Channel 4 brings Darlow Smithson’s Frankenstein to life

British broadcaster Channel 4 and US network Smithsonian have commissioned Endemol-owned Darlow Smithson to produce a big-budget science documentary following a team of robotics experts attempting to build a complete human body.

The broadcasters have ordered Frankenstein: Building The Bionic Human, which will use US$1 million worth of cutting edge limbs and organs from leading international research centres.

The documentary will be presented by psychologist Bertolt Meyer, who has a bionic hand himself, and was commissioned by David Glover, senior commissioning editor, factual, Channel 4.

Endemol will distribute the documentary internationally.

“This film is genuinely strange. We asked a psychologist with an artificial arm to build a 21st century Frankenstein’s monster copy of himself out of bionic body parts. What starts off as a guided tour of the wonders of modern technology actually becomes a slightly disturbing journey – a bit like the original Frankenstein,” said Glover.

Julian Ware, creative director at Darlow Smithson and executive producer of the doc, added: “We are always looking for ways to tell stories in innovative ways, but building a complete human artificial body has been one of DSP’s most ambitious undertakings yet. By creating our own Frankenstein out of artificial body parts, we hope to engage the audience in a revolution that is changing the face of medicine.”