Secret Life Of The Television (BBC)

[miniman82]

Thought I'd share a TV program from my youth, which most of you probably have not heard of. It's called 'The Secret Life Of Machines', and it tought me quite a bit about electronics and many houshold appliances. In fact, it's the reason for me being an electrician, and probably one of the biggest reasons why I decided to join the Military and turn my life around all those years ago. It piqued my interest in the field, and I ended up working on a variety of Military aircraft- everything from the slow but reliable P-3 Orion, to H-53 and H-60 helos, to the Navy's premier strike platform the mighty Super Hornet!

This one is about the TV, of course. You can catch a glimpse of some older stuff in it, but I can't say I condone what happens to all those poor sets at the very end...

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wVIaS1zXmE&NR=1

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P_LSXQDfNA&NR=1

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NChR7...eature=related

[Sandy G]

Yeah, this was on "Discovery" or "A & E" several years back. Always loved Tim's quirky sense of humor & the clever way he described how things worked.

[matt_s78mn]

I have the entire series of The Secret Life of Machines on 3/4" tape. The shows are incredibly fun to watch. I'd recommend them to everyone here. All the episodes are available streaming online now. Here's a Link to Tim Hunkin's website with information about the show, and links to streaming content.

[miniman82]

I'd like to meet them both one day to thank them for their inspiration, but it's so expensive to get over there...

[Sandy G]

The "Bad Sandy" in me also kinda liked the "Firey Furnace" conflagration at the end credits...And judging by Tim's kinda Evil grin, he did too !

[bandersen]

Excellent series! I think I saw this on PBS years ago - thanks for the links.

[miniman82]

You're welcome. I also really liked the one on cars, where at the end they carried a running engine to a Stonehenge made of smashed car bodies.

[Steve D.]

I recall this series and have the TV episode in my collection. Kind of the grandfather of shows such as "How It's Made" and "Modern Marvels." I agree with Sandy. The firey ending of Secret Life of Televisons episode was spectacular. All the mountain of stacked TV's were
powered up, set ablaze and one by one they melted or exploded and their on screen images went up in smoke.

-Steve D.

[Spinning Head]

I really enjoyed this series. I have most of both series on VHS, but they were recorded in EP and not the best quality. I tried searching for something on line a couple of years ago, but could only find the outrageous priced DVD. Thanks for sharing the link on this.