Four Business Matters specials which look at some of the mysteries of British business and challenge the way it operates.
The Great British Invention
This first programme in the series investigates why Britain often seems so good at discovering and inventing things but is less successful at turning them into profitable businesses. From penicillin to a new generation of computer discs, Christopher Hird finds out from those involved just what went wrong. These include: Sir Frank Whittle , inventor of the jet engine, and Lord Kings Norton, the civil servant who gave Whittle's plans to the Americans; Sir
Godfrey Hounsfield , inventor of the brain scanner, and Sir John Read , his employer at EMI, the company which lost out to American competition; and Cesar Milstein , who won the Nobel prize for his breakthrough in gene science. Director Patrick Forbes
Producer Richard Belfield
A Fulcrum production for BBCtv