By Stephen Wakelam. In 1675, at the time of the death of his close friend Johannes Vermeer, Antony Van Leeuwenhoek made an astonishing discovery. He was the first person to identity bacteria. Antony Van Leeuwenhooek ...... Stephen Tompkinson Christiaan Huygens ...... Alex Jennings Maria Van Leeuwenhoek ...... Emma Noakes Elisabeth Vermeer ...... Alex Tregear Music by Sylvia Hallett. Viol played by Vanessa Coode. Directed and produced by Jeremy Mortimer.