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.
Acting
Freeman's desperate earnestness vs. Armstrong's magnificent delusion
Production
Period-perfect recreations of beige plastic computing hell
Writing
Sharp dialogue that makes circuit boards feel Shakespearean
Director
Saul Metzstein
Alexander Armstrong
Clive Sinclair
Martin Freeman
Chris Curry
Edward Baker-Duly
Hermann Hauser
Sam Phillips
Steve Furber
Peter Davison
Bank manager
Derek Riddell
Nigel Searle
James Fleet
Kenneth Baker
Theo Barklem-Biggs
Sinclair journalist
Tim Downie
Tony Wood Rogers
Stefan Butler
Roger Wilson
Colin Michael Carmichael
Jim Westwood
Rhona Croker
Valerie
Amy Beth Hayes
Cynthia
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Hermann Hauser cameo'd as a waiter; most of the cast had no idea who he was.
This basically birthed the entire UK games industry — without this petty feud, no Elite Dangerous, no Tomb Raider, no crying at FIFA.
US
GB
