The Secret Life of Machines: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Tim Hunkin explains how the machines we use every day actually work, using a fascinating combination of experiments, analogies, animation, and larger-than-lifesize working models. The TV series was the outgrowth of a series of cartoons for the Observer newspaper called "The Rudiments of Wisdom", which Tim researched and drew for 14 years. The theme music is a version of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" by Val Bennett, retitled "The Russians are Coming".

Series details

• Title: The Secret Life of Machines
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: History
• Premiere date: 1988-11-15
• Final broadcast date listed: 1993-03-25
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: Channel 4
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 7657
• IMDb ID: tt0431571
• TVDB ID: 74528

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1988-11-15; final listed air date 1988-12-20; episode order: 6.
• Season 2: premiered 1991-01-08; final listed air date 1991-02-12; episode order: 6.
• Season 3: premiered 1993-02-18; final listed air date 1993-03-25; episode order: 6.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Secret Life of Machines on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.