Air TV has started production on a brand new modern engineering series for UKTV.
In the new series, multi-award-winning mechanical engineer and broadcaster, Dr Shini Somara (Tomorrow’s Food, BBC One) will turn to back copies of Practical Mechanics magazine – once the bible of British inventors – to challenge a dream design team to update its vintage blueprints for the 21st century.
Each week Dr Shini will lead a diverse crew of engineers, crafters and gadgeteers to update inventions dating back to the 1930s, 40s, 50s or 60s using only Practical Mechanics’ faded plans as a guide.
They will be working from a repurposed vintage shed at Leeds East Airport, just metres from the main Air TV offices. The build teams have been drawn from a pool of returning experts, with Dr Shini allocating team members to the projects that most suits their skills.
Masters of Reinvention has been commissioned for UKTV by commissioning editor Kirsty Hanson with head of factual and factual entertainment Helen Nightingale, and ordered by Yesterday channel director, Gerald Casey, and director of commissioning, Hilary Rosen. The executive producers for Air TV are Matt Richards and Ian Cundall, and the series producer is Ben Bhatia.
Air TV’s Matt Richards said, “It’s great to be working with UKTV on this innovative and authentic new format combining inspiration from the past with innovation for the future. The team will be attempting to build everything from powered cars, to sailing boats and bizarre gadgets. It’s going to be a real challenge.”
UKTV’s Kirsty Hanson said, “Britain is a nation of inventors and it’s brilliant to not only celebrate that, but inspire our viewers to be ambitious and creative with their spare time. Masters of Reinvention feels like an exciting, new turn of the wheel for Yesterday.”
Gerald Casey said, “Yesterday viewers will love how Masters of Reinvention combines innovation and invention in a new format, revealing how designers and engineers use their expertise to build gadgets from scratch.”
Shini Somara said, “We haven’t yet reinvented the wheel, so I’m curious and amped on how and why we can improve on the ingenuities of yesteryear!“
Masters of Reinvention will air in 2025 on U&Yesterday and available on free streaming service U. Yesterday is the home of other new UKTV Originals including Bangers & Cash, Canal Boat Diaries, Find It, Fix It, Flog It and Dream Car Fixers.
Masters of Reinvention is being distributed worldwide by BBC Studios.
