1 9 8 8 (UK)
6 x 30 minute episodes 1 9 9 1 (UK)
6 x 30 minute episodes 1 9 9 3 (UK)
6 x 30 minute episodes
This fascinating Channel 4 series starred inventor, engineer and cartoonist Tim Hunkin explaining – with the aid of animated cartoon sequences and homemade working models – how everyday domestic appliances worked.
Tim narrated the history of the machines and of the colourful personalities who brought them to public notice, such as Singer and the sewing machine, John Logie Baird and television, and Booth and the vacuum cleaner.
Did you know a vacuum cleaner could lift a Transit van into the air? If you had the patience, Tom Hunkin could explain precisely how and why it can.
The series returned in 1991 to explain the car, internal combustion engines, quartz watches, telephones, radio and VCRs. The final series (1993) did the same for fax machines, lifts, word processors, electric lights, and photocopiers.
The series developed from a cartoon strip called The Rudiments Of Wisdom, which Tim drew for The Observer newspaper for 14 years.
Presenters
Tim Hunkin
Rex Garrod
Episodes
The Secret Life of the Vacuum Cleaner | The Secret Life of the Washing Machine | The Secret Life of the Sewing Machine | The Secret Life of the Refrigerator | The Secret Life of the Central Heating System | The Secret Life of the Television Set || The Secret Life of the Car | The Secret Life of the Internal Combustion Engine | The Secret Life of the Quartz Watch | The Secret Life of the Telephone | The Secret Life of the Radio | The Secret Life of the Video Recorder || The Secret Life of the Fax Machine | The Secret Life of the Lift | The Secret Life of the Word Processor | The Secret Life of the Electric Light | The Secret Life of the Photocopier | The Secret Life of the Office
