The Great Egg Race

This is the first episode of the series devoted to finding a machine that can transport a single egg the furthest possible distance, using only a rubber band as a power source. Also in the programme, three teams compete to solve a precision weighing problem and their efforts are judged by Professors Heinz Wolff and Michael French. In this episode, Professor Heinz Wolff made his debut as one of the judges. Prior to his broadcasting career, he studied physiology, working for the Radcliffe Infirmary, the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit and the Medical Research Council. During this time, he invented and designed medical machinery, including a dust sampling device that worked like an artificial lung. Wolff was born in Berlin in 1928 and fled Germany with his family in 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II.

This edition's contestants are given the challenge of building an igloo in the Scottish mountains. Each snow house is then judged by Heinz Wolff and his guest, mountaineer Myrtle Simpson (along with a few reindeer). Marks are awarded for habitability, architecture and decoration, among other things, in this 'eggloo race'. Since 1975, Heinz Wolff has held a number of honorary positions with the European Space Agency, including that of chairman of the Microgravity Advisory Committee. Indeed, his life-long medical research has focused on the application of technologies to help alleviate the problems of those whose environments have become hostile, including elderly and disabled people as well as space explorers.