The BBC set a high bar on the Beeb’s programming language: it had to be powerful yet accessible and structured enough to “encourage good practice”.

BBC Basic was one of the BBC Micro’s best-loved and most defining features.

Still used today, BBC Basic outlasted other Basics and produced a generation of coders.
Sophie Wilson wrote BBC Basic.

Acorn eventually needed a processor to replace the first BBC Micro’s MOS 6502. Sophie Wilson and Steve Furber developed the ARM chip.

Bigger and more specialised technology companies with larger resources had tried to develop microprocessors with mixed results. What made tiny Acorn decide it could succeed?

Sophie Wilson discusses the development of the BBC BASIC and ARM.

Recorded winter 2021.