A gaming handheld console, the Playdate, has found an unexpected role in maintaining one of London's most famous landmarks. The device featured in an episode of the National Geographic travel show Best of the World with Antoni Porowski, in which the former Queer Eye presenter visited Big Ben alongside Andrew Strangeway, a clock mechanic for the Houses of Parliament. Strangeway revealed that he has programmed his Playdate to help check the timing of the clocktower's bells, showing how consumer gaming hardware can be repurposed for specialist real-world tasks.

The Playdate is a small yellow handheld console known for its distinctive crank controller. Its use at Big Ben is not new, as an earlier video showed Strangeway and a colleague using the device during preparations for the bells to ring in the new year on New Year's Eve 2025. Playdate's makers celebrated the cameo on Bluesky, noting that the moment reflected the "surprising magic" that occurs when hardware is easy to program for, supports sideloading and comes with a decent software development kit.