Genius

I’ve written previously about the genius, Alan Turing, who was mainly responsible for cracking the Enigma code during the war. He was driven to take his own life because of the difficulties and prejudices he suffered because he was gay. I have also written before about one of my favourite bands, the Pet Shop Boys, and now I have belatedly discovered they have written a musical tribute to Alan Turin. “A Man From the Future” debuted in the Royal Albert Hall “as part of the BBC Proms in 2014, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers.” In October this year, the BBC is going to broadcast a new version on Stuart Maconie’s evening show on October 4th from 8pm:

BBC Radio 6 Music will broadcast the 2026 edition of A man from the future on Sunday 4 October within Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone (8pm – 10pm), and Stuart will also hear from Neil and Chris and Andrew Hodges about the creative process behind the reworking, and their interest in blending electronic and orchestral music. The piece will then be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 later that evening within Unclassified (11.30pm – 12.30am) as the Pet Shop Boys and Andrew Hodges join presenter Elizabeth Alker in the studio to reflect on the original performance and its 2026 evolution. Both programmes will be available on BBC Sounds for 30 days after transmission.

It is tragic that Turing, like many other gay people was so badly treated and struggled because of who he was, and that he never knew of the high regard in which he’s held, not just because of his genius, but because of exactly and completely who he was.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2026/bbc-world-premiere-pet-shop-boys-a-man-from-the-future

Here is something I wrote, having seen a play about Turing, staring Daniel Rigby:

https://loiselsden.com/2016/11/06/breaking-the-code-absolutely-cracking/