Micro Live

Overview

Micro Live was a BBC2 TV series that was produced by David Allen as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, and followed on from earlier series such as The Computer Programme, Computers In Control, and Making the Most of the Micro. As the name implies, the series was broadcast live. The first programme was actually a one-off two-hour-long special, broadcast on Sunday 2 October 1983 under the name Making the Most of the Micro Live. A second one-hour special was then broadcast in the summer of 1984 - in that programme it was announced that Micro Live would be back on BBC2 as a regular monthly one-hour series starting in October of that year. A second season of Micro Live launched in 1985 as a weekly half-hour programme and was followed by a third series of weekly half-hour shows in 1986. The series broadcast its last programme in 1987. The scope of the programme was much wider than the preceding computer series and had a less formal feel due to its 'live' nature - not only did it cover more subject areas but it also featured more microcomputers instead of its main focus being the BBC Micro. It also regularly included stories from the United States and recorded various small but significant milestones, such as the first on-air transatlantic cellphone call made in a snowstorm from the top of a New York skyscraper to Lesley Judd sitting in a C5 outside Television Centre.