''The Great Egg Race'' was a BBC television series, that ran from 1979 to 1986 broadcast on

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

. Twenty-two episodes were produced and presented by six presenters over the life of the show.

Programme

''The Great Egg Race'' was a BBC television series, that ran from 1979 to 1986 broadcast on

. Presented by Brian Cant (1979), Johnny Ball (1980), Hilary Henson (1980–81), Charlotte Allen (1982), Professor Heinz Wolff (originally head judge, head presenter from 1983), and

Lesley Judd Lesley Judd (born 20 December 1946) is an English former television presenter and dancer, best known as a long-serving host of the BBC children's programme ''Blue Peter'' (1972–1979). Background Born in London, the daughter of Leslie T. Judd ...

, who joined the series in 1984. Re-edited 15-minute episodes of the original show were later made for

BBC Choice BBC Choice was a British digital television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in digital format, as well as the BBC's second non-analogue-terres ...

in 2000, under the title ''The Great Egg Race Rides Again''. The show featured teams creating Heath Robinson-esque mechanical creations in an attempt to solve a problem set at the start of the show. The series obtained its name from the initial challenge of making a device capable of transporting an egg in a rubber-band-powered vehicle the furthest possible distance without breaking it. After the initial egg-related challenges, other non-egg events were introduced. In the first episode, as well as the egg-carrying challenge between several devices, three teams had to precision weigh three items – a feather, an egg and a household brick (a weight range 10,000:1) – using a 50g weight and ordinary domestic items. In the last episode the two teams' sole challenge was to take an aerial photograph of an offshore oil rig. Scoring was given for "design", "courage" and "entertainment". The producers were Peter Bruce (12 episodes, 1979–80) and Charles Huff (10 episodes, 1983–86). Specialist judges included Professor Michael French and

Fred Dibnah Frederick Travis Dibnah, (29 April 1938 – 6 November 2004) was an English steeplejack and television personality, with a keen interest in mechanical engineering, who described himself as a "backstreet mechanic". When Dibnah ...

. The theme music was by Richard Denton and Martin Cook and is featured on the BBC Records LP ''Top BBC-TV Themes - Vol 2'' (1979).

References

External links

Selected shows from the series (BBC archive)
* 1979 establishments in the United Kingdom 1986 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1979 British television series debuts 1986 British television series endings BBC science BBC Television shows Engineering competitions Innovation in the United Kingdom Television series by Aardman Animations {{BBC-tv-prog-stub

Programme

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