First in a five-part series about the origins, history and impact of the computer, a machine that changed the world.
Englishman Charles Babbage conceived the basic idea of a computer about 150 years ago, as a machine that would eliminate error and relieve humans of the tedium of calculation. But it was not until the Second World War that the race to build the first computer began. In 1946, the Americans unveiled the ENIAC - it filled a large room, cost the equivalent of $3 million to build and had less power than a modern pocket calculator. Narrated by Andrew Sachs and Lesley Judd. Producer Fiona Holmes
Series producer Jon Palfreman