The engineering entertainment show that pits teams of madcap mechanics against each other returned with 10 more bodging and bashing trials for junkyard geniuses.

Every week, two teams constructed a machine for a specific task using only the junk they could scavenge from the post-apocalyptic salvage yard around them. And they had just 10 hours to build their contraption before it is put to the test. Whichever creation performed the best advanced the team that made it to the next round and towards the ultimate prize – the Scrapheap Challenge Trophy.

The series was again presented by comedy actor and novelist Robert Llewellyn (best known as Red Dwarf's Kryten) and scientist, documentary film-maker and keyboard player Cathy Rogers.

This year's competitors included three trainee vicars, a 71-year-old granny who's mad on engines, and the series' first team from the USA. Last year's Scrapheap favourite Bowser Munson was back with The Filth – a team of fellow motorbike police officers – and this series' winners battled it out against last year's triumphant trio, The Megalomaniacs, in the grand final.

Scrapheap Challenge is exciting, dirty and dangerous. It also has a sneaky way of painlessly passing on lots about science and engineering. If that's your thing, check out each challenge on this website – you'll find a section on 'Scrapheap Science' that explains exactly what was happening beneath all that metal, noise and dust.

The challenges

Click on a date for info on the teams, experts, judge, challenge and the science behind it.

Preliminary heats
Demolition
Aerial bomber

Quarter finals
Mini-sub
Windmill
Missile launcher
Bridging machine

Semi-finals
Steam car
Giant mower

Series final
Fireboat

Grand final
Dragster

Xmas special
Car crusher

If you are interested in being a contestant on a future series of Scrapheap Challenge, click here.

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