The Dream Machine

1991 - 1991

Giant Brains

17th November 1991

Episode 1

Englishman Charles Babbage conceived the basic idea of a computer about 150 years ago, as a machine that would eliminate error and relieve humans of the tedium of calculation. But it was not until the Second World War that the race to build the first computer began. In 1946, the Americans unveiled the ENIAC - it filled a large room, cost the equivalent of $3 million to build and had less power than a modern pocket calculator. Interviews: Paul Ceruzzi (computer historian), Doron Swade (London Science Museum), Konrad Zuse (inventor of the first functional computer and high-level programming language, d.1995), Kay Mauchly Antonelli (human computer in WWII and ENIAC programmer, d.2006), Herman Goldstine (ENIAC developer, d.2004), J. Presper Eckert (co-inventor of ENIAC, d.1995), Maurice Wilkes (inventor of EDSAC), Donald Michie (Codebreaker at Bletchley Park)

Inventing the Future

24th November 1991

Episode 2

Forty-five years ago a few brave souls risked everything to prove that computers were destined for more than just the laboratory. Interviews: Ted Withington (network engineer, industry analyst), Paul Ceruzzi (Smithsonian), J. Presper Eckert (ENIAC co-inventor, d.1995), Morris Hansen (former US Census Bureau, d.1990), John Pinkerton (Chief Engineer, LEO, d.1997), Thomas J. Watson, Jr. (Chairman Emeritus, IBM, d.1993), James W. Birkenstock (retired Vice President, IBM, d.2003), Jean Sammet (programming language historian), Dick Davis (retired Senior V.P., Bank of America), Robert Noyce (co-inventor, integrated circuit, d.1990), Gordon Moore (former Chairman of the Board, Intel), Steve Wozniak (Co-founder, Apple)

The Paperback Computer

1st December 1991

Episode 3

The manuscripts of the Middle Ages, available to only a select priesthood, turned into the paperback book. How close are we to the "paperback" computer? The development of the personal computer and user interfaces, from Doug Engelbart and Xerox PARC to the Apple and IBM PCs. Interviews: Canon John Tiller (Library Master, Hereford Cathedral), Mitch Kapor (Founder, Lotus), Robert Taylor (Xerox PARC), Ted Nelson (Creator, Project Xanadu), Douglas Engelbart, Larry Tesler (Xerox PARC), Alan Kay (Xerox PARC), Ted Hoff (Co-inventor, microprocessor), Steve Jobs (Cofounder, Apple), Steve Wozniak (Cofounder, Apple), Mike Markkula (Investor, Apple), Lee Felsenstein (Designer, Osborne 1), Bill Gates (Chairman, Microsoft), Chris Peters (Manager, Office), Anne Meyer (Center for Applied Special Tech.), Dr. Henry Fuchs (UNC, Chapel Hill), Dr. Jane Richards (UNC, Chapel Hill), Dr. Frederick P. Brooks, Jr (UNC, Chapel Hill)

The Thinking Machine

8th December 1991

Episode 4

By the 1960s, a computer could do university-level calculus and play chess, but the search for a true thinking machine turned out to be a lot more difficult than anyone had dreamed. The history of artificial intelligence, from Minsky to neural networks. Interviews: Marvin Minsky (MIT), Hubert Dreyfus (UC Berkeley), Edward Feigenbaum (Stanford University), Hans Moravec (Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute), Doug Lenat (University of Texas, Austin), Dean Pomerleau (Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute), Terrence Sejnowski (Salk Institute)

The Passing of Remoteness

15th December 1991

Episode 5

The tens of millions of computers in the world have begun talking to one another. This "networking" has allowed all sorts of new communities to grow up, regardless of distance. But now, errors in information and programming can wreak havoc. Computer networks, including the Internet, and their global impact on communication and privacy. Interviews: Robert Lucky (AT&T Bell Labs), Dave Hughes, Kathleen Bonner (Trader, Fidelity), George Hayter (Former Head of Trading, London Stock Exchange), Ben Bagdikian (UC Berkeley), Arthur Miller (Harvard Law School), Forman Brown (songwriter, d.1996), Tan Chin Nam (Chairman, National Computer Board of Singapore), B.G. Lee (Minister of Trade and Industry, Singapore), Lee Fook Wah, (Assistant Traffic Manager, MRT Singapore), David Assouline (French Activist, now a senator), Mitch Kapor (founder, Lotus), Michael Drennan (Air traffic controller, Dallas-Fort Worth)

Top Cast

Andrew Sachs•Lesley Judd

Documentary

A five-part series about the origins, history and impact of the computer, a machine that changed the world.

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Full Cast

Andrew Sachs

Self - Narrator (voice)

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Lesley Judd

Self - Narrator (voice)

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Brian Dowley

Director of Photography

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Richard Adam

Director of Photography

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Jon Palfreman

Executive Producer

Peter Howell

Original Music Composer

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Peter Hoving

Director of Photography

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Andy Elliott

Director of Photography

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Michael Chin

Director of Photography

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