BBC
In 1995, the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World programme decided to predict what the world would look like 30 years later, in 2025.
The show, which is no longer broadcast, featured one of the most famous scientists of the age, Prof Stephen Hawking, who predicted: “By 2025 we can expect big changes.”
The programme team agreed, suggesting a raft of world-shaking innovations from hologram surgery to space junk gel.
So, with the help of some experts – and the benefit of three decades of hindsight – let’s take a look at how much of today’s world that Tomorrow’s World successfully anticipated.
The ‘Cyberspace Riots’ of 2005
In 1995, the world wide web was really taking off – a development Tomorrow’s World thought would bring future trouble.
They predicted “business barons” and banks would take control of the internet by 2000, establishing a “supernet” which they restricted access to.
That, in turn, would prompt hacks, viruses and even riots.
Verdict – The internet has remained – mostly – open, and there have been no riots but there is little doubt the actions of hackers have caused misery for many people.
One thing the programme didn’t predict was the role of the nation state hackers like North Korea, expertly told in the BBC’s Lazarus Heist podcast.
Cybersecurity is hugely important for governments and companies, and people who are suspicious of banks have championed cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Asteroid mining and space junk gel
The programme speculated space mining would become a lucrative industry, with companies excavating asteroids near Earth for precious metals.
The show also suggested space junk would become such a problem it would not be safe for astronauts. The answer – a gigantic foam gel to slow down debris.
Verdict – Well, there is no super foam gel and the problem of space junk is an acute one. There is also no space mining industry – but that could change.
Futurist Tom Cheesewright is an optimist about mining beyond our planet. “The potential riches are unfathomable and the technology is entirely within our grasp,” he said.
The super surgeons and their robots
Tomorrow’s World predicted by 2004, a law would be passed for all UK hospitals to publish a league table of surgeon success rates. The top surgeons would become so popular, and so well paid, it would make no sense for them to travel to patients.
Instead, patient holograms would be sent to them and the surgeon would operate using “spacial gloves”. At the patient’s end, a robot would perfectly mimic the movements of the surgeon.
Verdict – They didn’t get it exactly right but robots are helping with surgeries.
A smart speaker with a floating head
The programme featured a man of the future (wearing a fetching VR headset), his wife and a young girl in what appears to be modern-day London.
In one section, the floating head of a woman comes out of a “smart speaker” to tell the man it has been a year since his holiday to “Indo Disney.” She encourages him to take another holiday via a “shuttle to Bangalore” – which would only take 40 minutes.
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