Skip to content
Watch Live
British Broadcasting Corporation
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Innovation
  • Health
  • Culture
  • Arts
  • Travel
  • Earth
  • Audio
  • Video
  • Live
  • Documentaries
Watch Live
News imageWitness History, Witness History, Robot Surgeon

Witness History

Witness History

Robot Surgeon


Up next

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The killing of Vincent Chin

The killing of Vincent Chin

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Egypt's first democratic presidential election

Egypt's first democratic presidential election

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The UK's first official gay Pride March

The UK's first official gay Pride March

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Hong Kong: The handover

Hong Kong: The handover

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Hong Kong: Democracy campaigner

Hong Kong: Democracy campaigner

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Hong Kong: The 5-19 football riot in China

Hong Kong: The 5-19 football riot in China

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Hong Kong - Kowloon Walled City

Hong Kong - Kowloon Walled City

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Hong Kong: Abandoned children

Hong Kong: Abandoned children

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The Higgs Boson: A scientific discovery that explains how the universe works

The Higgs Boson: A scientific discovery that explains how the universe works

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Japanese university student riots

Japanese university student riots

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Escaping Nigeria’s Civil War

Escaping Nigeria’s Civil War

News imageWitness History, Witness History, How the smear test was invented

How the smear test was invented

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The US’s first gay election candidate

The US’s first gay election candidate

News imageWitness History, Witness History, How abortion was legalised in Great Britain

How abortion was legalised in Great Britain

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Poland's strict abortion law

Poland's strict abortion law

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The man who invented the Pill

The man who invented the Pill

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The school for telenovela stars

The school for telenovela stars

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Madhur Jaffrey’s ‘Indian Cookery’

Madhur Jaffrey’s ‘Indian Cookery’

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Who shot JR?

Who shot JR?

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The Soviet James Bond

The Soviet James Bond

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Nigerian sitcom Papa Ajasco

Nigerian sitcom Papa Ajasco

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Ukraine's Revolution on Granite

Ukraine's Revolution on Granite

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The Surkov leaks

The Surkov leaks

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Inventing nicotine patches

Inventing nicotine patches

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The Tangshan Earthquake

The Tangshan Earthquake

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The Leaflet Bomber

The Leaflet Bomber

News imageWitness History, Witness History, Why Asians came to Uganda

Why Asians came to Uganda

News imageWitness History, Witness History, When Asians were forced to leave Kenya

When Asians were forced to leave Kenya

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The exodus of Asians from Uganda

The exodus of Asians from Uganda

News imageWitness History, Witness History, The city shaped by Ugandan Asians

The city shaped by Ugandan Asians

21 June 2022

9 minutes

Available for over a year

In 1985 the first robot-assisted medical surgery took place in Vancouver, Canada. It’s now become a standard feature of operating theatres worldwide. The original gadget was named Arthrobot. A key member of the original project team Geof Auchinleck tells his story to Kurt Brookes. A Made in Manchester production.

Photo: Arthrobot in action (Credit: Geof Auchinleck)

See more episodes

Programme website


British Broadcasting Corporation
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Innovation
  • Health
  • Culture
  • Arts
  • Travel
  • Earth
  • Audio
  • Video
  • Live
  • Documentaries
  • Weather
  • BBC Shop
  • BritBox

The BBC is in multiple languages

Read the BBC In your own language

Oduu Afaan Oromootiin
Amharic ዜና በአማርኛ
Arabic عربي
Azeri AZƏRBAYCAN
Bangla বাংলা
Burmese မြန်မာ
Chinese 中文网
Dari دری
French AFRIQUE
Hausa HAUSA
Hindi हिन्दी
Gaelic NAIDHEACHDAN
Gujarati ગુજરાતીમાં સમાચાર
Igbo AKỤKỌ N’IGBO
Indonesian INDONESIA
Japanese 日本語
Kinyarwanda GAHUZA
Kirundi KIRUNDI
Korean 한국어
Kyrgyz Кыргыз
Marathi मराठी
Nepali नेपाली
Noticias para hispanoparlantes
Pashto پښتو
Persian فارسی
Pidgin
Polish PO POLSKU
Portuguese BRASIL
Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਖ਼ਬਰਾਂ
Russian НА РУССКОМ
Serbian NA SRPSKOM
Sinhala සිංහල
Somali SOMALI
Swahili HABARI KWA KISWAHILI
Tamil தமிழில் செய்திகள்
Telugu తెలుగు వార్తలు
Thai ข่าวภาษาไทย
Tigrinya ዜና ብትግርኛ
Turkish TÜRKÇE
Ukrainian УКРАЇНСЬКA
Urdu اردو
Uzbek O'ZBEK
Vietnamese TIẾNG VIỆT
Welsh NEWYDDION
Yoruba ÌRÒYÌN NÍ YORÙBÁ
Follow BBC on:
  • Terms of Use
  • Subscription Terms
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Contact the BBC
  • Advertise with us
  • Do not share or sell my info
  • BBC.com Help & FAQs
  • Content Index

Copyright 2026 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.

You might also like:

news | sport | weather | worklife | travel | future | culture | world | business | technology