Behind the Scenes: Original GTA Creation (1996 BBC Clip) 
BBC archive footage of DMA Design creating the original Grand Theft Auto in 1996 — before Rockstar, before 3D, when GTA was just a weird experiment from the Lemmings team.
Why This Matters
You’re watching gaming history get made before anyone knew it would matter. This is DMA Design in Dundee, Scotland — fresh off Lemmings success — building what would become the most controversial and profitable game franchise ever. No Rockstar branding. No 3D graphics. Just a top-down crime sim that nobody thought would work.
Seeing the original artists, level designers, and testers working on 2D GTA in 1996 is like watching the Wright brothers build the first plane. They had no idea what they were creating.
What You're Actually Watching
BBC reporter visits DMA Design studios in May 1996 — months before GTA’s 1997 release.
You see:
- Artists drawing pixel art for the original top-down view
- Level designers mapping out Liberty City in 2D
- Musicians composing the soundtrack
- Testers playing early builds
- Developers explaining their “ambitious” vision (not knowing it would spawn a $8 billion franchise)
This is before:
- Rockstar Games existed (DMA became Rockstar North later)
- GTA went 3D (GTA III in 2001)
- The controversy, the billions, the cultural phenomenon
Just a Scottish studio making what they hoped would be a fun crime game.
The Actual Footage
Grand Theft Auto 1996 Making Of - GTA - | Retro Gaming | BBC Archive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vWSi44ZTSw
Originally broadcast on BBC Two’s Working Lunch, Thursday, May 16, 1996.
Save this before it vanishes — rare dev footage like this gets taken down or buried constantly, and you just watched the exact moment a $8B franchise was born in a Dundee office.
!