Tracing the history of toys and speaking with young computer games designers (and users), this documentary explores whether technology can help educate as well as entertain.

Broadcast in December 1992, this edition of the Channel 4's long-running science series Equinox offers an even-handed, inquisitive, wide-ranging analysis of the rise of video games and electronic toys.

In the early 1990s, video games were at the centre of a moral panic about their potential adverse affects on young children. Two key contributors offer opposing views on the matter: Eugene Provenzo of the University of Miami expresses concerns about how increased screen time might affect children's growth and harm their social development, while Brian Sutton Smith, a radical 'play theorist', brings a more optimistic view that this new frontier of play could revolutionise how future generations think and act.

Stepping away from the alarmist headlines, this documentary situates these electronic innovations within the history of children's toys and the way that they enchant, enthral and educate young minds. A neuropsychological angle is explored, advancing a theory that increased interactivity could help children make better sense of the world, as well as develop their hand-eye coordination and bolster their imaginations - all within a balanced diet of play, of course. Many of the young gamers interviewed about their obsessions are also revealed to have active hobbies away from the television screen, from playing baseball to learning piano.

One aspect of the history of toys that this documentary explores is the tradition of gendered play (eg. soldiers for boys, and dolls for girls). Even though the public perception of video games at the time, no doubt reinforced by targeted marketing campaigns, was that it was primarily a boys' medium, this documentary features young girls who play just as passionately as their brothers, and even interviews the pioneering female game designer Dawn Drake of Manchester's Ocean Software.

It's this interest in video games as both technology and artform that makes this documentary feel ahead of its time. While much of its focus is on how the end product affects those who play, we also see how games are made, from drafting the design to composing the score. A creative industry on the rise.