461K views · Jul 28, 2013 · 1:24:13 · 15 HN recommenders · 20 mentions · discussed 2015–2026
Micro Men is a 2009 BBC comic drama about the early 1980s British home computer boom. It follows the rivalry between Clive Sinclair and Acorn founder Chris Curry over the BBC Micro contract and the ZX Spectrum.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN recommends it often as an entertaining and authentic dramatization of Sinclair versus Acorn, the story from which ARM grew.
“'Micro Men' is an excellent TV drama”HN comment, 2019
“I can highly recommend the BBC drama "Micro Men”
Flavor of early British home computer boom and Sinclair-Acorn rivalry.
I can highly recommend the BBC drama "Micro Men", about the early years of the British home computer boom and the rivalry between Sinclair and Acorn. It gives a real flavour of the mad, maverick years before the IBM clones took over. this video
“'Micro Men' is an excellent TV drama”
Excellent drama on BBC computer project and the battle to win it.
If you haven't already seen it, 'Micro Men' is an excellent TV drama that details the history of the BBC's computer project and the battle to be the chosen computer: this video
“The excellent Micro Men docudrama”
Excellent docudrama on Sinclair-Acorn rivalry, available on YouTube.
The excellent Micro Men docudrama ( link ) has somehow been on Youtube since 2013: this video (1h24m) Micro Men, working title Syntax Era, is a 2009 one-off BBC drama television programme set in the late 1970s and the early-mid 1980s, about the rise of the British home computer market. It focuses on the rivalry between Sir Clive Sinclair (played by Alexander Armstrong), who developed the ZX Spectrum, and Chris Curry (played by Martin Freeman), the man behind the BBC Micro. (Sinclair didn't exactly like it though.)
“Micro Men really is a great docu-drama, it really feels like it captures the time very well.”
Captures the era well, with ARM chip specs on the office board.
Nice reference there! Micro Men really is a great docu-drama, it really feels like it captures the time very well. As my first computer was a BBC Micro, it really struck a chord. It’s great seeing the specs for the (yet to be built) ARM chip on the board in the Acorn office, and it’s also awesome that Sophie Wilson playing the barmaid too! For those that haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth a watch [1] [1] this video
“is available on youtube [1] and is definitely worth a watch”
Drama on early British home computers.
Micro Men is available on youtube [1] and is definitely worth a watch. The scene were one of the characters is eating noodles using multimeter probes as chopsticks made me smile. [1] this video
“Micro Men" documentary/drama about Sir Clive Sinclair vs Acorn”
Drama of Sinclair versus Acorn, from which ARM grew.
"26 years" is oddly precise, but the sinclair C5 was 1985, 34 years ago, so it's probably just how long he's served or something. link BONUS "Micro Men" documentary/drama about Sir Clive Sinclair vs Acorn (from which grew Acorn RISC Machine -> ARM) this video (1h 24m) "A man's reach should exceed his grasp or what's a heaven for?"
“An authentic drama about the heyday of British home computing”
Full authentic drama on British home computing heyday.
this video The full BBC movie without commentary. An authentic drama about the heyday of British home computing featuring Clive Sinclair plus Curry, Furber, and Hauser from Acorn computers. Also appearing are the ZX Spectrum, the BBC Micro, and the ARM processor on a whiteboard.
“Obligatory shout out for 'Micro Men'”
Making of the BBC Micro and ZX Spectrum.
ah yes you are right, the in-line ELSE Obligatory shout out for 'Micro Men', about the making of the BBC Micro and ZX Spectrum this video
“There's this nice TV show about Sinclair and Acorn from BBC 4.”
Nice BBC4 show about Sinclair and Acorn.
Acorn was not obscure. It was a household name, with TV ads and such. There's this nice TV show about Sinclair and Acorn from BBC 4. this video (Micro Men)
“Favorites about real and fictional creators: Micro Men”
Among favorite films about real tech creators.
link Favorites about real and fictional creators: Micro Men this video Pirates of Silicon Valley Halt and Catch Fire ... and some documentaries like "Mother of all Demos", the history of Internet Explorer vs. Netscape, and the creators of the spreadsheet
“its definitely worth a watch”
Sinclair versus Acorn rivalry drama.
It's easy to quibble about some aspects of the Speccy - the rubber keyboard or the limited BASIC for example - but the key thing is that it offered an awful lot for the price - starting at £125 in the UK when the cheapest BBC Micro was £300. This made computing with colour and enough memory to write programs that were substantial and interesting available to a much wider group than before. Sir Clive Sinclair had a unique genius for designing and then marketing products that caught the public imagination. Sadly, he seemed to lose interest in building on his success and quickly moved on to the next project. Famously the C5 electric "car" but also wafer scale memory! [1] If anyone hasn't seen Micro Men, on the Sinclair vs Acorn rivalry, its definitely worth a watch: this video And seeing some of the participants watch it and recall their own versions of the story is good too: link [1] link
“this film about sinclair is well worth a watch.”
Film about Sinclair and the Spectrum.
one of the reasons it was cheap was they got faulty 64k ram chips at a knock down price - hence the 48k. this film about sinclair is well worth a watch. this video
“Micro men, story of the zx spectrum vs the bbc”
Story of the ZX Spectrum versus the BBC Micro.
And if you're interested in that watch the movie :-) this video Micro men, story of the zx spectrum vs the bbc
“To people asking why a broadcasting corporation needed a programming language you might watch 'Micro Men'.”
Explains why the BBC needed a programming language.
To people asking why a broadcasting corporation needed a programming language you might watch 'Micro Men'. It's available on YouTube. link this video
“I second this recommendation.”
Full film in 720p on YouTube.
I second this recommendation. Both SD and HD versions are on Youtube in their entirety. This is the 720P version: this video
Drama about behind-the-scenes BBC Micro story, starring Martin Freeman.
The BBC made a drama, "Micro Men" (2009), about some of the behind-the-scenes drama behind the BBC Micro. As I recall, it doesn't explain the whole Fred, Jim and Sheila thing though. Martin "Bilbo Baggins" Freeman is in it. this video
“The closing scene is priceless.”
Closing scene of Sinclair driving his C5.
The closing scene is priceless. Clive Sinclair defiantly drives into the future on his C5, without helmet or neck support, overtaken by lorries/juggernauts: this video
“A link to the quote in the film”
Shows the scene containing the quote discussed.
Thanks! I've heard that quote a few times but till now never grasped the full meaning. A link to the quote in the film: this video
“the original as used at the end of Micro Men, featuring Acorn / ARM's Sophie Wilson as the barmaid”
Original Oxygene 4 as used at the end, with Sophie Wilson cameo.
Stutters quite badly on my laptop (Thinkpad P53 / Ubuntu / Firefox) So here[0]'s the original as used at the end of Micro Men, featuring Acorn / ARM's Sophie Wilson as the barmaid. [0] this video
“Fixing the 16K RAM pack makes an apperance in the Micro Men film”
Film depicts fixing the 16K RAM pack.
Fixing the 16K RAM pack makes an apperance in the Micro Men film: this video RAM was so tight on those 8-bit machines that many games used tricks like hiding things inside the viewable area of the screen to eck out just a little bit more.
