The Great Egg Race

tv show

The Great Egg Race poster unavailable

68 total episodes

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8 seasons

First Aired January 02, 1979

Overview

The Great Egg Race was a BBC television series that ran from 1979 to 1986 and featured Brian Cant, Professor Heinz Wolff and Lesley Judd, who joined the series in 1984. It was later revived on BBC Choice and was presented by Johnny Ball. In a similar vein to the later Channel 4 series Scrapheap Challenge, the show featured teams creating Heath Robinson-esque mechanical creations in an attempt to solve a problem set at the start of the show.

Series 6, Episode 4 poster unavailable

Series 6, Episode 4

Season 6 - Episode 4 - 1h 30m

Air Date

June 19, 1984

Overview

In this episode, which comes from the Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, each team is required to construct a steam engine capable of lifting a weight into the air. Heinz Wolff and his guest Fred Dibnah, an engineer and steeplejack, discuss and judge. Meanwhile, Lesley Judd catches up with the progress of the Incredible Egg Machine. Fred Dibnah was elevated to fame through a television documentary made by BBC producer Don Haworth in 1979. Haworth became interested in Dibnah after his appearance on BBC North West regional news, which reported on his daredevil work as a steeplejack. Dibnah went on to feature in many TV programmes over the years, sharing his engineering and industrial knowledge, especially in the field of steam engines, which proved highly popular.