The Rubber-Keyed Wonder – The Story of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum gets a trailer and premiere date

Gracious Films, GEL and MusicFilmNetwork are delighted to announce the world premiere of The Rubber-Keyed Wonder – The Story of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum on the UK’s largest cinema screen, London’s BFI IMAX, on THURSDAY 3RD OCTOBER 2024, prior to a general release across the UK from FRIDAY 18th OCTOBER 2024. You can watch the trailer for the film HERE

THE RUBBER KEYED WONDER tells the story of Clive Sinclair’s now legendary ZX Spectrum home computer. First released in 1982, the ZX Spectrum sold millions of units worldwide and because of its low cost and accessibility it quickly became one of the most important technological innovations of its time, opening the door to a whole new world of possibilities for millions of people. The ZX Spectrum enabled many users to learn how to program and create their own games, which helped kickstart the British video games industry of the 1980’s.

THE RUBBER KEYED WONDER charts the development and creation of the ZX Spectrum from concept through to its first release, and the financial and reputational success it brought Clive Sinclair. It also examines the impact of subsequent versions of the computer and features a huge array of games that were developed on the Spectrum including: Jet Set Willy, Knightlore, Chuckie Egg, Ant Attack, Saboteur and many more.

The film is highly nostalgic and features rare archive material combined with new interviews with the Spectrum’s original designers, Sir Clive’s son and nephew, and some of the Spectrum’s greatest game developers, all sharing their memories of the spectacular rise of the ZX Spectrum and its extraordinary inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair.

The WORLD PREMIERE will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s directors, Anthony & Nicola Caulfield, broadcaster James O’Brien, inventor and Sir Clive Sinclair’s nephew, Grant Sinclair, and the creators of the legendary games Ant Attack (Sandy White) and Saboteur (Clive Townsend). The Q&A will be compered by Jason Bradbury, best-known as host of The Gadget Show.

And if that wasn’t enough, ticket buyers will have a rare opportunity to see and play on every version of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum ever released – from the original rubber-keyed model (1982) to the Spectrum+ (1984), and the Spectrum 128k (1985) to the recently released ZX Spectrum Next (2023) – which will all be set up in the cinema foyer. In addition, Clive Townsend, creator of legendary Spectrum game Saboteur (1986) will be presenting a specially updated version of the game exclusively for the Spectrum Next. He will be present in the foyer showing the game to anyone wishing to give it a try. Ticket buyers can play highly nostalgic Spectrum games from 40 years ago such as Jet Set Willy, Manic Miner, Ant Attack, Knight Lore, Quazatron, Atic Atac and Chuckie Egg, with the added bonus that many of the creators of these classic games will be present for the premiere!

Tickets on sale Thursday 5th Sept at midday to BFI Members and from 4 pm to the general public here.