Did Furbys Spy on Us? 2. The Autopsy
Joanne McNally Investigates
BBC
4.3 • 598 Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2024
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After falling in love with a Furby in episode 1, Joanne begins looking for evidence on its spying capabilities. So – with the help of Gearoid, she decides to open up a Furby for a closer look. The operation is complex, and a little gruesome, but once inside, the pair discover that the Furby is fitted with an abundance of electronics.
To understand how it all worked, Joanne consults the operating manual. And she discovers that the Furby really was advanced for its time, and she tests its comedy potential.
We also speak to Dr Megan Rose, an expert in all things soft toys – who explains why the Furby’s unique visual design may have helped it gain a reputation for espionage.
Equipped with a better understanding of the Furby, and it’s skills, Joanne is ready to put the rumour to bed… until she receives a surprising call from Gearoid which sees her question everything.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.2 | Just to warn you, before you start listening, |
| 0:07.5 | there will be swearing and some sexual language in this series |
| 0:10.7 | because I'm a sweary sexual kind of person. |
| 0:13.3 | I know what I am, I swear like a soldier, |
| 0:15.2 | I'll try to keep it to a minimum, |
| 0:16.6 | but just in case you've got very sensitive ears, |
| 0:18.8 | you can't say I didn't flag it. |
| 0:26.9 | Thank you. But just in case you've got very sensitive ears, you can't say I didn't flag it. Hi there. |
| 0:27.9 | Hello. |
| 0:29.1 | My pursuit of answers on the Did Furby's Spy on a Story has turned into a bit of a manhunt. |
| 0:35.0 | Sorry to bother you. Is your name David Hampton? |
| 0:37.3 | Yeah, that's me. In my sights is David Hampton, the man who invented the Furby. And right now, I'm outside his house. My name's Ram McNally. I work for the BBC. I'm an investigative journalist and I'm looking for David Hampton who invented the Furby. At least, it might be his house, it's probably not. There's actually |
| 0:54.7 | 425 David Hamptons on the Electoral Register in England. And given the BBC are too tight to let me |
| 1:01.1 | travel by plane, I figured I'd start with the ones I can get to by vehicle. Did you by any chance |
| 1:06.3 | invent the Furby? The Furby, the little spy, the furry thing. No, unfortunately, I think you've probably got the one person. I work in telesales. Oh God, you poor thing. Okay, I won't take up any more of your time. After one final check. So you're not a spy. Tally sales, poor bastard. I left to continue my quest to find David Hampton, |
| 1:27.8 | but the next one was in Bracknell, |
| 1:29.1 | and I didn't want to go there. |
| 1:30.3 | So I let my producers do some work for a change. |
| 1:33.4 | It's the kind of man he'd pretend to be a spy to win women ever. |
| 1:41.4 | Meanwhile, I set about trying to make sense of things. |
| 1:44.7 | I've learnt that Furbies were banned by security services. |
... |
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