[3] In its early days the show was edited by Max Morgan-Witts and hosted by veteran broadcaster and former Spitfire pilot Raymond Baxter.
Pressing on in the face of such adversity became a rite of passage, both for new presenters on the show and for the young assistant producers whose job it was to find the stories and make sure this kind of setback did not happen.
Sometimes, however, the liveness gave an added dimension of immediacy to the technology, such as inventors personally demonstrating flame-proof clothing and bullet-proof vests while the presenters looked on.
He left the show in 1977 after a difference of opinion with new young editor Michael Blakstad, who allegedly referred to him in a press interview as "the last of the dinosaurs".
These often presented challenges for film directors with whom he worked when a close-up was required as Symes's own invention-related exploits in the workshop had resulted in him losing parts of several fingers.
[citation needed] In many cases the show offered the British public its first chance to see key technologies that subsequently became commonplace, notably: Perhaps the best-remembered item in the programme's history was the introduction of the compact disc in 1981, when presenter Kieran Prendiville demonstrated the disc's supposed indestructibility by scratching the surface of a Bee Gees CD with a stone.
The show also gave the first British TV exposure to the group Kraftwerk, who performed their then-forthcoming single "Autobahn" as part of an item about the use of technology in musicmaking.
Featured inventions that did not change lives included a fold-up car that fitted into a suitcase, numerous gadgets such as a miracle chopping board for the kitchen, and collapsible knives and forks.
The final series, presented by Adam Hart-Davis, Kate Humble and Roger Black, attempted to revert to the original live format of the show, even using a remix of one of the theme tunes used during its more successful years.
[1] Tomorrow's World returned for a one-off live special, with Hannah Fry and four presenters from the show's original run: Maggie Philbin, Howard Stableford, Judith Hann, and Peter Snow.