The complexity of an airport mirrors the complexity of digital devices in this instructional film from 1985

This instructional programme from 1985 was an accompaniment to an electronics course offered by Brighton Polytechnic. This edition, which is essentially a primer for looking at digital systems and devices, uses Gatwick Airport as both an analogy and an example of the way digital devices are used in a complex system. We follow the presenter, Tony Webber, as he arrives at what is today's Gatwick South Terminal and proceeds through various parts of the building. Scenes show passengers departing and arriving, dropping off luggage at check-in or retrieving their bags from carousels, queuing at various stages and looking at monitors displaying flight information. Tony Webber develops the airport analogy to show how data is processed by digital devices in much the same way that passengers are channelled and processed on their journey through the airport towards flights or baggage reclaim. Using an interview with Stan Reynolds, the airport's Electronic Engineer, and graphics that illustrate the basic processes occurring in computer circuitry, Tony introduces much conceptual jargon like Local Area Networks, flip-flops, serial and parallel interfaces and seven-segment displays and uses the latter to demonstrate how digital devices and systems are actually used in the functioning of information displays throughout the airport.