''Richard Hammond's Blast Lab'' is a

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

that aired from 3 January 2009 to 6 October 2011, first on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

, then on

CBBC Channel CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

and then on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. It was hosted by

Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...

. The programme involves two teams of three children – referred to as the Red Team and the Yellow Team – taking part in science-related challenges to win prizes at the end of the show. The prizes for the winning team are announced, as well as the losing team, and would blow up the losing teams prizes. Hammond has taken an approach that has come from years of working on '' Top Gear'' with elements of '' Brainiac: Science Abuse''. The show also features Hammond's prized 1963

Opel Kadett The Opel Kadett is a small family car produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel from 1936 until 1940 and then from 1962 until 1991 (the Cabrio continued until 1993), when it was succeeded by the Opel Astra. Originally, the Kadett was ...

car named "Oliver", which he acquired for the '' Top Gear: Botswana Special''. Hammond's "Ninja Nan", who acts as security at the Blast Lab (and who never speaks), is introduced at the start of each episode as substitute for SAS guards who, for a different reason in each episode, are absent. Ninja Nan also displays the prizes the winning team will be taking home with them, as well as those the losing team would have won, after the final challenge, which is called the 'Messy Messy Mess Test' and involves both teams and a large tank of gunge. Loyal, yet incompetent servant-like men which Hammond refers to as "Lab Rats" also appear in every episode. Lab Rats, who wear lab coats that have one half red and the other half yellow, are always seen taking on dangerous stunts and moaning around the lab. According to the introductory credits, the secret lab is supposed to be located beneath

Mapledurham Watermill Mapledurham Watermill is a historic watermill in the civil parish of Mapledurham in the English county of Oxfordshire. It is driven by the head of water created by Mapledurham Lock and Weir, on the River Thames. The mill was built in the 15th c ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. In episode 7, the bias against caravans, which is often brought up in ''Top Gear'' and in ''Brainiac'', continues, with one being wrecked by a fiery catapult. "Mini-Miss", a bespectacled young girl of around ten years old who wears a lab coat like those sported by the Lab Rats, appears in the 'Mini-Science with Mini-Miss' round. Hammond explains to the audience that Mini-Miss is actually his old science teacher whom he attempted to bring back through time with his home-made time machine, but something went wrong and she arrived as a child which she was a 65 Year Old adult. Despite having been regressed to a youngster, Mini-Miss is shown to not suffer fools gladly, particularly Hammond, whom she always chides for some misdemeanor or other reasons; such as not paying attention, for example – she goes to give the teams advice prior to the start of the round.

External links

* * {{Richard Hammond 2009 British television series debuts 2011 British television series endings 2000s British game shows 2010s British game shows BBC children's television shows BBC high definition shows BBC television game shows British English-language television shows