Review of Scrapheap Challenge: The Commandments

Introduction

I knew vaguely what the show was about and the mere mention of it would pass me by without notice. Why would I want to watch a show with a bunch of people messing around with scrap? How wrong was I? Scrapheap Challenge, The Commandments is the best of Series Three so we get 1hr 20mins of highlights to watch. Two teams of tech-heads have to build weird contraptions from all the scrap and junk around them in just ten hours. They each have one expert as well from a chosen specialist field who can help out with advice or can be completely ignored.

What we get on this DVD are the highlights from 11 shows where the teams have to build: a dragster, a water pump, a demolition machine, an aerial bomber, a missle launcher, a mini-sub, a windmill to grind coffee, a steam powered car, a giant mower, a bridging machine and a car crusher. I would have no idea where to begin dreaming up solutions to these problems so watching the two teams compete is quite amazing. The things they come up with are wonderfully inventive and I remain impressed that these machines actually work! The competitiveness of the teams is enough to get you going the first time you watch it until you see who wins and this makes it all the more compelling.

I think the shows presenters, Robert Llewellyn and Cathy Rogers, do a good job too with their `light moments` between clips and these raised a few smiles. :-) Now that I`ve seen the show, I can safely say that I enjoyed it, it`s a cool concept. However because it`s a `best of` show, the individual clips seem quite brief. I`d like to see more of the goings on in the teams and the nitty-gritty since I found it quite engrossing. There are silly moments and stuff which may make you groan a little, but it`s all good fun afterall.

Video

Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic, the quality seems rather good. It`s a clean and sharp digital video transfer and because it`s made on digital video it retains a good level of detail and colour balance throughout. It looks as though there`s some edge enhancement, but I think this is a characteristic of the DV format itself. There were no signs at all of compression or pixellation.

Audio

This doesn`t really need to use multichannel sound so it comes with 2-channel audio. Sound is clear and comes from the front well enough. There aren`t any other audio languages apart from English, and there`s really nothing more to say about it.

Features

Hardly any features at all on this disc. There`s a static and silent menu with 12 chapters and English subtitles. That`s your lot. No biographies, no adverts, no trailers for other discs...

Conclusion

So we come to the end. I have to admit that I quite enjoyed watching this on DVD having never seen it on television before. My biggest fear is of me turning into my Dad who likes this sort of thing (junk!). Scrapheap Challenge is a cool concept and provides fun and entertainment, but I wouldn`t buy this DVD. The problem with this title is a distinct lack of any extras, which in turn drastically reduces the replay value of Scrapheap Challenge. I`m not sure how much more you could bundle with this kind of title apart from bios, trailers for other `special interest` DVDs, a beginners guide to junk, just something which would make me pay for the disc. There`s potential here for a kind of `How Stuff Works` guide because I found it all quite fascinating and would love to dive in and learn a little more about mechanics and engineering etc. I know I`ll certainly keep an eye out for the show in the TV schedule and watch it next time.

All said and done I don`t think it`s worth the street price of £19.99, so it`s hard for me to recommend to anyone unless you`re an absolute ultra fanatic and don`t mind a featureless disc.