Henry Charles Beck (4 June 1902 – 18 September 1974) was an English technical draughtsman who created the first diagrammatic London Underground Tube map in 1931.

[1] Although his design was initially rejected, the Publicity Office of London Transport changed their minds after Beck resubmitted an updated copy and the map was first issued as a pocket edition in January 1933.

Harry Beck wanted to make the network easier to understand by colouring each train route and using straight lines and 45 degree angles.

Brought up and educated in Highgate Village,[2] he started his career in the 1920s as an engineering draughtsman with the London Underground Signals Office, where he primarily worked on schematics for electrical systems.

In 1933, he married Nora Beck, and in 1947, he began teaching typography and colour design at the London School of Printing and Kindred Trades, where he remained until retirement.

From around 1909 a new type of 'map' appeared inside the train cars; it was a non-geographic linear diagram, in most cases a simple straight horizontal line, which equalized the distances between stations.

)"[6] Beck tried to regain control of the map through threatening legal action, but in 1965 he abandoned the attempt, "bitter and betrayed by the very organisation he had helped, so admirably, to promote.

[11] In January 2009 the Royal Mail included Beck's map when it issued a set of postage stamps celebrating British design classics.

[12] In March 2013 a blue plaque was unveiled on the house where Beck was born, in Wesley Road in Leyton, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Tube map.

[15] The play portrays Beck’s journey to create the Tube map and the challenges he faced along the way, focusing on his commitment, and the role of his wife, Nora, in supporting his work.