What’s the story?
The Big Steam Adventure.
I’ll need more information.
Broadcaster John Sergeant, actor Peter Davison and heritage train enthusiast Paul “Piglet” Middleton – the latter best known for The Yorkshire Steam Railway: All Aboard – are set the challenge of travelling from the south of England to Scotland for a new four-part Channel 5 series.
That doesn’t sound too hard…
There’s a twist: they have to do it using only the power of steam.
Ah, that is a tad trickier.
Indeed. The idea is that they utilise everything from paddle boats and barges to cars, trains and traction engines, learning more about the “history and engineering genius of the machines that transport them” along the way.
Plenty of scope for hilarity, then?
Affirmative. The programme blurb promises “all sorts of trials and tribulations en route”. The first mode of transportation is the 92-year-old steam tug Challenge, the last working vessel of its kind on the Thames, which played a part in the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940.
Later in the episode, they hop into an open-topped 1909 Stanley Steamer car, step aboard the Duchess of Sutherland steam locomotive and get to grips with Puffing Billy, a steam bus designed to carry a brass band to functions around the country.
When can I watch?
The Big Steam Adventure begins on Channel 5, Tuesday, 9pm.
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