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FAQs
What happens to all the machines after filming is finished?
Most of the vehicles are back on the scrapheap; ashes to ashes, scrap to scrap. Three or four teams took their vehicles home with them. We can only assume they are rusting in their owners' garages.
Some vehicles have proved that there is life beyond Scrapheap. The yellow bus used in one challenge in 2002 was raced in an east London demolition derby by Terry (manager of the scrapheap, man in white coat, and crane driver). Apparently it did very well.
Where is Scrapheap 2003 filmed?
Near Reading in Berkshire. In previous years we have filmed in Los Angeles, Canning Town, east London, Brentford, west London and Bath.
Is it a real scrapheap? Or is it a TV set?
It's a mixture of the two. The sets have always been built on waste land on the edge of working scrapheaps. We take loads of material from the working scrapheaps and make use of their infrastructure. We don't use the working scrapheaps themselves because we need build areas and facilities for the crew, because they tend to be too tidy and well sorted, and because they are, well, working!
Can I visit the filming of Scrapheap?
'Fraid not: due to health-and-safety and insurance reasons we have to keep the number of people visiting the site to a minimum.
Is the scrapheap 'seeded' with appropriate materials?
Almost everything that is used in the programme is general scrap. But in order for us to be able to set a wide variety of challenges, we sometimes have to place something specific on the site. We always make sure there are the materials to build at least two different solutions to the challenges we have set.
Do they really get ten hours?
Yes, the teams have just about ten hours to build their machines. They start scavenging around 10am and finish building at about 10pm. During those twelve hours, they have an enforced hour off for lunch and we give them back a bit of time to make up for the time that Robert or Lisa are in the build areas chatting to them. They also get the traditional hour of 'tinkering time' at the start of the test day. Usually, a bit of extra work is carried out by our behind-the-scenes engineers to make the machines work safely. For instance, they will re-do any dodgy welding, they usually fit safety guarding to moving machinery and if it's a 'vehicle' challenge, they often fit approved roll cages.
Have you ever had a situation where a team didn't/couldn't build anything?
No. But there have been a fair few teams that haven't started building anything for a few hours! At the end of the day, the teams always rise to the challenge and never fail to surprise the producers with their amazing creativity and resourcefulness.
Has a machine ever simply failed to work?
We have been very lucky and the machines have almost always worked. In the six-year history of Scrapheap however, a couple of machines have failed to do exactly what they were meant to. We don't shy away from showing this though and include lots of the gory details. Everyone is disappointed when this happens but we like to stay philosophical and think that it really shows the machines are genuinely made from old junk.
Is there a Scrapheap Challenge book?
Behind the Scenes at Scrapheap Challenge by Robert Llewellyn, price £16.99, rates five stars on Amazon. This book is about the 2001 series, but is still a great read. It's witty and it gives an insider's view of how Scrapheap gets made.
There is also a Scrapheap Challenge DVD and video – Scrapheap Challenge 2 – The Commandments (£19.99 for the DVD and £12.99 for the VHS). These also rate five stars on Amazon.
Are there any more Scrapheap FAQs?
Yes, on Robert Llewellyn's site at www.llew.co.uk.
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