Review: Micro Men (TV – BBC4)
Author: Tigervamp | Date: October 8, 2009
This has “black comedy” written all over it. A tale of two men who went from nothing to sit proudly atop the world only to throw it all away through blind ambition and a burning jealousy of each other’s achievements. This story would be worthy of attention if it were purely fictional but Micro Men is in fact based on real events which makes it all the more interesting.
Beginning in the late Seventies we witness Sir Clive Sinclair (at that point just Clive Sinclair or “Red Beard the Pirate” to his close friends – I made that last bit up which is a shame) facing a setback with his newly released portable Television sets. Sinclair is a man renowned for thinking ahead of his time and the portable TV was one such idea but a much more damaging example lay in wait for the flamboyant entrepreneur. Sinclair is not alone on his never-ending quest for brilliance as not far from his office sits the supportive aide Chris Curry. At first the duo appears to be a partnership made in heaven until an outside force threatens Sinclair’s dream and a panicky move by him sends the relationship and careers spiralling downward.
The cast is largely comprised of unknown actors apart from one or two you’ll recognise but can’t quite put your finger on what you’ve seen them in. One person in this category is an actor from one or two TV adverts I am not 100% certain but one is for BT and the other for an alcohol brand, and if you happen to be that individual please get in touch and I’ll replace this drawn out description with your name.
The main characters, Sinclair and Curry, are played by Alexander Armstrong and Martin Freeman respectively. Armstrong is best known for being one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller while Freeman is best known for playing Tim in the hugely successful (original and best) The Office. The main pairing do a fantastic job but while Armstrong had the limelight grabbing role as the energetic Sinclair it is Freeman I most enjoyed watching. I did not own a Spectrum as a kid but I’m a huge admirer of what Sinclair achieved and this, combined with the fact I knew little of Curry and his exploits, meant I approached Micro Men already rooting for the bearded genius. Freeman worked his cheeky magic and brought a warmth to Curry which, given me bias, I had previously doubted possible.
Micro Men is a highly entertaining combination of revealing true events and fictional content which I found both humorous and plausible. I hoped for an enjoyable mixture of fact and fiction and that is exactly what I found. In a good period piece, which this is despite missing the fancy dress and peculiar speech, the characters and events must be believable and that is achieved here with great ease. A must-see for anyone with even a passing interest in British technology, Sinclair, Acorn, and computers in general.
You can watch ‘Micro Men’ tonight at 9pm (Thursday 8th October) on BBC4. Those who miss it can catch it on BBC iPlayer.
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I watched this on iPlayer last night and I thought it was excellent. I didn’t get bored at any point, despite the fact that it’s over an hour long, and while it wasn’t “laugh out loud” funny it was very entertaining.
Sir Clive is a bit of a personal hero of mine and Alexander Armstrong portrayed him very well. The bright orange hair was pretty scary though, and his “bald wig” thing wasn’t very convincing, but the acting was spot on. I have no idea who the other guy was (someone from “The Office” I gather?) but he was very good as Chris Curry too.
Unlike most people I know, I was an Electron person rather than a Spectrum person (although I was too young to appreciate the whole war that was going on between the two companies), so it was good to learn a bit about the history of Acorn too.
“someone from ‘The Office’ I gather?” – bless you, Rees, have you just returned from Mars or what?!
Quaid, start the reactor!
Indeed who can forget the star of Ali-G Indahouse
Jungle is massive!
“Some scenes have been invented” was shown right at the beginning.
Slight understatement there. I understand that the vast majority of scenes were invented. If not invented, then vastly exaggerated.
Clive Sinclair is shown in a very negative light, probably moreso than the reality. Of course Acorn alumni helped to make the programme…..
I noticed this, as did someone else I spoke to who’d watched the programme. I didn’t think Sir Clive had such a reputation for being a complete douchebag – he always came across as a pretty normal (albeit eccentric) bloke in real life.
I don’t know much about the era so I can’t say what was invented and what wasn’t – the constant obsession about the C5 changing the world and the big fight at the end of the programme especially stood out as being very out of place, though.