The Virtual Revolution

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The Virtual Revolution title
GenreTechnology
Presented byAleks Krotoski
Template:Pluralize from text of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageTemplate:Pluralize from textEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producerTemplate:Pluralize from textDominic Crossley-Holland
ProducerTemplate:Pluralize from textRussell Barnes
Running time60 minutes
Production Template:Pluralize from textBBC
Open University
Original release
NetworkBBC Two, BBC HD
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The Virtual Revolution is a British television documentary series and interactive web experience presented by Aleks Krotoski, which began airing on BBC Two on 30 January 2010. A co-production between the BBC and the Open University, the series looks at the impact the World Wide Web has had since its inception 20 years ago. The series took a different approach to BBC documentary making by encouraging an open and collaborative production.

Production

The series was announced on 10 July 2009, under the working title of Digital Revolution, to examine the impact the World Wide Web has had on society over its first 20 years. Technology journalist and academic Aleks Krotoski would present.[1] The series was launched with an event at the BBC to mark the twentieth anniversary of the World Wide Web, which saw Tim Berners-Lee (credited with inventing the World Wide Web), Susan Greenfield, Bill Thompson and Chris Anderson discuss the World Wide Web.[2]

The production team took a different approach to the development of the series, described by series producer Russell Barnes as "radical" and "open-source": "We don't just want to observe bloggers from on high; we want to blog ourselves and get feedback and comment on our ideas."[3] He described the four phases the production would take; firstly conducting interviews and inviting comments from users on the programme's blog, the second would see rushes released for others to re-use under a permissive license,[4] thirdly, web users would be engaged, working with the Web Science Research Initiative, and the fourth would be an online, interactive version of the series available after it has finished.[3] The digital elements were commissioned by Lisa Sargood and produced by Dan Biddle and Dan Gluckmann.

The programme team interviewed a number of people who have played a part in the development of the web, including its inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee and founders of notable brands; Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Wozniak (Apple), Chad Hurley (YouTube), Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia), Stewart Brand (The WELL), Biz Stone and Evan Williams (Twitter), Peter Thiel (PayPal) and Martha Lane Fox (lastminute.com). Academics, including Terry Winograd, Sherry Turkle, A. C. Grayling, David Runciman, Ross Anderson and Nigel Shadbolt, commentators, including David Weinberger, Lee Siegel, Douglas Rushkoff, Andrew Keen and Stephen Fry, and Estonian President Toomas Ilves were also interviewed. Footage of the interviews was also made available on the programme's website.[5]

In October 2009 and while being interviewed for the series, Stephen Fry made a request on Twitter for people to suggest names for the series, with the final decision being made by the BBC.[6] The chosen title, The Virtual Revolution, is described by the producers as "a mashup between us and you".[7]

Episodes

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Reception

Overnight estimates indicated that 1.2 million people watched the first episode, a 5% audience share.[8]

In reviewing the first episode, Tom Sutcliffe in The Independent, was "glad" the programme contained the "odd sceptic too", said Krotoski was a "fine presenter" & that the series was both "premature and overdue":

Premature because when you're in the middle of a forest fire you can have no sensible idea of how it will eventually burn out. Overdue, because the flames have been raging for 15 years now and it's excellent that the BBC is at last sticking a dampened finger in the air to see which direction the wind is blowing.[9]

For The Times, Andrew Billen gave the first episode three out of five, saying that Krotoski "offered paradox and dialectic before reaching her bland conclusion that the web was constantly re-inventing itself".[10] The Guardian's Tim Dowling said that the first episode "made a better fist of it than most" and that "the contributors struck a nice balance between big name cheerleaders and glowering dissenters". He described Krotoski as "convincingly authoritative" but found that "the big picture was sometimes hard to hold in your head" and "the term 'empowering tool' was deployed frequently but without enlightenment".[11] Ryan Lambie for Den of Geek said that "the phrases 'empowering tool' and 'ultimate leveller' are repeated far too many times" and that "the programme's makers apparently assume that the average viewer has never seen or used the Internet in their life", but felt Krotoski was "engaging and enthusiastic" as host, however "her constant presence in every other shot is strangely distracting".[12] The Scotsman's Paul Whitelaw, who also said the camera was "fixated on Krotoski", felt the first programme was a "disjointed essay which proved fascinating when focusing on the origins of the web, but less so when dealing with more recent and familiar developments".[13]

The series won the 2010 Digital Emmy for Best Digital Program: Non-Fiction[14] and the 2010 BAFTA award for New Media.[15]

See also

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."BBC Two set to engage public in unique look at how the web has revolutionised our lives". BBC Press Office. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cellan-Jones, Rory (10 July 2009). "The Web at 20". BBC News. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  3. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Barnes, Russell (10 July 2009). "Charting the Digital Revolution". BBC News. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Digital Revolution full license". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Interviewees clips". The Virtual Revolution website. BBC. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Biddle, Dan (6 October 2009). "Inspiration wanted: help us name the series #bbcnamestorm". The Virtual Revolution blog. BBC. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."About The Virtual Revolution". The Virtual Revolution website. BBC. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ratings1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sutcliffe, Tom (1 February 2010). "The Weekend's Television: Mo, Sun, Channel 4; The Virtual Revolution, Sat, BBC2". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Billen, Andrew (1 February 2010). "Weekend TV". The Times. Retrieved 3 February 2010.[dead link]
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Dowling, Tim (31 January 2010). "Mo; The Virtual Revolution". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Lambie, Ryan (1 February 2010). "The Virtual Revolution episode one review". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Whitelaw, Paul (1 February 2010). "TV review: The Virtual Revolution | Seven Ages of Britain". The Scotsman. Edinburgh: Johnston Press. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Winners of the 2010 International Digital Emmy Awards Announced". Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."BAFTA Television Awards Winners in 2010". Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
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