The Computer Programme
| The Computer Programme | |
|---|---|
 Logo from The Computer Programme | |
| Presented by | Ian McNaught-Davis Chris Serle |
| Theme music composer | Kraftwerk |
| Opening theme | Computer World |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 minutes (approx.) |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC 2 |
| Release | 11 January – 15 March 1982 |
[1]The Computer Programme is a TV series, produced by Paul Kriwaczek, originally broadcast by the BBC (on BBC 2) 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 was developed as part of the BBC Computer Literacy Project, 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 from 1984 until 1987.
Presenters
The two studio presenters were Ian McNaught-Davis (known as 'Mac') and Chris Serle, the former showing the latter some of the rudimentary basics of computer operation and BASIC programming. The 'on location' reporter was Gill Nevill. The studio made heavy use of the new BBC Micro, which had recently been launched.
Format
Each program 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 American Library. This would form the theme which would underpin the demonstrations shown on the program.
Distribution
The program was broadcast in the United States in 1983 by PBS.
In addition, stock footage from The Computer Program” was incorporated into the 2009 BBC one-off drama Micro Men, which focused on the early fortunes of British computer manufacturers Sinclair Research and Acorn Computers (manufacturers of the ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro, respectively), which both featured heavily on the show during its original run. In the film, the BBC Micros used in the studio (which were in fact early pre-production models) were shown being kept running by Acorn engineers working out of sight behind Serle and McNaught-Davis.
The show was aired as Connecta el micro, pica l'start (Connect the micro, push start) on the Catalan channel TV3. 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 BBC Micro computers were substituted by Dragon 200 computers, which were made in Spain.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
[2]
}}