Pet Shop Boys are excited to announce that this October a new recording of “A man from the future” will be broadcast by the BBC as a world exclusive. The composition explores the life, death and influence of pioneering mathematician and cryptanalyst Alan Turing and was created in collaboration with Turing’s biographer, Professor Andrew Hodges.
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe debuted the original work at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms in 2014, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers with narration by Juliet Stevenson. In this new version both the text and the music have been revised. The recording has been produced by Pet Shop Boys and Sven Helbig who has also arranged the strings. Juliet Stevenson again narrates the story. Also performing in the piece are Manchester Camerata Octet on strings, and the Manchester Grammar School choir.
BBC Radio 6 Music will broadcast the 2026 edition of “A man from the future” on Sunday 4th October within Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone (8–10pm), and Stuart will also hear from Neil and Chris and Andrew Hodges about the creative process behind the reworking, and their interest in blending electronic and orchestral music.
The piece will then be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 later that evening within Unclassified (11.30pm-12.30am) as the Pet Shop Boys and Andrew Hodges join presenter Elizabeth Alker in the studio to reflect on the original performance and its 2026 evolution.
Both programmes will be available on BBC Sounds for 30 days after transmission.
