Wallace and Gromit’s World of Inventions

Wallace and Gromit are back on BBC One, going crackers about inventing.

Each week the lovable pair will take viewers around the world to meet the world’s most unusual inventors, discover the secrets of the inventions that power the world around us and look forward to the inventions of tomorrow.

From inventions that help around the home to the mind-boggling world of space travel, Wallace uncovers some of the most ground-breaking contraptions of our time, investigating why some ideas never quite got off the drawing board and delving into the stories behind many inspiring inventions from across the globe. And with the help of BBC One presenter Jem Stansfield (recent inventor of vacuum powered gloves and the nifty coffee-powered car), they discover just how crackers inventors really can be.

Each episode will feature:

Wallace’s Inventor of the week – from Richmond to Tasmania, we meet some of the world’s most unusual inventors, including a sculptor who has fused engineering with art

Curiosity Corner – We delve into a particularly strange story from the world of invention

Never Got Off The Drawing Board – Wallace’s science reporter Jem Stansfield explains the reason why some inventions never quite succeeded, but may actually be much cleverer than we ever thought

Contraption Countdown – Wallace introduces his favourite quirky finds, including a list of top inventions that would set any health and safety officer’s heart racing

 

Episode order still to be confirmed:

Nature Knows Best

Wallace and Gromit take a look at inventions inspired by Mother Nature, including incredible flying penguins and marine-inspired robots in Germany.

 

Getting From A To B 

Wallace and Gromit explore incredible transportation inventions from around the globe, starting with a pedal-powered submarine built out of scrap, and Wallace’s very own run-around steam chair.

 

Reach For The Sky 

Wallace and Gromit explore the mysteries behind man’s fascination with flight, from homemade space rockets in Manchester to personalised jetpacks.

 

Better Safe Than Sorry 

Wallace and Gromit have always taken their safety in their own hands and in this episode they consider other inventors with the same philosophy.

 

Come To Your Senses

Wallace and Gromit experience the world through the five senses, exploring the fact and fiction behind invisibility cloaks, bomb detecting bees and the top 10 sensory inventions.

 

Home Sweet Home 

Wallace and Gromit focus on ingenious inventions for the home, from a homemade windmill in Malawi, to domestic robots and useless household gadgets.

To launch the brand new BBC One series, Wallace And Gromit’s World Of Invention, world-renowned inventor Wallace and his ever faithful sidekick, Gromit, are asking the UK to get inventing.

From their self-built basement television studio in 62 West Wallaby Street, the inimitable pair are trying to track down Britain’s best amateur invention. Wallace and Gromit are asking enthusiastic kids and crackpot inventors to invent their very best contraption. The winner – chosen by a panel of judges, led by Nick Park – will be given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have themselves or their invention immortalised in a future Aardman production.

To celebrate Wallace and Gromit’s debut as TV presenters, BBC One are unveiling a website and nationwide series of regional roadshows, that hope to get Britain inventing. In their brand new BBC One series the inimitable pair present a factual series for the very first time, uncovering the quirky, inspiring and accident-prone world of inventions.

But not everyone is as expert an inventor as Wallace, so the pair are planning to kickstart the UK’s inventive spirit through a series of regional inventors roadshows that will provide the tools and motivation needed to root out the inventor in all of us.

Nick Park, Oscar-winning creator of Wallace and Gromit, said: “It is an enormous honour for Wallace and Gromit to be asked to take up the torch (all be it solar powered) and shine it on the world’s top and most innovative inventors.”

 

Create your own cracking contraption

Wensleydale-loving inventor Wallace knows just how powerful a great idea combined with only a little bit of engineering know-how can be. So, inspired by his favourite contraption, LAD, Wallace is asking the British public to unleash their inner inventor and create their own device. He’s asking budding inventors (complete novices included) to design and build their most inventive contraption, made entirely from bits and pieces around the home. It could be something that wakes up Wallace, helps Gromit complete his household chores or moves one (or both of them!) from A to B – anything goes, as long as it meets the judges’ criteria, which are available online.

Anyone can enter – individuals, teams of friends or even entire school classes. Entrants need to record a short video (maximum three minutes) of their creation, and upload it onto the BBC’s Wallace And Gromit website.

For full details, including judging criteria and terms and conditions, visit bbc.co.uk/wallaceandgromit.

 

Inspiring invention

The BBC have teamed up with Aardman Animations to create an exciting new roadshow event to accompany the new BBC One series Wallace and Gromit’s World Of Invention. Inspired by Wallace’s love of inventing, the BBC Learning roadshows will give budding inventors the opportunity to step into the world of Wallace and Gromit.

The tour will visit six UK shopping centres throughout November and December 2010 and will be open to the public on both Saturday and Sunday.

The roadshows will be accompanied by an entire Wallace and Gromit world online. To find out more about the secrets of invention, play in Wallace’s Workshop and find out more about the regional roadshows, visit bbc.co.uk/wallaceandgromit.

 

Wallace And Gromit’s World of Inventions, BBC One

Having inspired us all to try our hand at a spot of inventing, in November Wallace and Gromit unveil their favourite inventions from around the world. In their grand presenting debut the pair introduce films about inventors from Bristol to Brazil. Wallace and Gromit discover the real life cracking-contraptions that have shaped our world, from gadgets that help around the home to the mind-boggling world of space travel and much more in between.

The six-part factual series (6×30) goes out on BBC One in early November.

 

The Great Egg Race – BBC remembers “cracking” feats of engineering

In the spirit of ingenious engineering, BBC Archive is releasing a small selection of programmes from the 1979-1986 BBC Two science-based series The Great Egg Race. The programmes showcase the variety of challenges that teams of inventors turned their hands to, from creating a rubber-band powered device to transport a single egg the furthest possible distance, to an ingenious tea-making device made from humble household materials.

The collection will be available from 14 October. Watch eccentric scientist Professor Heinz Wolff putting the contestants through their paces and get tips to help you with your own engineering endeavours, at the BBC Archive website.

Oscar winning pair Wallace and Gromit are set to get their own TV show on the BBC hunting for the UK’s top new inventor. 

The pair’s hunt is part of their new series which looks at the top inventions which have changed the world while the winner of their competition will be forever immortalised in a future production from animator Aardman.

Competitors will have to design and make their inventions from household objects and can enter as individuals or teams.

Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, will be among the judges.  When asked about the competition Park said, “It is an enormous honour for Wallace and Gromit to be asked to take up the torch (albeit solar powered) and shine it on the world’s top and most innovative inventors.”

A spokeswoman for the project added, “Wallace is asking the public to unleash their inner inventor and create their own device.  He’s asking people to design and build their most inventive contraption, made entirely from bits and pieces around the home. It could be something that wakes up Wallace, helps his dog Gromit complete his household chores – anything goes as long as it meets the judges’ criteria.”

Wallace and Gromit’s World of Inventions show starts next month and will air in a prime time weekday slot on the BBC.  The show is due to run for 6 weeks and will be filmed in Wallace’s own self-built basement TV studio.