Editing Tomorrow's World

{{Short description|British TV science and technology series (1965–2003)}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|cs1-dates=l|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox television
| image                =
| caption              = 
| alt_name             = 
| genre                = Factual, Science & Technology
| creator              = Glyn Jones
| director             = Stuart McDonald
| creative_director    = 
| developer            = 
| presenter            = Numerous (see Presenters)
| starring             = 
| voices               = 
| narrated             = 
| theme_music_composer = John Dankworth (1965–1979 theme)
| opentheme            = 
| endtheme             = 
| composer             = 
| country              = United Kingdom
| language             = English
| num_episodes         = 1,400
| list_episodes        = 
| executive_producer   = {{unbulleted list
 | [[Max Morgan-Witts]]
 | Michael Latham
 | Michael Blakstad
 | Richard Reisz
 | Dana Purvis
 | Saul Nasse
 }}
| producer             = {{unbulleted list
 | [[Roy Battersby]]
 | John Mansfield
 | [[Richard Loncraine]]
 | [[Liz Tucker]]
 | Sam Roberts
 | [[Michael Cumming]]
 | Richard Dale
 | Judith Bunting
 | Martin Mortimore
 | Sam Starbuck
 | David McNab
 | Richard Collin
 }}
| editor               = 
| location             = 
| cinematography       = 
| camera               = 
| runtime              = 
| channel              = [[BBC One|BBC1]]
| first_aired          = {{start date|1965|7|7|df=yes}}
| last_aired           = {{end date|2003|7|16|df=yes}}
| related              = ''The Tomorrow's World Roadshow'' 
}}
'''''Tomorrow's World''''' <!--MOS:TVNOW--> is a British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First broadcast on 7 July 1965 on [[BBC One|BBC1]], it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorrow's World'' title was revived in 2017 as an umbrella brand for BBC science programming.<ref name="bbc launch" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Knapton |first=Sarah |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/05/02/tomorrows-world-returns-bbc-startling-warning-stephen-hawking/ |title=Tomorrow's World returns to BBC with startling warning from Stephen Hawking – we must leave Earth |date=5 May 2017 |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=2 May 2017 |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

== Content ==
''Tomorrow's World'' was created by Glyn Jones to fill a half-hour slot in the 1965 BBC summer schedule. Jones and his wife conceived the show's name the night before the ''[[Radio Times]]'' went to press.<ref name="glyn-obit">{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/oct/12/guardianobituaries2 |title=Glyn Jones - The man who invented Tomorrow's World |work=The Guardian |date=12 October 1999 |access-date=5 March 2018}}</ref> In its early days the show was edited by [[Max Morgan-Witts]] and hosted by veteran broadcaster and former [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire]] pilot [[Raymond Baxter]]. For some years it had an instrumental [[theme tune]] composed and performed by [[John Dankworth]]. During the 1970s the programme attracted 10 million viewers per week.

The programme was usually broadcast live, and as a result saw the occasional failure of its technology demonstrations. For example, during a demonstration of a new kind of [[jack (device)|car jack]] that required much less effort to operate, the jack disintegrated. Pressing on in the face of such adversity became a rite of passage, both for new presenters on the show and for the young assistant producers whose job it was to find the stories and make sure this kind of setback did not happen.

Sometimes, however, the liveness gave an added dimension of immediacy to the technology, such as inventors personally demonstrating flame-proof clothing and bullet-proof vests while the presenters looked on. Sometimes it was the presenter who acted as test dummy.

''Tomorrow's World'' also frequently ran exhibitions, called ''Tomorrow's World Live'', often based in [[Earls Court]], London. These offered the general public the chance to see at first hand a variety of brand new, pioneering inventions, as well as a selection from that year's show. The presenters, by this time [[Peter Snow]] and [[Philippa Forrester]], also ran an hour-long interactive presentation within.

The show was also occasionally parodied, for example by ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'', which featured demonstrations of such inventions as a telephone ring notification device for the deaf – powered by a [[microprocessor]] looking like a "[[Shreddies|Shreddie]]", and later by the second series of ''[[Look Around You]]''.

== Presenters ==

[[Raymond Baxter]], the show's first presenter, was noted for pointing out features of the new inventions with military precision using his [[The Parker Pen Company|Parker]] pen ("as you will see: here, here and here"). He left the show in 1977 after a difference of opinion with new young editor [[Michael Blakstad]], who allegedly referred to him in a press interview as "the last of the dinosaurs".<ref name="tele_Raym">{{Cite web |title=Obituaries – Raymond Baxter |work=The Telegraph |location=London |date=16 September 2006 |access-date=15 January 2015 |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1528967/Raymond-Baxter.html |quote=Blakstad allegedly called the gravel-voiced presenter "the last of the dinosaurs"}}</ref>

Other presenters included:

{{div col}}
*[[James Burke (science historian)|James Burke]] (1965–1971)
*[[Michael Rodd]] (1972–1982)
*[[Anthony Smith (explorer)|Anthony Smith]]
*[[Lyall Watson]]
*[[William Woollard]] (1974–1978)
*[[Judith Hann]] (1974–1994—the longest-serving presenter)
*[[Anna Ford]] (1976–1978)
*[[Kieran Prendiville]] (1979–1983)
*Su Ingle (1980–1984)
*[[Peter Macann]] (1983–1991)
*[[Maggie Philbin]] (1983–1994)
*[[Anna Walker (television presenter)|Anna Walker]]
*[[Howard Stableford]] (1985–1997)
*[[Kate Bellingham]] (1990–1994)
*[[John Diamond (journalist)|John Diamond]] (1991)
*Carmen Pryce (1991–1994)
*[[Monty Don]] (1994–1995)
*[[Carol Vorderman]] (1994–1995)
*[[Vivienne Parry]] (1994–1996)
*[[Rebecca Stephens (climber)|Rebecca Stephens]] (1994–1996)
*Shahnaz Pakravan (1994–1997)
*[[Richard Mabey]] (1995)
*[[Craig Doyle]] (1996–1999)
*[[Philippa Forrester]] (1996–2000)
*[[Jez Nelson]] (1996–2000)
*[[Peter Snow]] (1997–2000)
*Anya Sitaram (1998–2000)
*[[Nick Baker (naturalist)|Nick Baker]] (1999–2000)
*Lindsey Fallow (1999–2000)
*[[Sophie Raworth]] (1999–2000)
*Katie Knapman (2002)
*[[David Bull (politician)|David Bull]] (2002–2003)
*[[Adam Hart-Davis]] (2002–2003)
*[[Roger Black]] (2003)
*[[Kate Humble]] (2003)
{{div col end}}

The idiosyncratic [[Bob Symes]] showcased smaller inventions in dramatised vignettes with themes such as ''Bob Goes Golfing''. These often presented challenges for film directors with whom he worked when a close-up was required as Symes's own invention-related exploits in the workshop had resulted in him losing parts of several fingers. It was hard to find a finger that did not look too gruesome to show on screen. Other regular features included ''Whatever Happened to&nbsp;...'', picking up on the oft-levelled criticism of the show that a significant number of inventions seemingly were never heard of again.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

== Technologies introduced ==
In many cases the show offered the British public its first chance to see key technologies that subsequently became commonplace, notably:

{{div col}}
* [[Breathalyser]] (1967)
* [[Home computer]] (1967)<ref name="beeb" />
* [[Light pen]]s and [[touchscreen]]s (1967)<ref name="beeb" />
* [[Artificial turf|Artificial grass]] (1968)<ref name="beeb" />
* [[Synthesizer]] (1969)<ref name="synth_bbc">{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/tomorrows-world--moog-synthesiser/z6t8vk7 |title=Tomorrow's World - Moog Synthesiser |publisher=BBC |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200602132423/https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/tomorrows-world--moog-synthesiser/z6t8vk7 |archive-date=2 June 2020}}</ref>
* [[Automated teller machine|ATM]] and [[EMV|chip and pin]] (1969)<ref name="beeb" />
* [[Pocket calculator]] (1971)
* [[Digital watch]] (1972)
* [[Teletext]] ([[Ceefax]]) (1974)
* [[Mobile phone]] (1979)<ref name="beeb">{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39778855/the-predictions-tomorrows-world-got-right-as-it-returns-to-our-tv-screens |title=The predictions Tomorrow's World got right as it returns to our TV screens |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=3 May 2017}}</ref>
* [[Walkman|Personal stereo]] (1980)
* [[Compact disc]] and player (1981)
* [[Camcorder]] (1981)
* [[Barcode]] reader (1983)
* [[Human power|Wind-up radio]] (1993)
* [[Starlite]] insulation (1993)
* Robotic [[vacuum cleaner]], pioneered on [[Electrolux Trilobite]] prototype (1996)
* [[Targeted intra-operative radiotherapy]] for breast cancer (2000)
{{div col end}}

Perhaps the best-remembered item in the programme's history was the introduction of the [[compact disc]] in 1981, when presenter [[Kieran Prendiville]] demonstrated the disc's supposed indestructibility by scratching the surface of a [[Bee Gees]] CD with a stone. The show also gave the first British TV exposure to the group [[Kraftwerk]], who performed their then-forthcoming single "[[Autobahn (album)|Autobahn]]" as part of an item about the use of technology in musicmaking. Another programme concerning new technology for television and stage lighting featured [[The Tremeloes]] and the [[Syd Barrett]]-led [[Pink Floyd]].

=== Offbeat aspects ===
Featured inventions that did not change lives included a fold-up car that fitted into a suitcase, numerous gadgets such as a miracle chopping board for the kitchen, and collapsible knives and forks. Members of the public frequently sent in their ideas.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

== Final years ==
By the late 1990s, the live studio demonstrations had been dropped in favour of purely pre-recorded items. The final series, presented by [[Adam Hart-Davis]], [[Kate Humble]] and [[Roger Black]], attempted to revert to the original live format of the show, even using a remix of one of the theme tunes used during its more successful years. However, ratings continued to fall and with only three million viewers the BBC decided to axe the show. At the time they said that they would produce a number of science special editions under the ''Tomorrow's World'' brand from time to time. The "Tomorrow's World Roadshow" appeared in 2004, with [[Gareth Jones (presenter)|Gareth Jones]] (co-host of [[CITV]]'s ''[[How 2]]'') and [[Katie Knapman]] taking the helm as the last presenters of a show bearing the ''Tomorrow's World'' name, before a partial return to television in 2007.

For the 1000th episode, a commemorative CD was produced by Nimbus Records. It contained audio tracks of the four theme tunes that were used from 1965 to the early 1990s. 1,000 copies were made and given away in a competition. The CD was notable as being the first holographic audio compact disc ever made.

On 14 September 2009, the BBC made some clips and episodes available online.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8253236.stm |work=BBC News |title=Tomorrow's World classics go online |date=14 September 2009 |access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/tomorrowsworld/8001.shtml |title=Archive – Tomorrow's World – Tomorrow's World &#124; First Edition |publisher=BBC |access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref>

In the United States, episodes of the series aired on the [[cable channel]] [[TechTV]] between 2001 and 2003.

===The Prince of Wales Award for Industrial Innovation and Production===
At the end of each series, the Prince of Wales gave an award or awards for superlative inventions.

=== Revival of the brand ===
At the start of 2007, the [[BBC]] announced that the ''Tomorrow's World'' brand would be used on science and technology news reports across the BBC's TV, radio and internet services, including a blog. The ''Tomorrow's World'' name returned to television screens on 8 January 2007 as part of the BBC's news coverage on [[BBC Breakfast]], hosted by [[Maggie Philbin]] and as a blog on the BBC News website.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Waters |first1=Darren |title=Why Tomorrow's World? |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2007/01/why_tomorrows_world.shtml |website=BBC News Tomorrow's World |publisher=BBC News |access-date=22 March 2017}}</ref> In August 2007, it was reported that [[Michael Mosley]], director of development at the BBC's science wing, had pitched the concept of resurrecting the format to BBC commissioners.<ref>[http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2838659.ece Return of an old favourite as 'Tomorrow's World' is reborn] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070826173822/http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2838659.ece |date=26 August 2007 }} ''[[The Independent]]'' 6 August 2007</ref>

In May 2017, the BBC announced it was launching a year of science and technology under the ''Tomorrow's World'' banner. Its purpose is to "seek to address how science is changing peoples' lives, reshaping the world, and rewriting the future of healthcare".<ref name="bbc launch">{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/tomorrows-world |publisher=BBC |date=2 May 2017 |title=Tomorrow's World: BBC and partners launch year of science and technology |access-date=13 June 2017}}</ref>

=== BBC 4 live edition ===

''Tomorrow's World'' returned for a one-off live special, with [[Hannah Fry]] and four presenters from the show's original run: Maggie Philbin, Howard Stableford, Judith Hann, and Peter Snow. The 90-minute interactive show was broadcast at 9{{nbsp}}pm on BBC 4 on 22 November 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/nov/03/bbc-to-reboot-tomorrows-world-for-one-off-live-special |work=The Guardian |date=3 November 2018 |title=BBC to reboot Tomorrow's World for one-off live special |access-date=3 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Four - Tomorrow's World Live: For One Night Only |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bs6c8f |website=BBC |access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref>

== Science Channel reboot ==
In May 2018, [[Science (TV network)|Science Channel]] premiered a new version of the show called ''[[Tomorrow's World Today]]''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url= https://www.tomorrowsworldtoday.com/ |title=Tomorrow's World Today |website=Tomorrow's World Today |language=en-US |access-date=28 February 2018}}</ref> The show explores sustainability, technology, new ideas and worldwide concepts around innovation. Julian Taylor serves as executive producer and the program features executive producer [[George Davison (presenter)|George Davison]] as host and field reporters Tamara Krinsky and Jackie Long.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
* ''[[Beyond Tomorrow (TV series)|Beyond Tomorrow]]''
* ''[[Click (TV programme)|Click]]''
* ''[[Daily Planet (TV series)|Daily Planet]]''
* ''[[Look Around You]]'' series 2 satirised ''Tomorrow's World''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/tomorrows-world/zrkpwty BBC archive material with clips and old episodes]
* [http://www.tvcream.co.uk/telly/tomorrows-world/tomorrows-world-2/ TV Cream on Tomorrow's World]
* [http://simonsingh.net/media/articles/maths-and-science/the-death-of-tomorrow’s-world/ A view on the demise of ''Tomorrow's World''] by [[Simon Singh]]
* {{BBC programme|p009fksm}}
* {{IMDb title|0162829}}

[[Category:1965 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:2003 British television series endings]]
[[Category:1960s British documentary television series]]
[[Category:1970s British documentary television series]]
[[Category:1980s British documentary television series]]
[[Category:1990s British documentary television series]]
[[Category:2000s British documentary television series]]
[[Category:BBC One original programming]]
[[Category:BBC television documentaries about science]]
[[Category:Science and technology in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:TechTV original programming]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]