The BBC has re-released a 1984 documentary about the UK computer games industry
Commercial Breaks follows Ocean and Imagine Software, and captures the latter going bust
The BBC has re-released a documentary about the UK video games industry which was originally broadcast more than 40 years ago.
Commercial Breaks: The Race For Santa’s Software was broadcast on BBC Two on December 13, 1984 and follows two software publishers as they search for a hit game to release in time for Christmas.
The documentary follows Ocean Software as it prepares to release a sequel to its popular game Hunchback, in the hope lightning will strike twice.
It’s more notable, however, for the sections involving Imagine Software, the publisher that spectacularly imploded when trying to release a ‘megagame’.
The game in question, Bandersnatch, was so ambitious that it was to be released with an add-on that would give the ZX Spectrum more power, but Imagine over-promised and ultimately went bust in the process.
By pure coincidence, the BBC’s camera crews were filming the documentary as this was happening, meaning the downfall of Imagine is captured and presented in the documentary.
The hype and cancellation of Bandersnatch became such a notable story among UK computer game players at the time that Charlie Brooker wrote an interactive Black Mirror special called Bandersnatch, about the UK games industry in 1984.
The full documentary is embedded at the top of this page, or can be found on the official BBC Archive YouTube channel.
