BRIGHT SPARKS!

ERIC MONKMAN & BOBBY SEAGULL GO ON A TIME-TRAVELLING EXPLORATION OF BRITISH SCIENTIFIC INVENTION…

The names Monkman and Seagull may lend themselves to a fictional daytime detective duo, but in this new series, University Challenge legends Eric and Bobby travel the UK to investigate their favourite scientific breakthroughs.

Their genius adventure begins with the 18th-century inventions that kick-started the Industrial Revolution. First stop is 1759 Greenwich – home to John Harrison’s marine chronometer – and, for Bobby, there was another London site that impressed…

“I was proud that we were able to visit the Crossness Pumping Station,” he shares. “A sewage station doesn’t sound appealing, but by gosh, the Victorians knew how to build things to last and impress. It’s a masterpiece of engineering: ornate cast ironwork designs, decoration and an imposing structure for something as mundane and smelly as a sewage station. I loved it!”

Back to episode one, and the pair also time-hop to the likes of 1774 Wiltshire, to recreate Joseph Priestley’s discovery of oxygen, and 1784 Oxford, to pay homage to hot-air-ballooning pioneers. But are there any more modern inventions that they wish they’d been the brains behind?

“I’ve been very impressed by online collaborative encyclopedias,” shares Eric. “I find it amazing that people from all over the world have worked together to produce a compendium of knowledge that is constantly updated and easily available.”

“Well, wouldn’t we all like to be Steve Jobs and the Apple team?” ponders

Bobby. “Science and tech is sexy!”