The Secret Life of Machines (1988) is a documentary web series in English. On MovieLinkBD: full story, cast, ratings, season & episode guide, official trailer and where to watch The Secret Life of Machines online in HD.
The Secret Life of Machines — Storyline
The Secret Life of Machines is an educational television series presented by Tim Hunkin and Rex Garrod, in which the two explain the inner workings and history of common household and office machinery. According to Hunkin, the show's creator, the programme was developed from his comic strip The Rudiments of Wisdom, which he researched and drew for the Observer newspaper over a period of 14 years. Three separate groupings of the broadcast were produced and originally shown between 1988 and 1993 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, with the production subsequently airing on The Learning Channel and the Discovery Channel.
Cast & Crew
- Created by: Tim Hunkin
- Starring: Tim Hunkin, Rex Garrod
The Secret Life of Machines — Series Details
| First Air Date | 1988-11-15 |
| Seasons | 3 |
| Episodes | 18 |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Language | English |
| Network | Channel 4 |
| Status | Ended |
| Rating | 8.2/10 (9 votes) |
The Secret Life of Machines — Episode Guide
Season 1
- E1: The Secret Life of the Vacuum Cleaner (1988-11-15) — Before the invention of the vacuum cleaner, carpets and upholstery were taken outside and beaten once a year to get the dust out (the 'Spring' clean). Fitted carpets were totally i
- E2: The Secret Life of the Washing Machine (1988-11-22) — The earliest form of automatic washing was the nautical practice of towing clothes behind the ship. The combination of agitation and a constant flow of clean water washes the cloth
- E3: The Secret Life of the Sewing Machine (1988-11-29) — The first patent for a sewing machine was taken out by an English cabinetmaker called Thomas Saint in 1790. It's doubtful whether he actually built his design, because, when one wa
- E4: The Secret Life of the Refrigerator (1988-12-06) — Commercial refrigeration equipment was first developed in Australia, where the winters weren't cold enough to produce much natural ice. A brewery was the first company to commissio
- E5: The Secret Life of the Central Heating System (1988-12-13) — At first Roman houses simply had a fire in the middle of the room (the Latin for hearth is focus). But they probably had trouble with smoke as the Latin for living room is atrium (
- E6: The Secret Life of the Television Set (1988-12-20) — John Logie Baird, the Scottish inventor, developed an electromechanical TV system in the 1920s and gave frequent public demonstrations. The publicity encouraged EMI to develop a pr
Season 2
- E1: The Secret Life of the Car (1991-01-08) — Cars started to become popular in the 1890s. Their success was partly due to the bicycle, which had given people a taste for a personal means of transport. It was also due to Daiml
- E2: The Secret Life of the Internal Combustion Engine (1991-01-15) — The first internal combustion engine was made by a Frenchman called Etienne Lenoir in 1859. He simply modified a steam engine to suck in and ignite the inflammable gas from his gas
- E3: The Secret Life of the Quartz Watch (1991-01-22) — All clocks and watches work by 'counting' some event which takes a fixed period of time, like the swings of a pendulum. The higher it goes the stronger the pull of gravity and the
- E4: The Secret Life of the Telephone (1991-01-29) — The forerunner of the telephone was the telegraph. By 1870 all major towns in Europe and America had telegraphs, sending messages in 'on' and 'off' pulses (e.g. Morse code). It was
- E5: The Secret Life of the Radio Set (1991-01-05) — Any electrical spark creates radio waves and acts as a transmitter. You hear sparks on a radio as interference. That's why lighting makes radios crackle, and even the tiny spark in
- E6: The Secret Life of the Video Recorder (1991-02-12) — The principle of magnetic recording was invented by a Danish telephone engineer called Valdemar Poulsen in 1899. He used an electromagnet to record the tiny electric currents from
Season 3
- E1: The Secret Life of the Fax Machine (1993-02-18) — The world's first fax machine was patented in 1843 by Alexander Bain. He came from a remote croft in Caithness in Scotland and, for his early experiments, used cattle jaw bones for
- E2: The Secret Life of the Lift (1993-02-25) — The Colosseum in Rome is thought to have had a lift to carry the Emperor Nero to his balcony. By the 18th century, Mr Villayer was touring the palaces of Europe installing lifts ca
- E3: The Secret Life of the Word Processor (1993-03-04) — The name 'Word Processor' was invented by IBM. Their first machines were very difficult to use because they had no screen. A draft version was typed and stored on a magnetic card.
- E4: The Secret Life of the Electric Light (1993-03-11) — A Scottish chemist called Joseph Swann tried passing electricity through fine wires (filaments) to make them glow white hot in 1860. Despite enclosing them in bulbs and pumping out
- E5: The Secret Life of the Photocopier (1993-03-18) — James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, patented the first copying machine, because of the disastrous inaccuracies that had occurred due to copying drawings by hand. Drawings
- E6: The Secret Life of the Office (1993-03-25) — Today, over 50% of jobs are in offices, but 160 years ago the figure was only 1%, and the only office workers were 'Dickensian' clerks. They had considerable status and freedom to
Frequently Asked Questions
How many seasons does The Secret Life of Machines have? 3 season(s) with 18 episodes.
Who created The Secret Life of Machines? Tim Hunkin.
Where can I watch The Secret Life of Machines? See the Where to Watch section above for current streaming options.
