Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams
Documentary presented by Professor Simon Schaffer which charts the amazing and untold story of automata - extraordinary clockwork machines designed hundreds of years ago to mimic and recreate life. The film brings the past to life in vivid detail as we see how and why these masterpieces were built. Travelling around Europe, Simon uncovers the history of these machines and shows us some of the most spectacular examples, from an entire working automaton city to a small boy who can be programmed to write and even a device that can play chess. All the machines Simon visits show a level of technical sophistication and ambition that still amazes today.
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Cast
4 people
Nic Stacey Director · Simon Schaffer Writer
First release June 3, 2013 · Produced in United Kingdom
Production
Furnace
Production
United Kingdom
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
United Kingdom · June 3, 2013
TV · BBC Four
No release date listed for United States.
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Some details come from TheTVDB.