Seasons & episodes
1 season · 41 episodes
Episode 01
I Helped Break a 142-Year-Old Bell, and That’s Okay
In Leicestershire, at the John Taylor Bell Foundry, there's fire, sledgehammer swinging, and metal hotter than a volcano. Also, several questions about cheese.
Episode 02
They Can Fly 200 Miles With No Fuel. Here’s How.
In Rutland, I try to fit an entire county in one camera shot, learn to spot chimneys in the sky, and make a very strange noise. Let's learn about paragliding.
Episode 03
I Missed the Evidence. Can You Spot It?
At the University of Lincoln's Crime Scene House, where they teach forensic science students in simulated crime scenes, I have a challenge for you.
Episode 04
These People Walk Towards Mining Disasters
In Nottinghamshire, I join the team at MRS Training and Rescue -- the former Mines Rescue Service -- for an exercise that could have been so much worse.
Episode 05
These Mannequins Can Bleed
At Sheffield Hallam University in Yorkshire, I meet the Clinical Simulation team and deal with some animated patients. (Note: includes simulated blood and gore.)
Episode 06
I Finally Got to Drive Yorkshire’s Tiny Boats
At Peasholm Park in Scarborough, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, I visit the Naval Warfare, ride with the world's smallest crewed navy, and scare at least two seagulls.
Episode 07
If You Found Candy With My Name in It, Here’s Why
At the John Bull Rock Factory outside Bridlington, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, I watch as boiling sugar becomes an enormous amount of rock. Also, there's 1990s Dutch happy hardcore.
Episode 08
Oh No, I Sympathized With a Victorian Arms Dealer
In Northumberland, at the National Trust's Cragside mansion, I visit the former home of the Magician of the North.
Episode 09
The Mist That Keeps the Tyne Tunnels Safe
At the Tyne Road Tunnels, just over the border into Durham, I get very wet and cold underneath a river... but not in the way you might expect.
Episode 10
This Man Stops People Drowning in Quicksand
In Westmorland, at Morecambe Bay, I meet the King's Guide to the Sands, walk across a very dangerous stretch of sand, and learn about a centuries-old tradition that's been brought into the 21st century.
Episode 11
Pulling the Lever Is the Easy Part
In Lancashire, at National Rail's Manchester signalling classroom, I learn why it's very, very rare for trains to collide... and then go to an actual, live signal box to see it for real.
Episode 12
Can a 70-Year-Old Telescope Still Be Useful?
At Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, I get to fulfill a childhood dream: but more importantly, I ask whether a telescope built in the 1950s can still do useful science.
Episode 13
We Can’t Invent a Robot Better Than These Ferrets
In Derbyshire, at the National Ferret School, I say "hello" to some smelly thieves, and go on a surprisingly Biblical tangent.
Episode 14
I Got Hit in the Teeth With 900-Year-Old Antlers
In the village of Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire, I join the oldest village tradition in Britain: the Horn Dance. It ends up being slightly more painful than I expected.
Episode 15
I Launched the Mighty Trebuchet
At Warwick Castle, there's a 22-tonne medieval siege engine. I got to see how it works, meet the person in charge, and -- technically -- help fire it. Technically.
Episode 16
If I Get this Wrong, 50,000 People Will Hear It.
At Worcester Cathedral, I finally take on a challenge that hundreds of people have suggested: bell ringing. It's difficult, a little dangerous, and also lets me talk about a lot of weird English words.
Episode 17
I Have a Weird Conspiracy Theory About This Bridge
In Shropshire, I visit the Iron Bridge in the village of Ironbridge. And then I have a corkboard, pins, string, and a frankly-unhinged conspiracy theory about what an architect was actually planning.
Episode 18
I Get Excited About an Ampersand
At Hereford Cathedral, I visit a library where the books are chained to the shelves -- and see two of those books, to help understand just how quickly one technology can change the world.
Episode 19
I’m So Glad This Hidden Monorail Broke Down
At the English end of the Prince of Wales Bridge, in Gloucestershire, I get to visit the Rapid Access Train, the RAT, a hidden suspended monorail. Except... that's only half the story.
Episode 20
Two Nerds Try to Build a Wall
In Oxfordshire, at the Dry Stone Academy, I'm joined by Dr Becky. We have until our camera batteries run out to try one of the oldest surviving crafts in Britain: dry stone walling.
Episode 21
This 100-Year-Old Ride Must Never Change Again
At Wicksteed Park in Northamptonshire, there's a 100-year-old water chute, and I took a ride. Also, I find the first ever playground swing, and make a fool of myself on a slide.
Episode 22
How Do You Keep 8,995 Codebreakers Secret?
At Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, I don't want to know how a few boffins broke the Enigma code, because it wasn't a few boffins. I want to know: how on earth did they keep the "intelligence factory" secret when there were thousands and thousands of people involved?
Episode 23
I Didn’t Need to Drive This Mars Rover, but I Did
In Stevenage, Hertfordshire, there's a simulation of Mars: at Airbus' facilities, I got to meet some Mars rovers, take a test drive, and discover the most incredible wheel I've ever seen.
Episode 24
Flying a Plane Badly, On Purpose
At Cranfield University in Bedfordshire, I'm going aboard the National Flying Laboratory, and trying to keep my sense of direction, and my stomach, as the plane goes through some very non-standard manoeuvres.
Episode 25
Thomas, a Tank Engine, is not Thomas the Tank Engine.
At the Nene Valley Railway in Huntingdonshire, I meet a tank engine called Thomas that is, for legal reasons, not Thomas the Tank Engine... and, to my surprise, I find out why, in the early days of steam, Victorians might have found trains terrifying.
Episode 26
I’m the 97th Best Tiddlywinks Player in the World
At the University of Cambridge, I try to recover some childhood muscle memory, and see if I can get good enough at a Victorian parlour game to break the world top 100 in just one day.
Episode 27
When I Blow This Whistle, a Swimming Pool Appears
At the Hippodrome Circus in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, I climb a ladder, blow a whistle, witness the Globe of Death, and see the Water Spectacular. Not all at the same time.
Episode 28
This Arcade Game Makes You Climb a Ladder
At Southwold Pier in Suffolk, I visit Tim Hunkin's End of the Pier Show, a collection of weird automata and arcade games that offer something a bit more interesting than tickets and prizes.
Episode 29
Why Robots Can’t Pick Strawberries Yet
In Tiptree in Essex, at the headquarters of famous jam and preserve manufacturer Wilkin & Sons, this city boy gets impressed by agricultural infrastructure, and meets some robots that work better than others.
Episode 30
Tom Gets Excited About a Pendulum
At the Cumbria Clock Company, I close up a hole in my map, meet the team that manage and restore more than a thousand public clocks across the UK and wider afield, and discover that I knew far less about pendulum clocks than I thought.
Episode 31
This Machine Breaks Things
At Kirkaldy's Testing Works, in the historic county of Surrey, there's a sign above the door that says "Facts Not Opinions". And inside, there's a gigantic machine that breaks things.
Episode 32
This Room Keeps Great Britain’s Lights On
In Berkshire sits the control room for Britain's National Energy System Operator, NESO. The team in there keep the lights on across the country -- which is a job that's quite different to just a few years ago.
Episode 33
Why You Can’t Touch Stonehenge
The short answer is: letting 1.4 million visitors a year touch the stones would destroy them. But the long answer is still fascinating. With Stonehenge's curator, I get to go inside the circle.
Episode 34
It’s Really Hard to Balance This Giant
In Somerset, I meet Nathandriel, learn about English processional giants, and find out that carrying him is more difficult -- and more painful -- than I thought.
Episode 35
Episode 35
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Episode 36
Episode 36
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Episode 37
Episode 37
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Episode 38
Episode 38
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Episode 39
Episode 39
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Episode 40
Episode 40
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Episode 41
Episode 41
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