The Archive Hour

Martin Shankleman profiles Alan Blumlein, an unsung but remarkable inventor. During the 1930s he devised the world's first stereo recording system and many of the key features of television. He went on to pioneer radar systems that played a major role in Allied victory in the Second World War. Yet his untimely death on a secret radar testing mission has left his name relatively unknown. Had he lived, according to a colleague, he would have been seen as the Michael Faraday of the 20th century.