This is so his controller, Gorrister, can offer his remote support such as giving hm directions and hacking computers remotely. He is travelling by helicopter to the strange news report that in the last hour a microwave has exploded in a residential block of flats, but bizarrely, the police are blocking off the area.Įdison is a one-man crew and carries his own camera around with him that is broadcasting back to Network 23 at all times. Over this opening we have been hearing the voices of various characters including Edison Carter, Network 23’s top reporter whose show, “What I want to know” is one of the highest rated. Higher ratings will bring in the bigger advertising contracts. In this dystopian future, the war is between the television networks that will do practically anything to keep their ratings up. A brilliant description that I still love today. We learn this film is set twenty minutes into the future. The Network 23 building (left) towers above all others. It’s name blazing in red neon from the top. As a Max Headroom fan at the time, and in general, this is one of the best Spectrum game endings I’ve ever seen.īut I feel that the large majority of people who are aware of Max Headroom are unaware of the original film put out on Channel 4 in April 1985, before this all began, to explain the character’s origins.Įntitled, of course, Max Headroom, the film opens on a barren desolate landscape with a few buildings, some in ruins, but standing tall, above all the rest, is the huge Network 23 skyscraper. I remember a friend and I used a walkthrough to see the ending. There was even a Max Headroom game for the ZX Spectrum which was damn hard. He appears in the song and video for the Art of Noise track “Paranoimia” which was a top 40 hit.įor a while Max seemed to be everywhere on branded products, even some aimed at children, I had the Max Headroom annual, a book with stories and puzzles. Max Headroom had several successful shows with music videos and interviews and appeared in advertising for Coca-Cola. His suit was a fibreglass shell for Matt to wear over his shoulders and the stuttering was achieved with the use of video effects. His appearance was due to prosthetic makeup applied to his face to give him that computer generated angular look. While some may have fallen for the ruse, Max Headroom was actually actor Matt Frewer. He had smooth, slicked back, blonde hair and a suit that was sharp, glossy and never wrinkled.Īlso, because his computer routines weren’t perfect, Max often stuttered with not only his speech but his movements as well. He only ever appeared as a set of head and shoulders. Max was a computer-generated character who obviously could only appear on televisions or monitors.
Channel 4’s ratings for the show rose fast. His fast wits and zany sense of humour meant he was a joy to watch as he often left his interviewees both entertained and confused. The character first appeared in the mid 1980s and used to introduce music videos on a British program for Channel 4.Īs his popularity grew, Max also interviewed celebrities. There’s some absolute gems of the 80s.In 1985, a cyberpunk tale was used to introduce the world’s first computer generated video DJ, Max Headroom.Įveryone of a certain age probably knows of Max Headroom. So I’ve been digging through the track listings for the videos he played and I thought I’d post them here. The music and the vibe of that show really connected with my mind. Ten and a Chrismtas bonus for the second series. It’s hard to believe there were only 6 episodes of the first series. The Max Headroom Show (1985) was a music video gig, with a liberal dosage of Max crashing in and interrupting things with his wacky wit and unique perspective on life in the “real world”. It’s a big nostalgia trip for me: hope you enjoy some of the vids too.
Max headroom video tv#
This is part of a collection of posts documenting the music videos aired on TV in the mid-80s by this fantastic icon of cyberpunk culture – Max Headroom.
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