BBC Four’s seasons are some of my favourite telly events. It’s not that every season interests me in the same way, but I love the diversity of them. The new Electric Revolution season is one of the more interesting, with its focus on gizmos and gadgetry.
Last night, Simon Armitage gave us an interesting, if a little curmudgeonly, essay on technological upgrades in Upgrade Me and we still have the delights of 80s-computer-wars drama Micro Men and documentaries on mobile phones and the inventor of the silicon chip to come. However, tonight is the big night, as the main event, Charlie Brooker’s Gameswipe is on. Following on from Screenwipe and Newswipe, Lord Charlton transfers his inimitable mix of celebration, insight and grumpiness to the world of games, both old and new. Although this is currently a one-off as far as I know, the last decent games show was GamesMaster and there may well be an audience for more of this (like many of us, I expect!).
Before that, there is the first of a three-part series, Electric Dreams. At the turn of the millennium, Channel 4 screened a number of ‘back to the past’ reality shows, such as The 1900 House and The 1940s House and this series looks to be in a similar vein, only this week we have the, er, 1970s house, followed by the 1980s and 1990s ones to see how technology has developed in the last forty years (well, apart from this decade). I will be watching and feeling all nostalgic, because I’m a sucker for these things – but I can’t really take it seriously, as I remember the Adam and Joe 1980s house sketch…
