On the mundane level, because the police officer explained that when a machine has been in an accident it has to be recycled. Presumably the law has to be followed in this parallel world as it does in ours.

On the conceptual level, because he isn't a companion. He can only say what he's programmed to say. I don't think the programme is saying that we should replace human contact by leaving old people talking to broken machines. That is a step too far. Using one to do the medical work is one thing but suggesting that people can be replaced with machines for the things that make us human? No.


Leo had a wire coming out of him - so no that's not just a defibrillator.

"Thank you!! You have pressed Option 3. Hatchet Faced Battleaxe Synth will be delivered to your house in three working days. Thank you for calling Sirius Cybernetics Corporation."

15 minutes of the programme is adverts... .

No one is suggesting you have to do something else but I rarely (very rarely unless there are subtitles) just watch TV without doing something else. I've never found telly so gripping that it has to take over my entire concentration.

I think Anita must be incredibly forgiving of Mattie and the boy pervert who for some reason has a creepy sexual obsession with her. I can see why she's so protective of the little girl, though.

But what if there's nobody else watching the program with you? Or even if there is what's wrong with discussing the action both with the other person in the room and other people on the internet? And why would you feel daft if you had a theory at the beginning of an episode that then proved to be false? It's not really any different to us discussing our theories between episodes when they may be proved false by next week's episode.


I think Mattie is getting more bearable as we go on, I couldn't stand her in the first episode. Conversely Sophie is getting more annoying. Toby has always been a little sh!t, like his dad.


Yes but the council/NHS had been trying to get George to take a replacement synth for some time so I meant that he could have taken it much earlier (before Odi had his accident) on condition that Odi was not recycled.

I wasn't suggesting that human contact should be replaced by leaving all old people talking to machines (either broken or working). Rather what I meant was that if a person has a possession that they are attached to and which brings them comfort-be that a machine, a pet, a grandfather clock or whatever-they should surely be allowed to keep it in their home for as long as they wish. Why should the powers that be have the right to take it away?
And we've yet to see anyone visit George, except for the bossy lady bringing the bossy synth. So if your choice is an old person isolated in their house with only a stern medical synth or an old person isolated in their house with a stern medical synth and a friendly companion synth then why is the second option unacceptable? Obviously what it should be is that human friends and relatives are keeping the old person company but being realistic there are many people who do not have that.

But why would he have done that when he didn't want it? He only did it when he had no choice (ie when he had to pretend he'd recycled the D series because it had been in an accident so, to the health service, he had no synth at all).

But this is my point: he didn't want it because he didn't want to lose Odi. Had the option existed for him to get a new synth to deal with taking care of him but still keep Odi just because he wanted him around then he might have agreed to take the new synth before the situation reached crisis point. Really I was just saying that the health service should not be able to insist on taking people's old synths away (when the old synth actually belongs to the person that is).

Yeah I think Ellen Thomas explained why it was necessary in the first episode. I can't remember exactly but it was something to do with she has to check the machine every so often and the fact that Odi was being hidden meant that George had to have a replacement. There wasn't a way for him to keep him because the rule set up in this world is that a broken synth can't be used (at least not for health purposes). If he just belonged to George and was a toy I guess it would be different but he was there to fulfil a function which he could not no do.

That is so weird! I watched it this afternoon on 4od, and the Mia was there. I played it several times to be sure.

I am 100% sure it was there.

I've just gone back in - and it's exactly how you say. Nothing.

Although... you can see Laura's lips move between the "No" and "Do you". Is it possible that the soundtrack was changed between the time I posted & the time you looked? The power of Digital Spy?!

It's Them messing with our heads! I missed it the first time, on replay I heard it but didn't see any lip movement to match the words, and then I did more replays to make sure I wasn't going completely mad and didn't get either so I put it as a recorder glitch but if everyone saw and heard different things it's definitely a mind control conspiracy thing. Or everyone except me is completely and utterly wrong.

I've just checked on a file "elsewhere on the internet". The "Mia" is there.

Though I guess this proves that it wasn't meant to be there!

Just listened to a version downloaded 15 days ago (so not altered unless C4 can access my computer ) and there is no Mia said.

Laura stretches out the word No a bit longer than usual but there's no other word said between No and Do.

I downloaded the subtitle text file from opensubtitles and did a text search for 'mia' and it is not said in that scene, although I heard it said on TV version.

I didn't hear and I think I would have picked up on something like that. After all I've been making up all sorts of theories based on less.

Does anyone know a good way to record from a Mac? I want to put the segment from the other file I found up, just so you can hear how different it is to the version on 4od now.

I don't understand how there can be 2 versions out there. In the one where Laura says "Mia" it's extremely clear. In the one where she doesn't, there's no sound at all.

I've talked myself out of it!

When I managed to get it into Audacity & cleaned it up, it's actually Anita saying "sheet music that I access via..." and Laura talks over her. It's not Mia I heard, it's via!

Ah yes I definitely heard 'sheet music that I access via'. Phew now I can go to sleep.

Me too! Sorry to have kept everyone up on a wild goose chase.

In the UK version he knows that Odi is faulty.

The two series are different. I haven't seen the Swedish one, but just looking at the synopsis shows some differences. For instance in episode 3 of the Swedish version Leo is employed as a computer hacker, which he isn't in this one.

I'm lucky I don't get that on my oven. We're vegans so don't have animal fat splattering all over it, so I quite enjoy cleaning my oven. It's a quick squirt with soda crystals and a wipe down.

But he'd probably still be in denial because he loves Odi. The only way he'd know for sure would be through a test - IE: letting Odi drive.

I don't think what happened in the supermarket would be enough for him to 100% fully realise Odi is faulty even though it's blatantly obvious he is.

I was referring to the UK version with that part.

He may know Odi is faulty, but as I say he refuses to accept it.

Well, just basic Health & Safety I suppose.

If the NHS gave you, say, a respirator, they would have to check it every so often and, if it was faulty or worn out, replace it.

Same with any other piece of "equipment"

I've seen the Swedish version.

Yes there is, some, reason.

But not having any emotions (most of the time) would help with that.

You're having a laugh, right? For some reason? FOR SOME REASON? Have you seen Anita? She's absolutely gorgeous! Any pubescent teenaged boy would clearly think so!

I wouldn't be surprised if Joe doesn't succumb to the urge to have Anita 'upgraded' to 18+ mode before too many episodes have passed!