Martin Freeman is good (as always) as the confidante in Sinclair's company who, unable to understand Sinclairs bloody mindedness over what to concentrate their efforts on, leaves and sets up arch rival 'Acorn Computers' with an Austrian business partner.

The production team have done a solid job in displaying the drabness of the era. The mix of archive TV footage of the time inter-cut with this filmed TV drama works quite well. The background story of how the UK became a world leader in the home PC market, and then blew it, is a fascinating tale for anyone interested in recent history. At one point Freemans character turns to Sinclair and says 'We could have been the British IBM but you wouldn't listen to me' is very apt. Sinclairs obsession with the notorious C5 is also addressed. It does make you wonder what would have happened had there been more cohesion in the industry at the time rather than the arrogant self interest of the industry that resulted in the UK losing such a massive foothold.

A thought provoking drama that has just enough momentum to keep itself interesting despite some flaws.