Season 8

The challenge In this first episode of the new series, Scrapheap is off to marvellous Margate where a team of forklifting fixers take on a crew of army helicopter heroes in a battle to build underwater cars that can rip up the ocean bed. Apache Warriors Ring-a-ding-ding-ding! The army boys Tom, Tobe and Oggs have landed and come oozing with charm, charisma and precision in a way only our top ranking military can. The banter is littered with innuendo; theirs is a cross between the school changing room and a Carry On film. Helicopter pilots by day, these boys are all guns blazing for a Scrapheap showdown! Chess-playing Guy Seymour helps them out, bringing skills in off-road machines and underwater vehicles to the heap. Brought up on a boatyard in Australia, Guy studied submersible vehicle design at university and is currently a mechanical and business systems engineer for Subeo, a UK-based manufacturer of submersible vehicles. Subeo are hoping to launch a small affordable submersible vehicle onto the market soon. Before coming to England, Guy was an army reservist for seven years, where he was involved with the maintenance of their 4x4 vehicles. The Powerlifters Neil, Mark and Dave are true Scrapheap! These boys love their drag racing and hot rodding and are all forklift maintenance engineers in Essex. Bald, tattooed and pierced, Neil and Dave provide the main double act but gentle giant Mark doesn’t seem to mind playing the fall guy to the duo. Energetic and with a range of outside interests, The Powerlifters are hardworking, straight talking, great fun, and claim to be able to take on anything Scrapheap can throw at them! Expert Matt Cook started his career as an apprentice at Land Rover and stayed with the company for seven years as a design engineer in the new vehicle development division. Matt has raced 4x4s since he was 17 and has even won the most extreme off-road event in the world – the Malaysian Rainforest Challenge with his business partner Simon Buck in 2002. Together they run the legendary Devon 4x4 near Tiverton where they prepare and modify extreme off-road machines and fabricate custom parts for the sport. Despite this busy life, Matt is also a qualified potter! The judge Stephanie Merry is a respected tactician, navigator and helmswoman, with a successful track record in offshore racing at national and international level. Commercially endorsed yachtmaster and ocean yachtmaster, Stephanie has won countless race titles and challenge cups. She is the owner and skipper of Rollerskate, a 4-tonne race yacht which she sailed to victory in various challenges between 1992 and 1998. Stephanie is a previous judge of Scrapheap Challenge, lending her expertise in the mini-sub challenge, back in series three.

The challenge This week's Scrapheap Challenge is a test to see who can become a champion martial mechanic by building a kung fu car. The teams will have to construct a moveable car complete with a karate-chopping device. It's gotta be tough as it'll have to axe its way through six concrete slabs, half a metre of ice and finally a huge hunk of wood. Lumbering Jacks Tree-cuttin' captain Baden and his fellow fellers Andrew and David are a top Scrapheap team. They ‘say it how it is’, love their agricultural machinery and are keen off-roaders. A jolly team with a good rapport, a sense of humour and a great attitude. With the motto 'If it’s been built before, it can be built again', this team have the potential to go far. Our forest-loving, axe-wielding men of South Wales are here to cut their opponents down to size. Robyn Rushforth is the Lumbering Jacks' expert. As an MOD-trained engineer with 16 years spent in the demolition industry, he certainly has the know-how to smash stuff up. He’s also a versatile bodger and enjoys banging together anything from rally cars to underwater ROVs. The Haggis Bashers Watersporting enthusiasts from Fife, these boys dive, water-ski and fish in their spare time. The team come from a largely agricultural background and bring a range of skills: Andrew has been in mechanics for 20 years and specialises in heavy farm machinery, Johnny knows his jet engines and Raymond is a woodwork and metalwork expert. Three different characters but all with that famous Scottish dryness, these bonny boys are guaranteed to give us more than a Highland fling! The Haggis Bashers' expert is Essex boy Richard Keall. A car mechanic turned plant fitter, he currently works for one of the country's biggest demolition companies, keeping the machines in tip-top condition. The judge When it comes to demolition, this week’s judge, David Clarke, has seen it all … well, almost! After 25 years working in demolition, he is currently president of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors.

The challenge This week’s Scrapheap Challenge is a test to see who can build the most extreme rapid-fire arrow launcher. The teams will have to build a projectile launcher that can automatically load itself, as well as quickly firing arrows far and accurately. Stage Crew The boys from behind the scenes! Our Bristolian bodgers Pup, Denzel and Jet are responsible for contraptions used in shows such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Mary Poppins and Miss Saigon. Passionate, animated and enthusiastic is the only way to describe them. Captain Pup’s eyes light up when he talks engineering and he is supported by the bearded Denzel with his hearty laugh and Jet, so-called because of his love for jet engines. This team is used to the pressure of having to perform and with their ‘The show must go on’ attitude, is unlikely to disappoint. The Stage Crew’s expert is a friend of the show, Tod Todeschini. Tod began life as a kitchen product designer but he soon got bored. He is now a medieval weaponry expert and maker of special effects for stage and television. This is his third outing to Scrapheap Challenge and having previously tackled Giant Darts and Rapid Fire, this week's test should be a cinch! The Big Dippers The Big Dippers are Lancashire lads responsible for the maintenance of Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Dodgey (he loves car boot sales and ferreting in skips – should be at home on the heap then!), Steve and Brian (nicknamed Two-ey as he only has two front teeth) have been friends for years and have a wealth of experience. Dodgey comes from a family of mechanics, Steve is the electrics supervisor at the Pleasure Beach and Brian claims to be able to weld underwater. So as well as providing a constant level of cheeky banter, these guys are here for more than the ride! In The Big Dippers’ corner is expert armourer John Nixon. John spent 10 years learning his trade as an armourer with REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers), before splitting his time between armoury and mechanics. Nowadays, he is most likely to be found on a film set making guns for epics such as Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan. Let’s see if he will save the day for The Big Dippers! The judge Our judge this week is another Scrapheap veteran, Steve Ralphs. Grand Master of the Traditional Bowyers Guild, Steve began crafting traditional bows and arrows 25 years ago. He now spends most of his time instructing Hollywood actors in the art of archery (this is the man that taught Legolas how to draw a bow). When he’s not doing that he plays guitar in a band called Phabulous Fondue!

The challenge Cornish, classic Jag lovers the Beasts of Bodmin take on The 7s, a team of easy-going Essex bikers. In an electrifying off-road contest, they race to construct battery-powered milk floats capable of conquering tough terrain to safely deliver a dozen crates of milk. Beasts of Bodmin Mysterious and graceful, stealthy yet fast, well, these Beasts of Bodmin may not quite be. However, the classics lovers spend more than their fair share of time with that feline of the vehicle world – the Jaguar. Enthusiasts and restorers of classic Jags and motorbikes, captain Brian and his partners-in-crime Steve and Spencer enjoy nothing more than a spin across Bodmin Moor. Tons of experience and a steely determination to hunt down and tear apart their opposition, the Beasts could be ones to watch out for! Their expert is electric vehicle enthusiast Paul Compton. A self-taught electronics engineer who honed his mechanical skills building kit cars, Paul became interested in electric vehicles about 10 years ago. Since then he has raced across America in an electric Porsche 914 and built several EVs himself, including his current VW Scirocco conversion. He recently became deputy chairman of the Battery Vehicle Society and when he’s not busy with all that, he enjoys riding classic motorcycles across the country. The 7s Slick (Mick), Axel (Steve) and captain Bob make up The 7s. They are so-called because of their affiliation with a biking club in Southend of the same name. They are a bunch of leather-clad, beardy bikers from Essex. Into their Harleys and classic cars, these guys love their speed and have also built a sizeable trike, complete with 6-litre car engine, that can reach speeds of 180mph. Essex through and through, charismatic, here for a laugh and they don’t care what we ask them to build! The 7s' expert is Scrapheap veteran Nick Bell, who previously lent his expertise on Backpack Cars and Locomotives. Nick is a freelance designer of recreational transport vehicles. He’s worked on everything from monorail systems to pier trams and was recently responsible for the electric floats at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics. The judge This week’s judge is electric vehicle guru Robert Fowler. Robert has always been interested in alternative vehicles. Previously vice president of an American hovercraft company, in 1990 he turned his attention to greener modes of transport and founded the electric vehicle company, AVT. From his workshop in Somerset, he now converts all manner of conventional cars into cleaner running, quieter sounding EVs. Oh, and he’s recently invented a new lawnmower that will be available next year – you heard it here first!