A man from the future 2026 by Pet Shop Boys

Elizabeth Alker shares a world exclusive first play of a new version of ‘A man from the future’ by iconic synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. First performed at the 2014 BBC Proms, the work comprises eight musical chapters in the life and death of Alan Turing, the founding father of computer science whose work helped to break the wartime Enigma codes and who received a posthumous royal pardon and an apology from the UK government in 2013 for the inhumane treatment he received when he was convicted under homophobic laws in the 1950s.

Set for release via Parlophone on the 9th of October, the album’s co-producer Sven Helbig brings an intimate chamber ensemble sensibility to his adapted string arrangements (realised by Manchester Camerata Octet) while the music's sonic palette incorporates more electronically generated textures. Laurence Olivier Award-winning actor Juliet Stevenson CBE performs the revised text. Ahead of hearing the 2026 version in its entirety, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe - together with Turing biographer and collaborator on the project Professor Andrew Hodges - join Elizabeth Alker in the studio to discuss how the piece has evolved.

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