Stephen Fry: The Machine That Made Us

Serial documentary presenter and narrator Stephen Fry this time goes in search of the history behind the first printing presses and Johannes Gutenberg the man credited with revolutionising print. The documentary is called The Machine That Made Us as Fry believes that without the invention printing press all types of literature were simply not attainable by the masses. It was only once print could be quickly and cheaply copied that knowledge spread and all people could educate themselves on every subject under the sun.

In the documentary Stephen Fry with the help of Alan May sets out to make a functional classic Gutenberg style printing press, he goes on the trail of Gutenberg and other people key in the evolution of printing and makes manually makes some period parchment and other ingredients to try on his Gutenberg press.