Tom Scott: England

E1 Episode 1: I Helped Break a 142-Year-Old Bell, and That’s Okay

• Now playing
• 31m
• Mar 23, 2026

In Leicestershire, at the John Taylor Bell Foundry, there's fire, sledgehammer swinging, and metal hotter than a volcano. Also, several questions about cheese.

E2 Episode 2: They Can Fly 200 Miles With No Fuel. Here’s How.

• 26m
• Mar 30, 2026

In Rutland, I try to fit an entire county in one camera shot, learn to spot chimneys in the sky, and make a very strange noise. Let's learn about paragliding.

E3 Episode 3: I Missed the Evidence. Can You Spot It?

• 28m
• Apr 6, 2026

At the University of Lincoln's Crime Scene House, where they teach forensic science students in simulated crime scenes, I have a challenge for you.

E4 Episode 4: These People Walk Towards Mining Disasters

• 20m
• Apr 13, 2026

In Nottinghamshire, I join the team at MRS Training and Rescue -- the former Mines Rescue Service -- for an exercise that could have been so much worse.

E5 Episode 5: These Mannequins Can Bleed

• 28m
• Apr 20, 2026

At Sheffield Hallam University in Yorkshire, I meet the Clinical Simulation team and deal with some animated patients. (Note: includes simulated blood and gore.)

E6 Episode 6: I Finally Got to Drive Yorkshire’s Tiny Boats

• 23m
• Apr 27, 2026

At Peasholm Park in Scarborough, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, I visit the Naval Warfare, ride with the world's smallest crewed navy, and scare at least two seagulls.

E7 Episode 7: If You Found Candy With My Name in It, Here’s Why

• 16m
• May 4, 2026

At the John Bull Rock Factory outside Bridlington, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, I watch as boiling sugar becomes an enormous amount of rock. Also, there's 1990s Dutch happy hardcore.

E8 Episode 8: Oh No, I Sympathized With a Victorian Arms Dealer

• 24m
• May 11, 2026

In Northumberland, at the National Trust's Cragside mansion, I visit the former home of the Magician of the North.

E9 Episode 9: The Mist That Keeps the Tyne Tunnels Safe

• 21m
• May 18, 2026

At the Tyne Road Tunnels, just over the border into Durham, I get very wet and cold underneath a river... but not in the way you might expect.

E10 Episode 10: This Man Stops People Drowning in Quicksand

• 26m
• May 25, 2026

In Westmorland, at Morecambe Bay, I meet the King's Guide to the Sands, walk across a very dangerous stretch of sand, and learn about a centuries-old tradition that's been brought into the 21st century.

E11 Episode 11: Pulling the Lever Is the Easy Part

• 26m
• Jun 1, 2026

In Lancashire, at National Rail's Manchester signalling classroom, I learn why it's very, very rare for trains to collide... and then go to an actual, live signal box to see it for real.

E12 Episode 12: Can a 70-Year-Old Telescope Still Be Useful?

• 22m
• Jun 8, 2026

At Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, I get to fulfill a childhood dream: but more importantly, I ask whether a telescope built in the 1950s can still do useful science.

E13 Episode 13: We Can’t Invent a Robot Better Than These Ferrets

• 22m
• Jun 15, 2026

In Derbyshire, at the National Ferret School, I say "hello" to some smelly thieves, and go on a surprisingly Biblical tangent.

E14 Episode 14: I Got Hit in the Teeth With 900-Year-Old Antlers

• 14m
• Jun 22, 2026

In the village of Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire, I join the oldest village tradition in Britain: the Horn Dance. It ends up being slightly more painful than I expected.

E15 Episode 15: I Launched the Mighty Trebuchet

• 22m
• Jun 29, 2026

At Warwick Castle, there's a 22-tonne medieval siege engine. I got to see how it works, meet the person in charge, and -- technically -- help fire it. Technically.

E16 Episode 16: If I Get this Wrong, 50,000 People Will Hear It.

• 22m
• Jul 6, 2026

At Worcester Cathedral, I finally take on a challenge that hundreds of people have suggested: bell ringing. It's difficult, a little dangerous, and also lets me talk about a lot of weird English words.

E17 Episode 17: I Have a Weird Conspiracy Theory About This Bridge

• 12m
• Jul 13, 2026

In Shropshire, I visit the Iron Bridge in the village of Ironbridge. And then I have a corkboard, pins, string, and a frankly-unhinged conspiracy theory about what an architect was actually planning.

E18 Episode 18: I Get Excited About an Ampersand

• 22m
• Jul 20, 2026

At Hereford Cathedral, I visit a library where the books are chained to the shelves -- and see two of those books, to help understand just how quickly one technology can change the world.

E19 Episode 19: I’m So Glad This Hidden Monorail Broke Down

• 26m
• Jul 27, 2026

At the English end of the Prince of Wales Bridge, in Gloucestershire, I get to visit the Rapid Access Train, the RAT, a hidden suspended monorail. Except... that's only half the story.

E20 Episode 20: Two Nerds Try to Build a Wall

• 24m
• Aug 3, 2026

In Oxfordshire, at the Dry Stone Academy, I'm joined by Dr Becky. We have until our camera batteries run out to try one of the oldest surviving crafts in Britain: dry stone walling.

E21 Episode 21: This 100-Year-Old Ride Must Never Change Again

• 16m
• Aug 10, 2026

At Wicksteed Park in Northamptonshire, there's a 100-year-old water chute, and I took a ride. Also, I find the first ever playground swing, and make a fool of myself on a slide.

E22 Episode 22: How Do You Keep 8,995 Codebreakers Secret?

• 25m
• Aug 17, 2026

At Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, I don't want to know how a few boffins broke the Enigma code, because it wasn't a few boffins. I want to know: how on earth did they keep the "intelligence factory" secret when there were thousands and thousands of people involved?

E23 Episode 23: I Didn’t Need to Drive This Mars Rover, but I Did

• 22m
• Aug 24, 2026

In Stevenage, Hertfordshire, there's a simulation of Mars: at Airbus' facilities, I got to meet some Mars rovers, take a test drive, and discover the most incredible wheel I've ever seen.

E24 Episode 24: Flying a Plane Badly, On Purpose

• 17m
• Aug 31, 2026

At Cranfield University in Bedfordshire, I'm going aboard the National Flying Laboratory, and trying to keep my sense of direction, and my stomach, as the plane goes through some very non-standard manoeuvres.

E25 Episode 25: Thomas, a Tank Engine, is not Thomas the Tank Engine.

• 17m
• Sep 7, 2026

At the Nene Valley Railway in Huntingdonshire, I meet a tank engine called Thomas that is, for legal reasons, not Thomas the Tank Engine... and, to my surprise, I find out why, in the early days of steam, Victorians might have found trains terrifying.

E26 Episode 26: I’m the 97th Best Tiddlywinks Player in the World

• 25m
• Sep 14, 2026

At the University of Cambridge, I try to recover some childhood muscle memory, and see if I can get good enough at a Victorian parlour game to break the world top 100 in just one day.

E27 Episode 27: When I Blow This Whistle, a Swimming Pool Appears

• 25m
• Sep 21, 2026

At the Hippodrome Circus in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, I climb a ladder, blow a whistle, witness the Globe of Death, and see the Water Spectacular. Not all at the same time.

E28 Episode 28: This Arcade Game Makes You Climb a Ladder

• 10m
• Sep 28, 2026

At Southwold Pier in Suffolk, I visit Tim Hunkin's End of the Pier Show, a collection of weird automata and arcade games that offer something a bit more interesting than tickets and prizes.

E29 Episode 29: Why Robots Can’t Pick Strawberries Yet

• 30m
• Oct 5, 2026

In Tiptree in Essex, at the headquarters of famous jam and preserve manufacturer Wilkin & Sons, this city boy gets impressed by agricultural infrastructure, and meets some robots that work better than others.

E30 Episode 30: Tom Gets Excited About a Pendulum

• 21m
• Oct 12, 2026

At the Cumbria Clock Company, I close up a hole in my map, meet the team that manage and restore more than a thousand public clocks across the UK and wider afield, and discover that I knew far less about pendulum clocks than I thought.

E31 Episode 31: This Machine Breaks Things

• 22m
• Oct 19, 2026

At Kirkaldy's Testing Works, in the historic county of Surrey, there's a sign above the door that says "Facts Not Opinions". And inside, there's a gigantic machine that breaks things.

E32 Episode 32: This Room Keeps Great Britain’s Lights On

• 16m
• Oct 26, 2026

In Berkshire sits the control room for Britain's National Energy System Operator, NESO. The team in there keep the lights on across the country -- which is a job that's quite different to just a few years ago.

E33 Episode 33: Why You Can’t Touch Stonehenge

• 25m
• Nov 2, 2026

The short answer is: letting 1.4 million visitors a year touch the stones would destroy them. But the long answer is still fascinating. With Stonehenge's curator, I get to go inside the circle.

E34 Episode 34: It’s Really Hard to Balance This Giant

• 20m
• Nov 9, 2026

In Somerset, I meet Nathandriel, learn about English processional giants, and find out that carrying him is more difficult -- and more painful -- than I thought.

E35 Episode 35: Episode 35

• Airs Nov 16, 2026

E36 Episode 36: Episode 36

• Airs Nov 23, 2026

E37 Episode 37: Episode 37

• Airs Nov 30, 2026

E38 Episode 38: Episode 38

• Airs Dec 7, 2026

E39 Episode 39: Episode 39

• Airs Dec 14, 2026

E40 Episode 40: Episode 40

• Airs Dec 21, 2026

E41 Episode 41: Episode 41

• Airs Dec 28, 2026