It’s very likely that Derren made up the story for the show, especially as there seems to be no trace of it anywhere online

I’m annoyed that I can’t remember more as it was really interesting, but here’s what I do know:

I know that it was created by a Hungarian man (can’t remember his name) after his son died, probably 18th century. He created the doll in the image of his son. He became obsessed with the doll, trying to make it a perfect replica, which eventually caused him to go blind.
His obsession with the doll also drove his wife mad, who eventually comitted suicide, throwing herself into the Danube river.
supposedly the doll consists of exactly 9889 mechanical pieces. It communicates by tapping out words on a board, and can supposedly read minds.

This is all I know, can anyone help me? Thanks.

Nikki

From 1716 to 1718 Swedenborg published a scientific periodical entitled Daedalus Hyperboreus (“The Northern Daedalus”), a record of mechanical and mathematical inventions and discoveries. One notable description was that of a flying machine, the same he had been sketching a few years earlier (see Flying Machine (Swedenborg)).[13]

In 1724 he was offered the chair of mathematics at Uppsala University but he declined, saying that he had mainly dealt with geometry, chemistry and metallurgy during his career.

Wilkipedia

Aristarchus – the greek who proposed heliocentric universe, but missedout on any kudos because not many people believed him ,and he didnt publish….so Copernicus generally gets all the credit.