The Secret Life of Machines
| The Secret Life of Machines | |
|---|---|
Hunkin (right) and Garrod (left) demonstrating how to make "audio tape" from sticky tape and powdered rust
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| Genre | Educational |
| Created by | Tim Hunkin |
| Developed by | Tim Hunkin |
| Written by | Tim Hunkin |
| Directed by |
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| Presented by | Tim Hunkin |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Tim Hunkin |
| Theme music composer | Val Bennett |
| Opening theme | The Russians are Coming (a cover of Take Five) |
| Ending theme | The Russians are Coming |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Elizabeth Queenan |
| Location(s) | Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom |
| Cinematography | Mike Coles |
| Editor(s) | Peter Cox |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Artifax |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Picture format | PAL (576i) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| External links | |
| The Secret Life of Machines | www |
The Secret Life of Machines is an educational television series presented by Tim Hunkin and Rex Garrod, in which the two explain the inner workings and history of common household and office machinery. According to Hunkin, the show's creator, the programme was developed from his comic strip The Rudiments of Wisdom, which he researched and drew for the Observer newspaper over a period of 14 years. Three separate groupings of the broadcast were produced and originally shown between 1988 and 1993 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, with the production subsequently airing on The Learning Channel and the Discovery Channel.
Each of the Secret Life's individual series covers a particular set of machines. The first addresses household appliances, while the second includes devices used outside the home, such as the car. The third series examines the contraptions and gadgets used in a modern office.
Each episode was given an individual title, such as The Secret Life of the Vacuum Cleaner. Although ostensibly about a specific appliance or piece of technology, the scope of each episode was often widened to cover related technologies as well. For example, the video recorder episode looked at magnetic recording from its origins, and featured Hunkin and Garrod recording their voices on a crude home-made "audio tape" consisting of rust-coated sticky tape.
Another aspect of the programmes was their use of humorous animations based on Hunkin's own drawings. These cartoons were often based around the historical figures involved in the development of a particular technology. Furthermore, the illustrations were an artistic commentary on modern society, including segments on lift fantasies (as shown in the episode "The Lift") and corporate disregard for individuals' rights (featured in many episodes, including "The Radio" and "The Car").
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Wikipedia