Comedian and reigning Strictly Champion Chris McCausland is on a mission to discover the future of technology, and what it might hold for him personally, in a new documentary for BBC Two and iPlayer.
He can crack jokes, he can dance, he has hosted his own TV shows … but his real passion is technology. Chris has a condition called retinitis pigmentosa which led him to gradually lose his sight from birth. By his early twenties, he was blind. It is this that has led Chris to his unique relationship with technology. Whereas for sighted people, innovations such as the iPhone and voice interactive smart assistants are nice things to have, for Chris, they have been life changing.
Chris is a tech junkie. He studied software engineering at university and can’t wait to get his hands on the next generation of mind-blowing devices. From robots and driverless cars to AI and the future of smart glasses, he’s champing at the bit to find out what the future holds. In this personal and funny documentary, Chris will be travelling the UK and heading over to Silicon Valley to explore how cutting-edge technology could transform his life yet again.
Chris says: “I've always been a tech nerd, and now I can't wait to finally get to count this indulgence as work. I'm going to love trying out the latest gadgets and gismos before anybody else can. I'm also going to try and make friends with some robots, because it probably won't be long until they're in charge of us all.”
Chris McCausland: Seeing into the Future was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual and the BBC Commissioning Editor is Tom Coveney. It is being made by Open Mike Productions where the Executive Producers are Andrew Beint, Andrew Thistlewood and Rory Wheeler. The film is co-produced by The Open University.
The programme is part of a raft of science and science-adjacent programmes announced by the BBC that also includes a second series of sketch show Horrible Science, brought to you by the award-winning team behind Horrible Histories.
Created with the unique ‘Horrible’ DNA of gruesome comedy combined with mind-bending scientific facts, silly songs and hilarious parodies, Horrible Science will continue to explore the awesome and gruesome science of the past, present and future. Similar to series one, there will be episodes linked to the KS2 National Curriculum, exploring topics such as the human body and living world, alongside a space special episode and delving into the world of AI.
