A friend reminded me today about the brilliant BBC series Look Around You.
Neither of us saw it on TV, but on Youtube, where most of the episodes from its two seasons seasons can be found.
Every episode seems like a science lesson from 1981 (even if some are dedicated to Reggae or Ghosts), but both seasons date respectively from 2002 and 2005. Everything looks and sounds at first like the real thing, but if you’re alert you’ll see that a lot of what is said and done is slightly nonsensical, or just downright absurd. It masterfully captures the details and quirks of 1980s Britain, right down to the pasty white complexions of the characters and the common distrust of foreign things (germs, like the Windsors, come from Germany).
Even if it’s (loosely) about science, Look Around You could also be about the designed things around us: the show manages to recreate the look and feel of the 1980s by getting the props, the clothes and the mustaches of the era right; but the best part about it is the overall enthusiasm over electric, electronic and even (blimey!) digital tools and inventions, portrayed in a both ironic and nostalgic way.
I can’t wait to see a Look Around You series about web 2.0.
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This post was part of a series published on http://maydaypost.wordpress.com for Liz Danzico and Khoi Vihn‘s segment of the Print Meets the Web course.
