Pet Shop Boys’ newly revised A man from the future will receive its world premiere on the BBC this October.
The new recording explores the life, death and influence of pioneering mathematician and cryptanalyst Alan Turing, with the Pet Shop Boys collaborating with Turing biographer Professor Andrew Hodges on the project.
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe first performed the composition at the Royal Albert Hall during the BBC Proms in 2014, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers, but both the music and text have been revised for the new version.
BBC Radio 6 Music will broadcast the 2026 edition on Sunday 4 October during Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone from 8pm to 10pm, with Neil, Chris and Andrew Hodges discussing the creative process behind the reworking.
Later that evening, BBC Radio 3 will broadcast the piece during Unclassified from 11.30pm to 12.30am, with the Pet Shop Boys and Andrew Hodges joining presenter Elizabeth Alker to discuss the original performance and its evolution.
Both programmes will be available on BBC Sounds for 30 days after transmission.
The 2026 edition has been co-produced by Pet Shop Boys and German composer Sven Helbig, with a greater electronic emphasis and a more intimate string arrangement provided by Helbig, who also created the original orchestrations.
Juliet Stevenson, who appeared in the 2014 Royal Albert Hall performance, returns to provide narration edited from Hodges’ biography Alan Turing: The Enigma, which has been updated for the new revision.
The recording also features Manchester Camerata Octet on strings and the Manchester Grammar School choir, with the composition telling Turing’s story chronologically across eight parts.
The work covers his school days, studies at Cambridge University and his wartime work helping to unlock encrypted German messages, before exploring his contribution to computing and predictions about artificial intelligence.
It then follows his trial and conviction for a homosexual relationship, his death in 1954, the royal pardon granted in 2013 and his continuing influence.
The Pet Shop Boys said their motive was: “to make a musical memorial to Alan Turing who gave so much to his country and the world and was rewarded for it by being prosecuted for his sexuality.”
BBC Director of Music Lorna Clarke said: “I’m delighted that this October, the BBC will be the first to share their new interpretation with audiences across the UK on 6 Music and Radio 3.”
Photo – Pet Shop Boys – Credit: Eva Pentel