About this season
An insider's look at the engineering and scientific miracles behind the things that form the modern world.
Episodes (20)
1. Logging, Tiles, Jaffa Cakes
Aired 10 May 2015 • 22 min
A look at how skyline logging wrangles Vancouver's most elusive trees. Plus, muscle and skill turns ordinary clay into intricate tiles in a Spanish workshop.
2. Heavy-Lift Aircraft, Hunting Boots, Bananas
Aired 14 May 2015 • 22 min
Jets over to Spain to one of the most advanced and powerful planes in the world. Plus, there's a secret to making warm waterproof boots and how bananas get just...
3. Monorail, Royal Copenhagen Porcelain, New York Cupcakes
Aired 21 May 2015 • 22 min
Commuters rise above Mumbai's chaos by riding India's only monorail. In Denmark, porcelain statues are hand painted and take several weeks to complete. Creative cupcake recipes originate in Manhattan and stretch around the world.
4. Wine, Goretex Extreme Weather Clothing
Aired 28 May 2015 • 22 min
Travel down under, home to some of the largest wineries in the world and see how some of the most popular wines are produced. What does PTFE stand for? And how is it used to make extreme weather clothing for the most demanding customers.
5. Screws, Marmalade, Printed Dresses
Aired 4 June 2015 • 22 min
Building a fighter jet; Turning bitter oranges into marmalade; Printing out a dress fit for the catwalk.
6. Road Rollers, Canned Bread, Vertu Phones
Aired 11 June 2015 • 22 min
The powerful machines essential to building roads and highways are made; No pans are needed when you can bake bread in a can; Luxurious cell phones are made with rubies and sapphires.
7. Tinned Grapefruit, Snow Machines, Conveyor Belts
Aired 18 June 2015 • 22 min
8. Harp Strings, Roof Windows, Belgian Waffles
Aired 3 July 2015 • 22 min
Making the world's finest harp strings; Building roof windows that can keep out a hurricane; Making Belgian waffles.
9. AGA Cookers, Incense Sticks, Jenever
Aired 9 July 2015 • 22 min
Scrap metal is made into a gourmet cooking machine; The exotic aromas of India are created by hand; How sailors got their Dutch Courage.
10. Robo-farm, Log Stacker, Piano Moving
Aired 23 July 2015 • 22 min
A farm in the Netherlands is run almost entirely by robots. One of the largest toughest log stackers is put to work in Sweeden and grand pianos are navigated through the streets of New York.
11. Bamboo Scaffolding, Strontium
Aired 30 July 2015 • 22 min
Indian construction crews that use bamboo for their scaffolding needs; Mining strontium for multicolored fireworks.
12. Espadrilles, Prefabricated Houses, Underground Storage
Aired 6 August 2015 • 22 min
Fashionable footwear; prefabricated houses; underground storage for books and documents.
13. Macadamia Nuts, Tap Water, Crowd Barriers
Aired 13 August 2015 • 22 min
South Africa's macadamia farmers; Chicago's water-filtration system. Also: the use of Mojo Barriers to keep music fans safe at the Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands.
14. High Rise Construction, Dr. Marten Boots, Cooking Pans
Aired 20 August 2015 • 22 min
How do they build the biggest apartment block on the planet? How do they make the classic British boot? And how do they make cooking pans tough enough to last...
15. Sitar, Biltong, Bulldozers
Aired 27 August 2015 • 22 min
How do they craft a classic Indian instrument, the Sitar? How do they make beef biltong? And how do they build monster bulldozers?
16. Fedoras, Cement, Frozen Peas
Aired 3 September 2015 • 22 min
How do they fashion the iconic Fedora hat? How do they make the cement that builds the world? And how do they harvest and freeze millions of peas in under...
17. Mohair, Quadski, Harp
Aired 10 September 2015 • 22 min
How do they turn goat fleeces into fabrics? How do they build a quad bike that turns into a jet-ski and how do they create the instrument of angels- the...
18. Redbush Tea, Luggage Handling, Hairbrushes
Aired 17 September 2015 • 22 min
How do they harvest thousands of tonnes of tea? How to they make sure that your luggage catches the same plane as you? And how do they make high-quality hairbrushes?
19. Credit Cards, Indian Lunch Deliveries, Boat Lift
Aired 24 September 2015 • 22 min
How do they keep the crooks from cracking into your credit card? And how do they lift a 1000 ton ship 70 meters into the air while it is still...
20. Power Tunnel, Pizza Ovens, Playhouses
Aired 1 October 2015 • 22 min
How do they build tunnels to prevent blackouts in one of the world's biggest cities? How do they turn millions of hectares of pine forest into perfect pieces of timber?