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The Rubber-Keyed Wonder is a nostalgic tale about Sir Clive Sinclair, who invented the Zx Spectrum. This documentary presents Sinclair as a catalyst for a revolution that changed the face of British gaming, not just as a historical record of a beloved machine.

The film comes out at a time when nostalgia is popular, which encourages viewers to reflect on their digital roots. In the 1980s, when technology was often the domain of the wealthy, the Zx Spectrum was a symbol of accessibility. It made computing easier for everyone, letting a generation try their digital creativity.

Compared to today’s sleek devices, the film evokes the physical experience of early computing. When we feel this strain between the past and the present, we can remember our roots in technology. In the end, The Rubber-Keyed Wonder makes us ponder how Sinclair’s vision still impacts our modern digital world.

The Rise...

Universal animation The Wild Robot leads the new releases at the UK and Ireland box office this weekend as Paramount’s Smile 2 and Studiocanal’s The Apprentice also open.

Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot is opening in 675 locations. Produced by Dreamworks, the film follows a service robot shipwrecked on an uninhabited island who forms relationships with the local wildlife.

A starry ensemble comprises the voice cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill and Catherine O’Hara.

It has already proven a box office hit abroad, topping the global charts last week to bring its total up to $150m.

From the makers of From Bedrooms To Billions comes The Rubber-Keyed Wonder, a documentary about the Zx Spectrum and its inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair. Our review:

There was a time when the games industry was almost alarmingly casual about its own legacy – it’s only relatively recently that the preservation of videogames, hardware, and the stories of the people that make them have been considered important enough to set down for posterity.

The latest documentary from filmmaking couple Anthony and Nicola Caulfield (From Bedrooms To Billions), The Rubber-Keyed Wonder steps in to capture the recollections of the people who developed and programmed the Sinclair Zx Spectrum – an 8-bit computer that, arguably more than any other, helped ignite the British videogaming scene back in the early 1980s.

It sadly arrives too late to interview its inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair – he passed away in 2021 – but through conversations with family members and former colleagues who worked with him,...

“The microchip revolution was our rock and roll.” Nicola and Anthony Caulfield tell us about their new feature-length Zx Spectrum documentary, The Rubber-Keyed Wonder.

There’s a real buzz of excitement in the air as we talk to filmmakers Anthony and Nicola Cauflield about their latest documentary, The Rubber-Keyed Wonder. First, it’s world premiere night for their film about the Zx Spectrum computer and the late genius behind it, Sir Clive Sinclair; quite rightly, the Caulfields are thrilled that their work is showing on the gargantuan BFI IMAX screen in London.

Several engineers and programmers who alternately made or developed for Sinclair Research’s legendary 1982 computer are mingling in the foyer downstairs. There are even a few rubber-keyed Spectrums, hooked up to chunky Crt televisions, playing such bygone gems as Manic Miner and Bruce Lee.

There’s also another tinge of electricity in the air. A screening of Megalopolis...

The makers of the upcoming documentary The Rubber-Keyed Wonder have a fascinating anecdote about Megalopolis director Francis Ford Coppola and his alleged love of Sinclair products…

Last night (3rd October 2024), quintessentially British documentary The Rubber-Keyed Wonder had its world premiere at the BFI IMAX in London. Directed by Anthony and Nicola Caulfield, it’s an affectionate and detailed look at the creation of the Zx Spectrum – arguably one of the most important computers of the 20th century – and its mercurial inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair.

We’ll bring you full coverage of that movie and our interview with the Caulfields in the days building up to the documentary’s wider release on the 18th October. In the interim, there’s a related story we had to share with you: the revelation that Francis Ford Coppola – yes, the director of The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and this year’s Megalopolis – is a fan of the Zx Spectrum.