The prospect of an entirely new, carbon-free, on-demand and virtually limitless energy source has driven fusion research to within touching distance of success. The construction of ITER is the culmination of decades of advance in magnetic confinement fusion, and represents the key transition from research project to fusion power plant. We will explore the concept of a plasma (an ionized gas) and its extraordinary properties and applications (in medicine, biology, surface processing etc) before reviewing magnetic fusion progress to date, in anticipation of the first operational plasma in ITER.