Next month sees the big screen release – IMAX, no less – of a documentary film about the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
The influential computer, released in April 1982, was one of the first home computers to achieve mass market success and had an enduring legacy on the British and international game development scenes.
The Rubber Keyed Wonder, directed by Anthony and Nicola Caulfield for Gracious Films, is a celebration of that and charts the development of the Spectrum from concept through its various releases and the fame it brought Clive Sinclair. It will premiere on the UK’s largest cinema screen, London’s BFI IMAX, on Thursday, 3rd October 2024.
Anthony and Nicola Caulfield previously made the film From Bedrooms to Billions, the documentary about the evolution of the British games industry from 1979 to the present day.
Development of the ZX Spectrum began in September 1981, a few months after the release of the ZX81. In this period, huge rivalry grew between Sinclair’s business and BBC Micro makers Acorn Computers. Although Acorn secured the lucrative BBC licence that meant its machines graced classrooms across Britain, the ZX Spectrum went on to sell millions of units worldwide. Its low cost, ease of use, and burgeoning games catalogue drove its popularity. Many of today’s games developers cut their teeth working on games for the ZX Spectrum during the 1980s and 1990s.
The Rubber Keyed Wonder is a nostalgic documentary, featuring rare archive material combined with new interviews with the Spectrum’s original designers, Sir Clive’s son and nephew, and some of the Spectrum’s most significant game developers. In the trailer, you can see people playing Manic Miner, Ant Attack, Turbo Esprit, Way Of The Exploding Fist, Knight Lore and many more, as well as a glimpse of Crash magazine and Sinclair’s troubled C5 electric trike. Talking heads in the trailer include Dr Jo Twist (former boss of UKIE), broadcaster James O’Brien, and Code Is Just writer Shahid Ahmad.
Watch, chat, play
The world premiere in October will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s directors, Anthony and Nicola Caulfield, James O’Brien, Crispin Sinclair, Grant Sinclair, and the creators of the games Ant Attack (Sandy White) and Saboteur (Clive Townsend). The Q&A will be compèred by Jason Bradbury, best known as the host of The Gadget Show.
Ticket buyers will have an opportunity to see and play on every version of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum ever released, from the original rubber-keyed model (1982) to the Spectrum+ (1984), and the Spectrum 128k (1985) to the recently released ZX Spectrum Next (2023). They will all be set up in the BFI IMAX cinema foyer. In addition, Clive Townsend, creator of Saboteur (1986), will present a specially updated version of the game exclusively for Spectrum Next.
Tickets are on sale now from the BFI shop.
The ZX Spectrum remains one of the displays in the Science Museum’s Power Up exhibition. You can read an interview with its curator on BeyondGames.biz. Some classic Spectrum games, like Manic Miner, are available to play today on Anstream Arcade.
All photos in this article were supplied to PC Games Insider by 4media Group on behalf of the filmmakers.
