Episode 8 Richard Hammond's Blast Lab

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Hello, hello.

I'm Richard and this is Blast Lab,

my top-secret underground science lab.

Get my lab coat on.

Got to be safe.

Actually, very few people

have stepped in to this high-security testing facility.

And because some of my science experiments do go a bit wrong,

even fewer people have ever stepped out.

But don't worry! You'll be totally safe in here

as long as you don't do not exactly what I don't say...to do.

See? Can't be any clearer than that.

In a second, you'll meet two teams

who'll compete in scientific games to win prizes.

So let's see what's in store today.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Now, normally I have

a highly-skilled team of SAS men protecting my lab.

Unfortunately their highly-skilled SAS driver

got lost on the way here so they're stuck in Skegness.

However, I've been lucky enough to bring in at the last minute

the only person who can beat the SAS in an arm wrestle.

It is Ninja Nan.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Ninja Nan!

Thanks for standing in, Nan.

THANKS FOR... Never mind.

She might look fragile, but she is a fully trained ninja.

Lethal.

Um...Nan, if you'd like to take your place in security.

If you'd like to move to... take your...

TAKE YOUR PLACE IN SECURITY PLEASE, NAN.

Thank you. Ah, she's deadly. Off she goes. Look at her move.

Still moving. She moves so quickly, they named nanoseconds after her.

Still moving.

Nan, are you there yet?

Is she in security? Oh, there's her little booth.

She's making her way there. You can't hurry her or she'll get angry.

She's in a chair, she's found a seat. That's a relief.

Let's have a look at who's trying to get into the lab today.

We can't be too careful.

There's a bunch of people who claim to be the Yellow Team.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

OK, now, you've got to...

Don't applaud yet, because we don't know...

They claim to be the Yellow Team, you could be anybody.

What are your names?

-Aliyah!

-Max!

-Rosaline!

-OK, that checks out with my security checks.

It says here you have a hidden talent. All of you can sing.

THEY ALL SING BADLY

Good grief. Is that singing, everybody? What do you reckon?

AUDIENCE: No!

-They're not too sure in here...

-Oh, come on!

OK! Oh, come on - that does it. You are the yellow team. Come through.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Max, Aliyah and Rosaline, welcome to the studio.

Welcome to the Laboratory, it's lovely to see you.

-Where are you all from?

-Twickenham.

-That's nice.

-Anything else we should know about you?

-ALL: We're the Cheeky Monkeys!

-Is that a team name you've made up?

-ALL: Yes!

Well, you're the Yellow Team. Forget that.

Thanks for coming in, nice to have you in the Laboratory.

There should be people in there claiming to be the Red Team.

Don't applaud yet, we don't know. They could be anybody

trying to break into my top secret underground lab.

Let's make sure they are who they say they are.

The Red Team, I have your names here. What are they?

-Ebony!

-Sally!

-Olivia!

-Crikey, you're very cheery, aren't you?

Ebony, Sally and Olivia - yes, that's right.

You're hidden talent here, it says on my security form -

Olivia, you can do a one-handed cartwheel? Can you?

Oh, she's going to. Wow!

OK, that's it. You must be the Red Team. Come on in, then!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Sally, Ebony and Olivia, you are the Red Team. Where are you all from?

ALL: We're The Atoms and we're from Northampton.

-You're the what?

-ALL: Atoms.

-No, you're the Red Team.

Right, it's time to move on. It's time to play round one.

Teams, take your positions over there, please.

Now, they do say in relationships that looks don't matter.

Well, here's the proof, it's Oliver.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Now, Oliver loves nothing more than collecting fact on his travels

for his Fact Nav system.

Trouble is, not all of his fact turns out to be true.

It's up to both the teams to decide what is true or false in Fact Nav.

So this is how it's going to work.

I'm going to read both teams a science fact.

You then have to tell me whether that fact is true or false.

OK? If it's true, Oliver will let us know by doing this...

HORN TOOTS AND SIRENS BLARE

And if it's false, he'll use his horn like this...

DEEP FOGHORN

He's quite noisy, Oliver, as it turns out.

We ready? We understand the rules? OK, Red Team, you're going first.

This is your question.

You have to tell me whether this fact is true or false.

An object can be thrown further if it is thrown west.

Don't answer straight away.

You can talk amongst yourselves and have a think.

Audience, what do you think?

AUDIENCE: False!

-False.

-True!

-Oh, hang on. Nearly everybody thinks it's false.

You don't have to go with what the audience think.

Think it out for yourselves. But the rest of us all think, "False."

All right, then. Well, let's find out what our team thinks.

I shall put my combined mug tree and microphone back, nobody liked it.

Right, what do we think? What's your answer?

-False.

-You think it's false?

You think an object can't be thrown further if it's thrown west.

Oliver, is it true or false?

HORN TOOTS AND SIRENS BLARE

It's true. Which means, sorry guys, you're wrong.

It's actually because the Earth rotates towards the east.

If you stand on the equator, you can be travelling at over 1,000 mph

without feeling like you're moving, cos the Earth rotates.

Right now, where we are, we're travelling at over 600 mph.

And it's not even ruffling my hair.

Yellow Team, here comes your science fact.

Tell me if this is true or false. Are you ready?

When the sun rises over Uranus's North Pole,

that's the planet Uranus, the North Pole,

it stays light there

for a whole month.

So when the sun rises,

the start of a day here, at Uranus,

it stays light for a whole month. Is that true or false?

Have a think, don't answer straight away. Audience, what do we think?

Is that true or false? Stays light for a whole month.

AUDIENCE SHOUTS OUT

Quite a lot of trues.

Team? Do you think it's true or false?

-We've gone with true.

-You've gone with true,

-you think it does stay light for a whole month.

-Yes.

OK. All right.

Oliver, is it true or false?

DEEP FOGHORN

Bad luck, Yellows, it's actually false.

I can tell you the real answer. It stays light, so the sun comes up

over the North Pole and it stays light for 42 years.

Yeah, yeah.

If the sun was to rise there now, you'd be 50 when it got dark again.

I'd be, you know, 55, maybe 60.

TITTERING

Thank you, lab rats. OK, there's one last chance for you to get a point.

It's time for your third question. This one works differently, though.

LOUD CRASH

Oh, that sounds bad. Lab rats! Please, guys...

They've been experimenting all night trying to make a telephone

to improve our mobile phones with a two shoes and a bit of string.

It doesn't work and it won't work. You can't make a phone out of shoes.

You can send e-mails with socks, but you can't phone with shoes.

Go and do something useful, or it'll be back in the cage. Go.

Find something useful to do. Right.

I'm gonna ask you a question and this time

you don't have to tell me if it's true or false.

You have to write down what you think the answer might be.

You've got a pad in front of you to write on, OK?

Then you'll show us the answer. You may not be exactly right

but the team that gets closest will get the point.

Here is your question.

What was the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth?

I'd like the answer in degrees Celsius, please.

You're allowed to have a little bit of a think.

Does anybody in the audience have any idea what it might be?

Hands going up. Hang on, where's my mug tree mic?

-Yes? What do you think it might be?

-I think it might be 58.

-Right, what do you think?

-I think it's around 56.

-OK, anybody think higher than that?

-58?

-OK. All right then, guys.

OK, reveal your answers for us, please. Let's have a look.

Reds, you've gone with 60. Yellows, you've gone with 50.

The actual answer is...

One of our audience members is very clever. It is 58 degrees Celsius.

It was recorded at the El Azizia weather station in Libya in 1922,

so Reds, you get the point. Well done, Reds!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That's to come. Now, though, it's time for Mini Science.

Our contestants get to test their brains

and get all sciencey with some everyday household objects.

To help me is my old science teacher, Mini Miss.

-Hello, Richard.

-Hello.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Let me just explain something. When I made one of my inventions -

it's very important to write an instruction manual,

cos otherwise I forget how it works.

Unfortunately, I forgot where I put the manual.

When I tried my new time machine out, I made a few little mistakes.

I set the controls to bring back my old science teacher,

but didn't realise she'd come back as a ten-year-old.

-Thanks, Richard.

-Sorry. You know your science, though.

-Of course!

I'm a professor in nuclear physics

and I've been teaching for over 40 years.

See? So what have you got for us this time, Miss?

Today's teams are going to be playing Cup On Your Face.

All you need are these cups. The teams then have to stick

as many of these cups onto their face as possible

and at the end of the course, have to drop the cups into a cylinder.

The teams with the most amount of cups in the cylinder

at the end of the game wins.

I see. So, Cup On Your Face.

I'm just thinking about the science here, Miss.

I reckon this is about pressure, isn't it?

Because when you squeeze the cup like that,

it squeezes some of the air out.

Then when you put it on your face,

the cup goes back to its original shape,

so there's not as much air in that space as there is outside.

That means lower pressure and that means it's stuck on your face.

-Correct!

-I was listening back then. I'm gonna demo the course.

Here's what you do.

First of all, you cross the Bridge Of Destiny

over the nuclear tank. Do not fall in, it's just terrible.

Down the steps, keeping to the left of this line.

If the cups fall off your face at any point,

don't stop, keep going and finish.

Past the lab rats... Idiot.

Then you get round here to the high jump.

You go underneath with the cups still on your face.

Over my attempt at reinventing the bicycle.

Then you have the stepping stones of science. Whatever route you like.

You get to the finish. If you've got any cups left on your face,

take 'em off, drop 'em into the canister.

Then, you return. Same route, across the bridge on the left-hand side.

The next player will have got ready with your cups, ready to leave.

But you don't just run away when the other person gets back.

You have to high-five in an annoying way. Well done.

So that's it. Everybody understand?

You get the rules? As many as you can do.

You've got some time to do this.

And that some time starts...now.

So, first thing's first, the cups have to go on the face.

It'll be interesting to see how many cups they go for.

Reds going for two, but the Yellows have made a quicker start.

That's because Max has only one cup on his face.

Oh, and a dropped cup for the Reds.

But in it goes, so one cup each at this point.

Both teams playing it safe to start.

Only going for one or two cups. You can put as many as you like on.

But they might all fall off.

Look, the Reds bag another one.

Aliyah has to go back having lost her cups on the way round.

Oh, and Rosaline has lost one. Funny thing, suction.

People often think suction is about things being pulled,

but it's the opposite. Because there are fewer air molecules

in the cup than there are outside,

the air outside is pushing it onto your face.

That's how suction works.

Ebony back with a changeover now and look at that!

Yellow very confident with two, there.

Three from Red. Look at that. That's magnificent!

Oh, well one's gone.

A brave try, there. Multiple cups.

Olivia going with three cups as well.

If she can get the round the course, that could win the Reds the game.

That's it, time's up! That was close. One last one going in.

Well done!

OK. This is it - moment of truth.

Let's have a look, see who's collected the most cups.

I shall tip them out. For the Reds - seven.

Will you remember seven? Cos I'll forget when I've counted these.

For the Yellows - one, two, three, four, five, six.

What I don't understand is, there are two reds in here.

Yellow Team?

Yellow Team? How did that happen?

-You put them in the wrong one?

-Yeah, she put them in the wrong one.

Look at your jacket. What colour is it, Ebony?

-Red.

-What colour are they wearing?

-Yellow.

-And what colour's this?

-Yellow.

I'm sorry. As a lab rat, you can't have those points.

However, still with seven to four,

the Red Team wins anyway!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

So, if that works for cups on faces,

how much suction can we get if we make the cup a bit bigger?

So just how strong is this air pressure?

My faithful lab rats are gonna find out.

These are Magdeburg pressure spheres.

Yeah, I don't know what they are either. But Phil Collins does.

MUSIC: "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins

No, he's not the 1980's pop star

your dad makes you listen to in the car.

Hi, I'm Phil Collins, the vacuum expert.

Of course you are.

This Phil Collins knows all about air pressure.

To see how they work, we first need to join them together

and suck all the air out.

One of the lab rats gives it a go, but as usual, it's a rubbish effort.

Thankfully, Phil Collins has brought a vacuum pump.

By sucking the air out of the sphere,

the air pressure inside the sphere is lowered,

allowing the air pressure on the outside to push with its full force.

That's the weight of five gorillas.

Let's see if our weedy lab rats can pull them apart.

Oh, dear. Just look at these two.

They said they were the best lab rats for the job.

But as I thought - pathetic.

Time for some proper muscle, like this international body builder,

called Tina.

One strong woman and two lab rats.

This should be as easy as opening a bag of crisps.

WHISTLE BLOWS

Obviously a very stubborn bag of crisps.

Come on Phil, be a gent. Give the lady a hand.

WHISTLE BLOWS

At last.

But Phil Collins has one more sphere up his sleeve.

And it's a biggie.

A bigger sphere should take even more grunt to pull apart.

WHISTLE BLOWS

Phil Collins has stumped the lab rats

and strong woman, Tina, this time.

Well, they can barely lift it off the ground let alone pull it apart.

We need something with more power, more grip and an engine.

We've got two Land Rovers to settle this one once and for all.

Let's hold the film there, cos Red Team I want to ask you,

for an extra point, do you reckon the car's gonna do it?

-Yeah.

-You think they can? OK. Yellows?

Can they pull the spheres apart? Held together by a vacuum.

All the air taken out. Sucked together.

Well, basically, they could reverse and then go really fast.

-So, do you think they might do it?

-Yeah.

-I don't think so, though.

Right, so you better decide as a team.

While you're deciding, I'm gonna ask the audience

with my amazing mug tree microphone.

What do you reckon guys, can they do it?

-I think they can do it.

-You think they can.

-I think they can.

-I think they can't.

You think they can't? Remember, they're not glued together.

They're only held together by suction.

-Um...I still think they can't do it.

-OK.

Right, I'm gonna find out now. Yellow Team, make your minds up.

-Can they or can't they?

-Can.

-Can.

Both teams think they can. Let's have a look for an extra point each.

So, let's get this straight.

With the air removed, the sphere is being pushed together with the force

of over five gorillas.

And we're trying to pull it apart with two Land Rovers.

Who will win this tug of war tussle?

Gorilla or Land Rover?

ENGINES REV

We've added a pressure gauge to keep an eye on

how much force the Land Rovers are pulling with.

Well, come on, boys - floor it!

That's unbelievable.

It's just the pressure of air holding that sphere together.

Surely it's got to give in at some point.

Even the gauge has given up.

Hey, there she goes!

It's taken two Land Rovers at full power to pull the sphere apart.

That's how strong air pressure is.

OK, you can stop now, fellas.

They did it. That means there's one point each for both teams.

Round of applause for both Yellows and Reds.

Well done.

So that means, Red Team, you're ahead with three points,

Yellow, you have one. Both teams, it's time to go and get changed

into your protective suits for the Messy Messy Mess Test.

You're gonna need them.

It is essential for scientists to keep a level head.

Now, I dunno about you, but watching that film,

I thought those two lab rats

were having too much fun driving those cars.

So to keep their feet on the ground,

I've asked them to sort out Ninja Nan's feet.

So, they're doing that now in the security room. There you go.

Good luck, guys!

A shame you didn't have the protective suits on.

-Get on with it.

-AUDIENCE: Eugh!

-I know it's nasty,

but it's good for them. They have to learn.

We move on to our final game.

Today's Messy Messy Mess Test is in the nuclear box...

..which is why you guys all needed the protective outfits on, OK?

Just be very careful in there. It's...horrible.

Actually, a whole family of diseased pigeons

flew into this yesterday and decided to make it their home.

They may have all gone, I don't know.

No, look, they've grown gills.

Don't stroke anything there, everything's got teeth.

Right, this is the game. Each of these pods contains fabulous prizes,

like a solar-powered spider, an Mp3 player,

a kitchen chemistry set... The idea is to move these prize pods

from this end of the nuclear box to the other end.

Obviously, you can't use your hands because they'd melt off,

it'd be horrible, which is why

you've got these tongs to use, instead. Very nicely demonstrated.

The team to move the most prize pods to the other end

and then put them in the basket wins and gets to take them home.

The losing team blows them up.

That's what happens, OK? You don't take them home, you blow them up.

Red Team, you are gonna start first because you have the most points,

which means you get a five second advantage.

Yellow Team, you start second.

So, when you hear the first nuclear alert, Red Team starts.

When you hear the second, Yellow starts.

Everybody understand? No using your hands, only using these.

You have some time to get as many prize pods

as you can from this end to the other end of the nuclear box

and that time starts, for the Red Team, now!

SIREN BLARES

Away we go with the Reds.

It's Ebony who has to pluck a prize pod from the awful toxic gunge.

Scientifically, what's difficult here is...

well, it's friction. You just can't get any grip on the prize pods

and they fall out. They're struggling.

The Reds have got a pod to the second changeover.

This is the crucial point. And...

yes, they've done it! Well done, Reds!

Well done, Reds. One.

The Yellows, on the other hand, are still on the first tricky handover.

Yellow have got a great technique going.

Carefully passing it vertically from one to another.

And that technique pays off. Bosh - one for the yellows!

Oh, but hang on. Back come the Reds for their second pod in the basket.

Oh, the Yellows drop one at the first changeover.

That pod is now out of play.

The Reds, however, are taking care of business

in their side of the tank.

And wallop - three in the prize basket for them.

And...oh, another prize pod slips away from the yellows.

Meanwhile, Reds are looking good.

Oh, dear.

The teams are gonna have to be quick, because sometimes,

some time is over quicker than you think.

But only sometimes.

Time is coming to an end.

SIREN BLARES

That's it, time is up!

Time is up. Well done, both teams. Now we'll find out who's won.

Obviously, I can't possibly handle these prize pods

because my hands would melt, so I've used lab rats

because they're cheap and disposable.

Yellows have got? One. Look at his paw in his little washing up glove.

Red Team have got how many?

Three. OK, that means Red Team are the winners! Well done!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Now we're gonna find out exactly what the Red Team have won

and to do that, I need my specially trained Ninja assistant here,

Ninja Nan. Hello, Nan. She's got a wheelbarrow full of prizes.

Nan, I'd like you to model the prizes...

HE GASPS

.. as we find out what they've won.

If you could open the pods for me please, lab rat.

What have they got? Each of you wins an Mp3 player,

that's one of those each.

You've also got a Test Tube Seahorse...

..and a Flipout Surprise Egg. Well done, those are your prizes.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Now the slightly painful bit, Yellow Team.

This is where we find out what you would have won.

You would each have got a Test Tube Seahorse.

Instead of taking that home, you're gonna blow it up!

Time for Bidet Goes Bang.

-Well, this is it, Yellow Team. How are you feeling?

-Sad.

Well, never mind - you had fun playing the game.

-Who's pressing the plunger?

-All of us.

Look at that, teamwork. Lovely. What do you think went wrong?

Well, I think I couldn't pick up the pods at the beginning.

I was trying to work out how to pick them up...

-Are you taking the blame?

-Yeah.

-Wow! That's noble.

That's teamwork from the Yellow Team.

-Red Team, you're feeling fine, aren't you?

-ALL: Yes!

Loaded down with prizes.

And we're about to watch the Yellow Team blow theirs up.

OK, well, I spend a lot of my time here in my Blast Lab

trying to work out the best way to blow things up.

I tried blowing them up in a bath tub, in a toilet, in a shower,

I've tried everything but the kitchen sink.

Ninja Nan was using it. I didn't want to get into a fight.

It turns out, the best way to obliterate something is in a bidet.

It's over there. Your prizes are already in and ready to go bang.

So I think this is it, we can't put it off any longer.

Step forwards and lift the plunger, please, Yellow Team.

Do not put it down yet, cos we'll do the countdown. Are we ready?

'Five, four, three, two, one.'

LARGE EXPLOSION

Sorry, Yellow Team. Bad luck. Well done, Red Team, though.

Time to bring today's show to an end.

Today we played tug of war with Land Rovers,

we've had lots of fun sticking cups on our faces,

all because of air pressure.

We shouldn't be confused with when people tell me

to change my hair cut. That's called hair pressure.

See you soon. Well done.

Blast Lab was recorded before a live studio audience.

No lab rat was harmed during the filming.

Although some of them are still missing.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]