Battle of the Geeks
(Image was rather dominating the page at 400px, this is probably big enough.) |
|||
(8 intermediate revisions not shown) | |||
Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
== Broadcast == | == Broadcast == | ||
- | Open University/BBC for BBC Two, 2006 | + | Open University/BBC for BBC Two, 1 October 2006 |
</div> | </div> | ||
+ | |||
== Synopsis == | == Synopsis == | ||
21st century re-version of [[The Great Egg Race]] which sees British and American inventors and scientists face off in a unique challenge in which they are have 48 hours to design, build and fly their own craft across the mighty Fish River Canyon in Namibia, the second biggest canyon in the world. | 21st century re-version of [[The Great Egg Race]] which sees British and American inventors and scientists face off in a unique challenge in which they are have 48 hours to design, build and fly their own craft across the mighty Fish River Canyon in Namibia, the second biggest canyon in the world. | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="image">[[File:Battle of the geeks the geeks.jpg]]''Half a dozen assorted geeks''</div> | ||
Aided by "performance-scientist" Dr Kal Spelletich and Dr Ian Johnston, the inventor of the world's most flippable beer mat, the two teams have to transport a valuable yet fragile cargo from one side of the canyon to the other and have it survive the journey intact. That cargo is... an egg. | Aided by "performance-scientist" Dr Kal Spelletich and Dr Ian Johnston, the inventor of the world's most flippable beer mat, the two teams have to transport a valuable yet fragile cargo from one side of the canyon to the other and have it survive the journey intact. That cargo is... an egg. | ||
- | '' | + | <div class="image">[[File:Battleofthegeeks dr ian johnston OU.jpg|250px]]''Dr Ian Johnston''</div> |
+ | |||
+ | Despite the rather contrived and stereotypical make-up of the teams (both teams made up of an American University lecturer type, a wacky British inventor, and a young female computer whizz - what are the chances, eh?) and some rather bizarre "rules" (at one point, Hammond informed us that if one of the teams broke their egg during the build, they would automatically lose, which we don't buy at all because no producer would so positively invite such an anticlimax) the whole thing did hang together. Perhaps the major criticism we could level at it is that transporting an egg is rather a clichéd engineering task and so while it was well presented, it was nothing we hadn't seen before. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Key moments== | ||
+ | |||
+ | It rather amused us to see Richard Hammond gamely pretending he'd never seen a wheelchair propelled by a fire extinguisher before, when in fact he did this kind of thing all the time on ''Brainiac: Science Abuse''. | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
[[The Great Egg Race]] | [[The Great Egg Race]] | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Web links== | ||
+ | |||
+ | [http://www.open2.net/battleofthegeeks/ Battle of the Geeks at open2.net] | ||
[[Category:Technological]] | [[Category:Technological]] | ||
- | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Broadcast Pilots]] |
Current revision as of 12:47, 25 January 2017
Contents |
Host
Co-hosts
Dr Kal Spelletich & Dr Ian Johnston
Broadcast
Open University/BBC for BBC Two, 1 October 2006
Synopsis
21st century re-version of The Great Egg Race which sees British and American inventors and scientists face off in a unique challenge in which they are have 48 hours to design, build and fly their own craft across the mighty Fish River Canyon in Namibia, the second biggest canyon in the world.
Aided by "performance-scientist" Dr Kal Spelletich and Dr Ian Johnston, the inventor of the world's most flippable beer mat, the two teams have to transport a valuable yet fragile cargo from one side of the canyon to the other and have it survive the journey intact. That cargo is... an egg.
Despite the rather contrived and stereotypical make-up of the teams (both teams made up of an American University lecturer type, a wacky British inventor, and a young female computer whizz - what are the chances, eh?) and some rather bizarre "rules" (at one point, Hammond informed us that if one of the teams broke their egg during the build, they would automatically lose, which we don't buy at all because no producer would so positively invite such an anticlimax) the whole thing did hang together. Perhaps the major criticism we could level at it is that transporting an egg is rather a clichéd engineering task and so while it was well presented, it was nothing we hadn't seen before.
Key moments
It rather amused us to see Richard Hammond gamely pretending he'd never seen a wheelchair propelled by a fire extinguisher before, when in fact he did this kind of thing all the time on Brainiac: Science Abuse.
See also
Web links
Battle of the Geeks at open2.net