Max Headroom — 20 Minutes into the Future: A Review

24th October, 2019.

It has to be said, I’m … terrible, sometimes.

Especially on a few fronts.

Getting a boiler repaired is one.

It’s a long story: one for later, maybe.

Making my mind up is another.

Frankly … ?

There are times the I don’t know if I’m coming or going … !

At any rate … ?

Tonight, I’ve managed to see Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future …

And I’m possibly kicking myself for missing it the first time around … 

~≈§≈~

Opening in the not too distant future, the Channel Four made Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future opens with a field of static that resolves into a broadcast: from ace reporter, Edison Carter (Matt Frewer).

Edison?   Is on the trail of rumours that people are exploding: for reasons as yet unknown, but seemingly linked with a new form of subliminal advertising called blipverts.

He gets pulled off one particular chase early: and — working with his new controller, Theora* Jones (Amanda Pays) — decides to keep investigating.

Meanwhile … ?

A board meeting at Channel 23, where Edison works, chaired by Grossman (Nickolas Grace) is discussing the blipverts.

The things have invented by the channel to prevent people switching channels … AND maximise revenue.

Although reports of the unwanted side effects are causing some on the board to be … nervous.

The Board decides there’s only one thing for it.

Make sure Edison Carter can’t broadcast that report.

~≈§≈~

In the midst of all this, Edison is still hard at work.

Having managed to sneak into the very heart of the labs where the blipverts are made and manages three things.

Manages to see the Rebus Tape: that shows the results of a blipvert.

Manages to get a copy of the tape.

And almost manages to get out alive.

The last thing he sees, as he crashes into it?

Is a carpark barrier with the words MAX HEADROOM: 2.3M on it … 

Is it me … ?   Or is that awfully portentous … ?

~≈§≈~

Now … 

I’m assuming you know the rest of the story?

That teenaged researcher, Bryce (Paul Spurrier), manages to get hold of an unconscious Edison, copy his personality and memories, and transfer them on to a computer.

Badly: and turning that data into the stuttering icon that got unleashed on to an unsuspecting public: both in the story, AND the real world.

You also know how Edison survives: eventually managing to broadcast the Blipvert story.

I’d imagine so: Max Headroom — 20 Minutes into the Future is well known, thanks to it’s viewership, the many reviews, and the US remake: a remake that morphed into a TV drama very different to The Max Headroom Show we saw in the UK

The question I’m asking?

Is this: is Max Headroom — 20 Minutes into the Future, some thirty four years after it’s first broadcast, still relevant?

I think so.

Pirate TV isn’t necessary gone … 

No.

I think the sort of pirate station parodied by the show’s Big Time TV is still around: whether as YouTube channels, or buried deep in the mixed of the deep web.

Some of which will be quite nasty.

Rampant media companies interested in revenue, as much as making quality TV?

I’m not so sure about that … but there’s plenty of media companies happy to take our money as subscriptions, or in the form of adverts.

Max, himself … ?

I think Max, even though Max is Matt Frewer in makeup and a fibreglass suit, was the forerunner for every single CGI character going.

I think he quite possibly inspired animators to eventually invent motion capture — once computers got powerful enough — to make things a LOT easier on actors!

I think Andy Serkis and company may be owe Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, the show’s creators, a bit of a thank you.

Here’s the version of Max Headroom — 20 Minutes into the Future I’ve watched, tonight.

You should be able to get to that in the United Kingdom: yo’ll probably need a VPN, or something like Tor, if you’re out the UK.

Or a bit of hunting around.

I think Max Headroom — 20 Minutes into the Future is worth the hunt …





*        The Amanda Pays character is possibly the only fictional character to have a digital video format named after her …