Syntax Era

Picture: BBC/Darlow Smithson

This October sees Syntax Era coming to BBC4. A comic documentary about the "race for home computer supremacy", the program stars Martin Freeman (The Office) as Chris "BBC Micro" Curry, and Alexander Armstrong (Armstrong and Miller) as Clive "Sinclair" Sinclair.

It's an interesting story in itself. Sinclair was once Curry's employee, but the two found themselves in heated battle when Curry's Acorn Computers was awarded the contract to produce the BBC Micro - the ZX Spectrum's nemesis. Apparently the program culminates in a fight in a Cambridge pub, and it includes a hilarious-sounding skit where Sinclair attempts to run over Curry in a C5, only to find Curry can outrun him.

Syntax Era is part of the Electric Revolution season on BBC4, which also includes Electric Dreams, a three-part documentary on technology over the past 40 years, and Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe.

The season marks a move towards computers being taken seriously by the media. Computers in films tend to be limited to being tools, filling the role a filing cabinet would have in earlier fiction. There aren't many films actually about our beloved PCs' history - the anachronistic Enigma is the only one that springs to mind. The PC Format team is eagerly awaiting Syntax Era, and even if it has laughs at the expense of home computers, they're sure to be the best kind of laughs.