Peter 2.0

Peter Scott-Morgan intends to defy his fatal diagnosis and live on as a cyborg.

Peter is extraordinary. A robotics scientist, an acclaimed business process expert and an accomplished author. Peter and his partner, Francis, were also the first same-sex couple to be legally married in the UK.

In 2017, Peter discovered he had a Motor Neurone Disease (MND). From the very start, he saw this terminal diagnosis as an opportunity to put his fascination with robotics and science fiction into practice and become the world’s first human cyborg.

This three-part podcast documents Peter’s curious journey, which could have profound implications for many people who suffer from conditions like MND. It opens up that big question: What does it mean to be human if you can continuously improve your ‘quality of life’?

Peter has a looming problem. “It’s like trying to build a lifeboat after the ship has already started sinking.” The increasingly debilitating effects of his diagnosis are closing in on his ambition. He encounters restrictive attitudes towards his new disability and the challenge of recruiting some of the world’s greatest minds, including IBM and Microsoft, to engage with his very personal problem. “We have to pull a number of rabbits out of a hat.”

What keeps Peter going is surprising. Living as a gay man, for forty years, has prepared him for this pioneering mission, despite the scepticism and prejudice he will encounter. “What makes you a man is what’s up here” Peter remarks as he raises a feeble hand to head height.

Peter 2.0 was created by sifting through over 100 hours of footage from a Channel 4 documentary, Peter The Human Guinea. The podcast reached the Top Ten in Apple Podcast’s Science list, was selected for the coveted New and Noteworthy recommendation and was shortlisted for a Rose D’or and won silver for Smartest Podcast at British Podcast Awards in 2021.

In the first three episodes, we’ll explain Peter’s journey to his ground-breaking transformation. The rest of the season follows Peter adapting to his new life as a cyborg.

For more information on Peter’s progress visit https://www.scottmorganfoundation.org/

written and presented by Chris Durlacher

production team: Agata Mastalerz and Helen McAuly Stewart

music composer: Sandy Nuttgens

producer: Bernard P Achampong

assistant producer: Rhys Gunter

executive producer: Pat Younge

An Unedited production for Cardiff Productions. The podcast was made possible with funding from the Wellcome.

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