Documentary exploring the history of the self-operating contraptions known as automata, which were first designed hundreds of years ago but display levels of technical sophistication that continue to amaze many today. Professor Simon Schaffer examines the history behind these clockwork motor-powered machines and the hardship endured by the workers that built them. Travelling around Europe, he visits a functional automaton city, observes a robotic boy that can be programmed to write, and witnesses a device capable of playing chess.