Marconi Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom

This is Absolute Genius.

Dive into a world of action, adventure and explosions.

Each show will introduce you to a different genius.

An amazing person who had a genius idea which shaped the world.

And they will inspire us to

come up with our own genius idea at the end of each show.

-But, will it be any good?

-Will it be any good?

-It'll be...

-BOTH: Absolute Genius!

On today's show, a genius who transformed the way we communicate.

How wireless saves lives at sea.

Mayday! Mayday!

And Dick faces his biggest fear on live radio!

I was so nervous just before the take off.

Got the instruction, just...

RADIO CRACKLES

-Dick? Speak to us, Dick.

-Hello?

DAD, Genius Radio!

And that was a number one hit back in 1982, don't you know?

Welcome to the show.

You're listening to DAD Radio and our special guest today

really did change the way that we communicate.

Thanks to him, we can send all sorts of information wirelessly,

as if by magic.

Please welcome live to the studio

the Italian inventor who helped the world go wireless.

It's Guglielmo Marconi.

Buon giorno, boys!

Inspired by his genius, we're going to be coming up with our own

genius idea later on

and careful kids, it might be mad!

'Yes, we're going to attempt an extreme radio broadcast.'

Aaargh!

Not half!

But first, let's find out how it all started.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS, HEN SQUAWKS

Today, our whole world is connected.

We can communicate with each other almost instantly,

pretty much anywhere on the planet.

From sending messages on your phone or laptop,

to broadcasting live on TV and radio.

We can even pick up and transmit signals to outer space!

But, hundreds of years ago, these incredible forms of

wireless communication didn't exist

and sending simple information took a very long time.

You could send smoke signals...

-Do you want a burger?

-What?

The smoke's saying, "Do you want a burger?"

What?

Or, you could send your message by carrier pigeon,

or even by ship.

But that took forever -

if you sent a letter to India in 1840,

it would take two years to get a reply!

By the time the Italian Marconi was born in 1874,

scientists had worked out a much faster way of sending messages...

Along wires running next to railway tracks.

It was called the telegraph.

Urgent messages could be sent by Morse code,

using electrical signals to spell out words -

short dots and long dashes instead of letters.

Great invention, but the only problem with this

was that it needed miles and miles of cable.

Where shall I stick this?

Then scientists began to discover

the existence of something even better,

something that's all around us - radio waves.

And this is what excited Marconi.

But what exactly ARE radio waves?

-SIMULTANEOUSLY: Fran?

-Fran?

Our genius scientist Fran

explains things in ways even we can understand.

Best of all, she loves a good experiment.

Argh!

And she's guaranteed to pop up just when you need her most.

Fran, what are radio waves?

Well, the thing is, in the 1800s, scientists had started to think

that there was some kind of invisible wave of energy

that could travel from one place to another, without wires,

through thin air.

But to show you how this invisible wave of energy moves,

I need...this.

My jelly sweet wave machine.

-Jelly sweet wave machine?

-I like it!

-All right, Wonka!

Can we eat it?

Not yet, not yet, no.

But scientists had started to realise

that if you had a sudden burst of energy,

that energy could travel a distance, like a ripple or a wave.

Just like this...

Ah, Franny!

It goes from place to place.

And that was how the invisible wave of energy could travel.

But if these waves of energy were invisible,

how could scientists prove they were real?

They built scientific machines a bit like this one.

-Ah...

-And look right there...

SWITCH BUZZES

-Oooh...

-Bad boy! Look at that.

Yeah, that's a lot of electricity.

Now, scientists believed

that coming out from that electric spark

were invisible waves of energy

and those were radio waves.

But how did they prove that?

Well, if they could make these radio waves do something,

say like light up a bulb,

then they would know that the radio waves were there

and that they existed.

Right. How does it work?

OK, right, so when I turn it on, there's an electric spark.

Then, from that electric spark, that will send out radio waves.

-And those radio waves will go up to this aerial here.

-Right.

It'll be detected by that

and they should make this bulb light up.

It's quite hard to make work.

There's nothing connecting it to that?

No, there's no wires between these two at all.

If you don't believe Fran, we shall prove it, look.

-There's nothing in-between the two devices, no wires.

-Uh-uh.

-Right, shall we do it?

-Yes.

-OK - lights off.

-OK...

And hopefully, that light will go on.

-Ready?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah - ready.

-Yeah!

-Hey, look at that!

Hang on, light on.

Are you telling me that, when you were pressing that button

and simultaneously this was lighting up,

there were invisible waves of energy passing from here to here,

all within a split second?

Like that was transmitting something to this aerial?

Yeah - they were travelling at the speed of light, actually.

They travel that fast, yep.

And they're transmitted from here, received here -

so this is called the receiver - and then that lit up the bulb.

And then that proved that radio waves existed

and you could do something useful with them.

And so much technology that we use nowadays

was originated from this principle.

-Yes.

-A radio station transmits the signal from one aerial

-and our receiver picks it up on its aerial.

-Exactly.

So, just one more question Fran - about the whole...

-Can we eat it?

-Mm.

-What, the jelly sweets?

-Yes.

-Go on, then.

-Yep...

Sorry, Fran.

Hey! Save some for me!

Marconi spotted a genius opportunity

to use radio waves in a practical way -

an idea that would revolutionise the way we communicate.

Marconi's genius idea

was to put radio waves to good use over long distances.

He took existing bits of technology, improved them

and built a brand-new wireless system -

a way of using radio waves to send messages from one place to another.

It's where modern wireless communication began,

from TV and radio, to messaging on your mobile.

Genius!

Marconi needed to show what an amazing idea it was.

So, in 1896, he came to the UK and set up a high-stakes demo

to prove his wireless machine really did work.

See ya, lads!

And who better to spot a good idea when they saw it

than the British Army?

All right, lads?

We're going to recreate that famous demo

with these soldiers and...

..Genius Helper Colonel Colin Cunningham,

from the Royal Signals Museum at Blandford Camp.

-Hi, Colin, how are you doing?

-Hello.

-You all right, Colin?

Why would wireless technology change the British Army so much?

Well, for 50 years, they'd been using wires to communicate with

and you had to lay them and it took a long time to do it.

And radio wireless, as it was called at the time,

gave them the opportunity to go from point to point instantaneously.

What did he really want to achieve with his genius idea?

He wanted to make money.

He could see the potential in this technique

and he wanted to develop it to make money.

So what are we going to try and do today?

We are going to recreate the demonstration that he did

on Salisbury Plain in July 1896.

And he got together senior people

from the Army, the Navy and the Post Office,

all of whom were interested in long-distance communication.

So, really, this was his Dragons' Den sales pitch.

Uh, he was the entrepreneur trying to sell his idea

and they were all the Dragons.

Yeah, and he was going to try and demonstrate it

over a significant distance - significant in those days.

He had the vision and he knew he could make something work.

And what he was going to do was develop it.

Ah, right, so this is it.

Colin, can you explain what we've got here?

This is a recreation of Marconi's transmitter

using modern components.

So if I press this, I'll send a signal from here to there

and you'll hear the switch make the bell ring.

BELL RINGS

Oh, yeah, I can hear it switching.

Now lift it up, step back a couple of paces...

SWITCH BUZZES WEAKLY

-Ah! Isn't that weird?

-Bring it back...

BELL RINGS

-Right!

-So its range is only a third of a metre or something.

Very short, yes.

So this works in a similar way to Fran's demo.

But we're going to try and send those radio waves even further.

So then what did Marconi do? What was his genius?

He put an aerial on the transmitter and an aerial on the receiver.

These were bits of wire 70 or 80 feet long,

and he held them up by kites.

Ah, I see - so the higher the aerial, the longer the range.

Now we don't have kites, but we are using a helium balloon.

Look at the size of that one, Colin, it's a whopper.

Mamma mia!

Don't pop it! No!

DICK LAUGHS

What was that?

I forgot we were at an army camp!

That's great!

So when we press this button,

it's going to send a radio wave from here

all the way down to the other antenna over there?

And all the way round here.

Oh, OK.

OK, so it probably works out best if Rich stays here with you

-and I go down there with the lads, yeah?

-OK.

Look at the lads - all right, lads?

No, they're having none of it today, are they?

No, I'll, er...just make my own way down there. See ya.

Pot holes everywhere.

-Marconi, ready?

-Dick, I was born ready!

Dudes...

OK.

Ready!

Right, this is it, the big moment.

Will the simple action of me pressing this Morse key

send a radio signal 30m up in the air,

100m that way, 30m back down and ring that bell?

Let's find out.

Three, two, one...

SWITCH BUZZES

BELL RINGS

Ha! Yeah! It worked!

That is actually unbelievable. It's instant.

Do it again!

SWITCH BUZZES AND BELL RINGS

See that? It was amazing.

I am gobsmacked.

No wonder they were gobsmacked on the day,

they thought this was total genius.

Cos it is, Marconi - I mean, look...

Just mechanical components.

Right, can you stop it now?

All right, I get the idea!

By increasing the height of the aerials -

just like Marconi -

we've proved you can send messages over longer distances without wires.

And after a few tweaks,

Marconi's wireless system began to be used in combat

by the Navy and the Army.

But Marconi didn't stop there - in 1901,

he attempted something many scientists thought was impossible.

From my earliest experiments,

I had always held a belief that a day would come

when mankind would be able to send messages without wires

between the furthermost ends of the earth.

Marconi raised his transmitters and receivers more than 60m high

and sent a wireless message from Cornwall

2,100 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada.

It was a genius moment. Marconi had reached new heights.

And thanks to him,

the whole world would one day become connected wirelessly.

And here are some more wonderful wireless facts.

It's the Genius Top Five!

At five - radio waves make it round the planet

because they bounce off the ionosphere,

part of earth's atmosphere.

That's how Marconi got his wireless signal across the Atlantic.

At four - radio waves can travel at the speed of light,

almost 186,000 miles per second!

You're nicked!

Three - on Christmas Eve 1906, Canadian inventor Reginald Fessenden

transmitted the first wireless radio broadcast using the human voice.

It was heard by ships hundreds of miles away.

Can you hear me?!

Two - objects in deep space can send out radio waves.

So can the Sun and bolts of lightning!

And at one - radio waves helped save more than 700 lives

when the Titanic sunk in 1912.

Marconi's wireless system was used to send distress signals,

so survivors could be rescued.

So Marconi's wireless system saved lives at sea - fact!

And it was here in Cornwall

where the very first ship's distress signal was received.

To tell us more, Genius Helper David Barlow

from the Lizard Marconi Wireless Station.

He's a massive Marconi fan!

Wow, look at this - this is incredible.

So this is where all the magic happened?

-This was called the Marconi Bungalow until recently.

-No, really?

Bogies!

-Dick and Dom in the...

-Marconi Bungalow.

In the Marconi Bungalow - how about that?

But what was the most significant thing that he did right at this spot?

Well, one of the most significant things must be

he received the first provable SOS ever sent.

And this was before the Titanic, two years before the Titanic.

A man was in this very hut

and he was receiving signals from a ship called the SS Minnehaha.

Minne-ha-ha - that's nice.

He said "We might need help, stand by, SOS, SOS"

and there it is.

-Look at that!

-So this was the first ever SOS?

It was the first ever provable SOS that was ever sent.

In days before Marconi, people got lost at sea.

Today, you usually know where people are.

-All because of that man's brains.

-All because of that man's brains.

We've got to go somewhere else to find out more

about Marconi's SOS distress signals.

And I've heard that Poole is very nice this time of year.

-Poole?

-Mm...

I LOVE Poole!

Poole in Dorset -

home to Europe's largest natural harbour,

the art of pottery,

and the RNLI's Lifeboat College.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution

runs a 24-hour search and rescue service.

Humber Coastguard...

Its volunteer lifeboat crews rely on radio

to communicate with the coastguard and boats in distress -

those radios are the modern-day version

of Marconi's original wireless system.

We're going to experience our own emergency

in the RNLI's Sea Survival pool.

We'll have to rely on a radio to call for help.

And to assist us, it's Genius Helper

and RNLI trainer Matt Cridland.

But before we can put Marconi's genius to the test,

we need to abandon ship.

So this is our ship.

It's had a little accident and it's sinking,

and we need to get safely into the water.

This is as high as it would be

if you were about to jump off a ship?

-Er, potentially, yeah.

-Pretty high, isn't it?

-Yeah.

What's the safest way of doing this?

OK, so we have got a technique to look after ourselves

and what we're going to do is clamp our noses

and make a cup over our mouth.

So we can't breath.

And with our other hand,

-we're going to hold that elbow in nice and tight.

-Right

And then a nice big safe step off.

OK. What if your back leg freezes?

You're going to fall.

Take up our position, one final check

and then just a nice step out.

-Ready?

-No. I'm not ready.

Put your toes on the orange line.

DICK AND DOM BABBLE

Psych it up.

I don't know how that's going to help.

LAUGHTER

Just get in!

-Get back there!

-OK.

-Hold on to the railings.

I'll count down from ten and you just do it.

The more you think about it, the worse it's going to get.

That's fine, don't worry about your feet.

Look straight up, clamp your hands, look forward, step forwards,

when you're ready, off you go.

One...go!

Ah! Argh...!

-What was it like?

-Brilliant!

-Nice.

When you're ready, look forwards, step forwards, off you go.

Bizarre - I just stopped! Hang on a minute...

I'll count like you did for me, cos that worked.

Ready? Five, four, three, two, one.

I can't do it! After all that I just said to you.

I can't blooming jump off!

It's literally like someone's got hold of a rope on my back

and is just pulling me.

And again - three, two, one...

Argh...!

'I can't believe it - Dick's the one who's scared of heights, not me!'

Things are getting choppy -

time to haul ourselves into the life raft.

I'm in!

Can we stop now, please?

In the days before Marconi found a way for ships

to send wireless SOS signals,

there was little way of calling for help.

He's in, he's in.

When you left shore, you were on your own.

It's gone all dark.

Yeah, we've got a bit of rain starting now,

the weather's starting to get a bit worse.

Thanks to Marconi and his wireless invention,

we're able to radio for help.

Mayday, mayday!

Help! Over.

Now we can be saved.

This is the coastguard - don't worry,

we'll be tasking a helicopter.

They'll be getting airborne very shortly

and they'll be sent to your location, over.

And not a moment too soon.

What is it?

I think we've just double inflated our jackets...

DICK LAUGHS

-Bye-bye.

-See you up there.

-Yeah.

In 2012, RNLI lifeboat crews saved 328 lives,

helped by modern radio communication.

The coastguard, the RNLI and ships in distress -

all able to communicate instantly during an emergency.

Well, hopefully, that is the closest we're going to experience

being in the sea in a thunderstorm, in a life raft,

and being rescued by the RNLI and the coastguard.

It was an incredible operation, but it was all down to that really.

Yeah, all down to Marconi and his wireless radio system.

-So, er, that's Dick and Dom.

-Genius.

AIR HISSES

Over and out.

We've seen how radio waves can send signals without wires...

ELECTRICITY BUZZES

..radioed for help using the modern-day version

of Marconi's wireless system...

..and discovered how height helps radio waves go further.

BELL RINGS

Yeah! It worked!

That's inspired us to go even higher too

with a wireless challenge.

It's time to reveal our genius idea.

We're going to take radio communication

to the next level.

We? We? No - WE aren't.

YOU are. And here's how.

Our Genius Idea - to do an extreme radio broadcast.

Dick will transmit from a hang glider up to 150m high

down to me on the ground, transmitting back to the studio

and then LIVE all over Cornwall.

My challenge - to keep talking, even though I'm petrified.

Our problem - we might fall off air.

And I might be too scared to speak.

Getting Dick off the ground

is Genius Helper and instructor Graham Phipps,

who used to hang glide for Great Britain.

-Hi, Graham, nice to meet you.

-Hi, guys.

-How are you doing?

-Hiya, Dom.

I've never done anything like this before.

What do I need to know?

All you need to know, Dick, is relax.

-I don't feel relaxed.

-No, you don't feel relaxed.

-No.

We'll make you relaxed in the air.

I'm really scared of heights - I mean, how high will we be going?

We're going to take you today...ooh,

I would guess up to 400-500 feet, maybe a little more.

Well, that's on par with the seagulls you see right up there, yeah?

We'll be up with the seagulls, maybe even looking down on them.

That is amazing - just out of interest,

because we can't really tell from here,

there's kind of a slight slope and then there's some green bushes.

What's the other side of the green bushes?

-The other side of the green bushes is a very steep slope.

-Right.

-That's a cliff?

-That's a cliff.

That's another word for it, but I didn't like to say that.

I've seen a hang glider take off before

and you kind of run and then off you go,

but what if I panic and want you to stop before we get to the edge?

-We don't stop.

-We don't stop?

-We don't stop, Dick, we keep going.

-We will take off. Trust me.

-Right.

You do your part, I'll do mine. It'll be fine.

Right...

Rather you than me, Dickie boy.

While Dick psychs himself up,

here's a not so genius thing to do on live radio.

It's the Not So Genius Idea.

In 1938, a performance of the famous sci-fi story War Of The Worlds

was broadcast live on radio.

Fake news reports warned of Martians invading earth.

But things got out of hand

when frightened listeners mistakenly thought it was a real alien attack!

It's the scariest thing ever...!

Our broadcast is about to go out live on BBC Radio Cornwall,

in one of the busiest programmes of the day - Drivetime.

Dick will wear a small radio transmitter,

which will send his voice down to our receiver and transmitter

on the ground.

And, thanks to modern wireless communication,

our extreme radio report will be heard live all over Cornwall.

Dick and Dom are attempting an extreme radio broadcast

for their new series of CBBC's...

Just a few seconds left now - how are you feeling?

-Awful.

-Awful?

-Mm-hm.

It's very windy.

But for once, wind is Dick's friend,

because he needs gusts of up to 28mph for take-off.

I don't know whether I'm cold...

..or absolutely bricking it.

Hopefully, we can speak to them now.

So how terrified are you?

It's not me that's, er, you know, worried at all, it's my colleague,

it's Dick who is absolutely terrified.

Yes, I don't usually do these kind of stunts for the programme

and I'm now standing next to a hang glider,

ready to launch myself off a cliff over the sea.

Are you ready, though?

I think I am, but I just want to go for it.

-Get it done.

-Tell you what, Jo,

would you be OK talking to me

whilst we, er...strap Dick into the hang glider?

Um, he's got a team of experts around him

to make sure everything's going to be fine.

'So far, so good.

'But we need to get this broadcast off the ground,

'before Dick changes his mind.'

His hang glider is facing into the wind,

he's right on the cliff edge.

I'm so nervous.

Here they go. They're running forward.

They're going up in the air and...they're off!

Wow, that is absolutely amazing!

Jo, can you hear Dick?

Ugh...!

-Yes, I can now, yes.

-Can you hear me, Dom?

Yeah, I can hear you, Rich. And Jo, can you hear Rich?

Oh, poor lad, yes.

This...this is exhilarating to say the least.

'It's working!

'Dick is broadcasting over the radio waves

'from 150m in the air.

'And the studio is receiving him loud and clear.'

Bellissimo, Dick! Bravo!

Rich, how did the take-off feel?

Well, I was so nervous just before the take-off,

my heart was beating so fast.

I had to close my eyes and got the instruction, just...

-Oh.

-He's just gone out of range, Jo, I think.

'We spoke too soon.

'The hang glider's flown too far from our receiver on the ground.

'Too far for even today's technology.'

'But just when they thought I'd gone for good...'

Arrrrgggghhhh...!

'What a relief!'

-Speak to us, Dick.

-Hello? Can you hear us, Rich?

That is so high!

-Are you actually enjoying it?

-Weirdly, yes. I don't know why.

But I suppose the most amazing thing about this is, Dom,

that Marconi's wireless technology is shining through.

Well done, mate. Listen, we're going to hand back to Jo now.

You spend as much time as you want up there. We'll see you in a bit.

-Thank you, boys.

-Well done, mate. See you later. Bye.

Splendid stuff.

We've discovered how Marconi used radio waves

to help the world go wireless...

Mayday, mayday!

'..seen for ourselves how his genius is still saving lives.'

And pulled off an extreme wireless challenge,

which might just have cured Dick's fear for heights.

When you're trying to describe someone's genius ideas,

sometimes words aren't enough.

Sometimes you have to actually get out there and do it.

Mm - and I had to do that. But I actually loved it!

So there's only one thing to say,

and that is Guiglielmo Marconi, you are an absolute genius.

Eh, grazie, Dick and Dom!

Argh!

Ah!

Smacked me in the face!

-Dom's...

-Oh, no!

What are you doing?!

Let me get it straight!

Oh!

What's all that black stuff?!

Hey-hey!

RICH SCREAMS