The Secret World of LEGO - 8:00pm tonight

Will this be available to watch on their website afterwards, or is it just on the TV?

Just watched first part, really want a designer job when I'm older!!!!

I hope somenone wil put up a torrent of this programme!
I won't download it, of course, because that's illegal.

Well that was awkward for Mark Guest and gang..... so they focus on a few people mark guest and gang being one of them explaining the launch of brick culture and half way into the programme what do we see... Mark Guest reporting for Blocks magazine....
C4editing

Yeah, I thought that was pretty funny too.

Also weird to see the Lego guys 're-enact' a business meeting. That was bizarre and slightly uncomfortable to watch as the filmmakers rumbled them.

Just watched it and that 'cult' theme seemed to be pushed on everyone interviewed. However the 'inside the company' sections were really interesting to watch. It seemed pretty hard to stand out above others for in the interview stage without giving too much away. And healthy eating - I'd eat those prawn filos all day!

I disagree with the thought that admitting you are an AFOL, or for me a few years ago, a TFOL, is becoming cool. Maybe in the creative industry because it is a creative product but probably not elsewhere. You're probably going to get a 'ribbing' as someone put it (was it Mark?). But I guess myself and many other AFOLs seem to be in creative professions, perhaps unsurprisingly! So take what I say with a pinch of salt.

As for the voiceover - who else but Hugh Bonneville?

And talking of uncomfortable, how about retracting the 'secret blinds'?

What was the set that was "coming out in a month"?

Wasn't that one of the superhero summer wave? Chances are it's something that's just been released as they would have finished filming a month ago

OMGOSH the London Hub was amazing.

So is it worth watching??

Waiting for the details of how to watch it for non residents (if I can get it through the great firewall of China that is...)

Huw, you only have a non speaking part!

And then there was the awkward grin Huw put on when he noticed he was being filmed... :P

Was a good show.

@Ayliffe Haha, we saw that too!

I was a little disappointed. I realise the word 'secret' was in the title but wanted more factory floor footage and maybe a new set reveal. Still I'm glad the chap got the job, and as ever its always a joy to see the silver fox that is Mark Guest !

While we wait for the program to be available in the U.S. here is an inside look at TLG from 2012:

http://youtu.be/G2UU92V8olY

ooohhhh.. Thanks @JusJeff

I wasn't overly keen on the cult/sinister vibe the documentary seemed to give out, edited in such a way it seems.

I enjoyed the show but similar to many other commenters I started getting annoyed with the way the program was trying to push Lego as a cult. Nice to get an inside view of where it all happens and the process from start to finish.

@Huw - you were on the programme for less than 40 seconds! (I got the impression you were just being polite and wanted the camera crew to bugger off!)

which set was the one coming out? would it be one of the summer sets?

I managed to watch it on dailymotion before it got taken down. I think it was presented pretty well, TLG as a family. Looks like a great place to work!

It appears to be available on the Channel 4 website, but I can't get the video to play.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-secret-world-of-lego

Note to all in the US: Unless you are running a UK IP Address, 4oD will not work.

I should know, I am an expat!

However, there are means...........I am going to see if I can rip the recording and make it available.

The Legumentary is already available on kat.cr (oops!!!).
Enjoy.

Enjoy ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY4RbICf0wM

We also have a documentary on Lego tonight on french TV. "megafactories" on RMC channel at 20:45.

Huw, which one was you then?! I sincerely missed that bit...

I found the doc rather boring tbh...Toeboe (a Twitter Mucka and fellow AFOL) said more on set design from concept to actual release would have been better. The 'cult' aspect was pathetic. Off-putting even. I also found the staff, in a word, smug and finger licking. They all seemed to be the 'same'- Caucasian 'metrosexuals' with well groomed Shoreditch Beards....true, there were a few Ethnic Staff but not enough, especially at the higher levels of Lego Billund. Does that mean Lego is a White Caucasian hobby / toy? Does it mean its the hobby of AFOL's whom are White, Middle Class, late 20s to Middle Aged? Well, the programme seemed to certainly suggest that. Am I a paradox, being 37, Middle Class and of Sri Lankan parentage then? The Staff reminded me of the morons in the BBC 'comedy' 'W1A', especially the overly camp Director who flaunted and showed little of the archive of EVERY Lego set ever made deep within the depths of Billund HQ....(now that would be a collection worth viewing)...

I'm glad that guy got a job there. HE had a passion that stemmed from childhood, just like myself. True, I'm not obsessed as he was, neither am I a hardcore AFOL but I still retain my love of Lego....Perhaps if the betters at Billund read this, employ me, challenge MY mindset that the programme portrayed as I'd like to bring back the style of sets Lego is sorely missing thesedays, small, impulse buy, pocket money sets of varying types, especially in reassurgence of Town, Space and Castle, CORE themes that BUILT Lego, a Lego which, as the programme clearly illustrated, now relies heavily ON licenced product which is such a crying shame...hmm, if I worked there I'd bring these things back....Its a pity Lego today is, well, staid and that's what the programme conveyed to me, with a simpering smugness of its current employees sadly....

^Licensed themes are where the entire TOY industry is going, not just LEGO. It is free advertising for the company. They don't have to add in additional finances to market their in house theme. That's not to say that more in house themes wouldn't be welcomed.

And I haven't watched the documentary, but I'd assume many working in Billund are of Danish descent. I'd imagine many Europeans are of a paler skin tone. I can't speak for the company, but I'm sure they aren't trying to segregate or exclude any other people based on country of origin or skin color. With that said, maybe there aren't many people of color applying for jobs there. Just because they don't exist in the documentary doesn't mean they are only hiring caucasian people.

@sf1378: While some of the LEGO "evergreen" themes like Pirates and Castle have definitely diminished in popularity, LEGO has a number of hugely successful non-licensed themes in their portfolio such as City, Friends, Creator, and Ninjago. In fact, I think Star Wars might be the only single license that rivals any of these — certainly it's the only single license with as many new sets this year.

The set archive at the LEGO Idea House is definitely cool but when I visited it on the LEGO Inside Tour, it wasn't as breathtaking for me as it seems to have been for many visitors. Perhaps that's in part because I'm a younger AFOL (24), and I exist in an era where the most important sets to me are often reviewed in detail online (as opposed to sets from before my time, many of which were already rare treasures by the time the online AFOL community became a thing). I certainly wouldn't expect it to be very interesting to casual LEGO fans who don't have have specific sets they'd want to look for, which is probably why it wasn't covered in detail in this documentary. It doesn't help that it's just a bunch of shrink-wrapped boxes on sliding shelving units, so it's far from the most attractive subject to shoot video of.

As far as race is concerned, though, you're right that a lot of the LEGO fan community is white and it's definitely something that I think is worth investigating. In the United States, at least, I know part of the reason is an economic one. LEGO is an expensive hobby, and "white privilege" is still enough of a problem here that people of other races are less likely to grow up in households that can afford to spend so heavily on toys. I don't know for sure what the situation in other countries might be, though.

It's also possible that some non-white families might have problems with the perceived "whiteness" of the minifigure. The yellow-skinned minifigure is intended to be raceless, but not everybody sees it that way (nor is it really fair to argue that they should), and themes like Star Wars and Friends that do include a wider range of skin tones can have frustratingly small numbers of dark-skinned characters.

@sf1378 you complain that Lego are too "white" then call them "overly camp" and "metrosexual"? Does that make a difference to you? If so I don't think it's Lego that have a problem with a bit of diversity.

@FERRYman, thanks for posting the link.

I enjoyed watching the program. I didn't get a cult feel from watching it. It seemed to only touch on the "Family" concept towards the end.

@Huw, I recognized you in the scenes where Mark is presenting the magazine to TLG in Billund.

As a LEGO loyalist it was great to watch. I don't believe anything was really new from following the company for a few years now. I'm Still looking forward to visiting Billund in a couple of months and seeing what I can first hand.

While there were some enjoyable segments, I felt like this wasn't as good as it could have been. We get some great vignettes including the story behind the LEGO Birds set, the interview process for a coveted LEGO designer job, and Mark Guest's experiences making Bricks Culture magazine a reality. The real missed opportunity is that the show lacked a cohesive story.

I think they should have stuck with a single theme, possibly about the LEGO group's obsession with secrecy, and produced a more focused story.

I have shared my highlights from the show, some photos, and a more detailed review at http://thebrickarchitect.com/2015/the-secret-world-of-lego/

Cheers,
---tom

Watching it now. Bridled a bit when the contents of lost containers washing up on British shores was described as 'legend' when it would be more accurate to describe it was well-established fact. (Suppose that's the English language moving on...) But not as instrusive a narration as it could be.