The Isle of Wight, and one of its much loved innovators will be celebrated in a feature on BBC 1’s The One Show on Thursday 2nd November (from 7pm).
2023 is the 50th anniversary of the Enfield 8000, the UK’s first city electric car to go into mass production, that was designed and built by the late Isle of Wight innovator, John Ackroyd. You can read more about John on the IW Hidden Heroes page.
Later this week, John’s granddaughter, Moza, will be presenting a short film about electric cars on BBC One’s The One Show (2nd November).
People Media, a Ryde-based production company picked up the story and produced this short film for the BBC.
Ackroyd: A brilliant experience to be part of
Moza explained,
“It was a brilliant experience to be part of this production and see it come to life from the concept stage through to the final film. The Electric Car film features interviews with Islanders, Barry Price and Councillor Matthew Price who own an up and running Enfield 8000 and Councillor Michael Lilley who talks about innovation on the Island and ambitions for the future of sustainability in Ryde.
“Also shown is footage of me taking the Enfield 8000 out for a drive at Sandown Airport under Matthew’s supervision and archival footage promoting the car.”
Steyger: Demonstrates the Island is actually ahead of the times
People Media producer, Tony Steyger said,
“The electric car was an innovation that was developed here, on the Island, like other engineering firsts, such as the Hovercraft.
“That was fifty years ago and it demonstrates the Island is actually ahead of the times rather than the other way round.”
Wight Aviation Museum
Whilst making the film Moza visited the Wight Aviation Museum in Sandown Airport, where you’ll find a great deal of memorabilia from various projects that John Ackroyd worked on, including models of land speed record cars (Thrust 2 and more), awards, posters, and photographs.
Tune in
Tune into BBC 1 at 7pm on 30th November to watch the feature. You’ll be able to watch again on the BBC iPlayer if you missed the broadcast.
Article edit
4.10pm 1st Nov 2023 – 3rd Nov date show airing changed to 30th
5.10pm 1st Nov 2023 – 30th Nov date show airing changed to 2nd
