| Channel | The Learning Channel Discovery Channel |
|---|---|
| Narrator | William Hootkins |
| Music | Roger Bolton (Season 1) Justin Nicholls (Season 1-3) Guy Dagul (Season 4-5) |
| Num seasons | 5 |
| First aired | October 5, 1997 |
| Last aired | December 29, 2001 |
| Country | United States of America |
| Company | Pioneer Productions |
Extreme Machines was a documentary series created by Pioneer Productions for The Learning Channel and Discovery Channel. The series focused mainly on machines although in some episodes of Season 4 and Season 5, it also looked at disasters involving them.[1] The series was largely narrated by William Hootkins. The show made also made use of scale miniatures in many episodes, managed by David Barlow.[2][3]
Episodes
| Seasons | Episodes |
|---|---|
| 1 | 11 |
| 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 12 |
| 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 10 |
| Specials | 7 |
Season 1 (1997)
| No. in Season | Episode Title | Technology shown | Episode Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diving Deep | Submersibles | |
| 2 | Choppers | AH-64 Apache | Hugh Whiteworth |
| 3 | Hovercrafts[sic] | Hovercraft | |
| 4 | Image Impossible | ||
| 5 | Fastest Man on Earth | ||
| 6 | Race Cars | Honda HRH V8t (Tasman Motorsports - 1996 U.S. 500) McLaren F1 GTR (Gulf McLaren - 1996) | Hugh Whiteworth[4] |
| 7 | Rockets | Rod Parker[5] | |
| 8 | Roller Coasters | ||
| 9 | Spaceplanes | Space Shuttle DC-XA Energia/Buran | Rod Parker[6] |
| 10 | Speed Freaks | ||
| 11 | Wheels of Steel | Yavar Abbas[7] |
Season 2 (1998)
| No. in Season | Episode Title | Technology Shown | Episode Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tanks | M1 Abrams | |
| 2 | Motorcycle Mania | ||
| 3 | Earth Breakers | ||
| 4 | Car Crazy | Lotus Elise Jim Router's F-117 Car | |
| 5 | Smart Weapons | BGM-109 Tomahawk Fat Man and Little Boy | |
| 6 | Flight Power | Hugh Whiteworth[8] | |
| 7 | Supersonic Landspeed | ||
| 8 | Power Boats | ||
| 9 | Mega Trucks |
Volvo ECT | |
| 10 | Four Wheel Force | ||
| 11 | Supersight | ||
| 12 | Carriers | USS John C. Stennis CVN-74 (Nimitz Class Carrier) F-14B Tomcat USS Forrestal CV-59 (Forrestal Class Carrier) USS Peleliu LHA-5 (Tawara Class Amphibious Carrier) AV-8B Harrier II | Hugh Whiteworth[9] |
Season 3 (1999)
| No. in Season | Episode Title | Technology shown | Episode Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emergency Vehicles | ||
| 2 | Submarines | USS Nebraska SSBN-739 (Ohio Class Submarine) Typhoon Class Submarine | |
| 3 | Speed Freaks II | ||
| 4 | Ultimate Space Machines | ||
| 5 | Ice Master | ||
| 6 | The Ultimate Speed machines | ||
| 7 | Balloons | ||
| 8 | Super Cars | ||
| 9 | The Landspeed Record | ||
| 10 | Incredible Robots | ||
| 11 | Metal Monsters | Chesapeake & Ohio 614 | |
| 12 | Flight of the Future | David Holryod[10] |
Season 4 (2000)
| No. in Season | Episode Title | Technology shown | Episode Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pedal Power | ||
| 2 | Rocketeers | ||
| 3 | Car Crash | ||
| 4 | Aviators | ||
| 5 | Raiders of the Deep | ||
| 6 | Super Trains/Super Trains Ultimate | P-40DC Genesis (Amtrak Sunset Limited) Superliner Railcar (Amtrak Sunset Limited) Acela Express Shinkansen TGV | Yavar Abbas[3] |
| 7 | Adrenaline Junkies | ||
| 8 | Extreme Rides | ||
| 9 | Disasters at Sea | ||
| 10 | Airships | ||
| 11 | Mega Machines | ||
| 12 | Jump Jets | AV-8B Harrier II XV-4 Hummingbird GR.1 Harrier FRS.1 Sea Harrier BAE Harrier II |
Season 5 (2001)
| No. in Season | Episode Title | Technology shown | Episode Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bridges | ||
| 2 | World's Greatest Ships: Power & Glory | ||
| 3 | World's Greatest Ships: Dangerous Seas | ||
| 4 | Incredible Motorcycle Jumpers | ||
| 5 | Ultimate Underwater Machines I (Submarines) | K-141 Kursk (Oscar II Class Submarine)[11] | |
| 6 | Ultimate Underwater Machines II | ||
| 7 | Fear of Flying I (Crash Landing) | Boeing 747-100 (United Airlines Flight 811) Boeing 747-400 (Singapore Airlines Flight 006) Aérospatiale/BAE Concorde (Air France Flight 4590) Boeing 737-200 (Aloha Airlines Flight 243) Boeing 707, Vickers VC-10, Douglas DC-8 (Dawson's Field hijackings) Boeing 767-200ER (Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961) Boeing 737-300, Fairchild Metroliner (1991 Los Angeles runway collision) | Yavar Abbas[12] |
| 8 | Fear of Flying II | ||
| 9 | World's Tallest Buildings: Fear of Heights | ||
| 10 | World's Tallest Buildings: Reach for the Sky | World Trade Center (note: this episode aired a month before (August 8, 2001) and mentioned severals subjects similar to the September 11 attacks)[13] Empire State Building (1945 Empire State Building B-25 crash) | Mike Beckham Luke Campbell |
References
- ^ "All Seasons". www.thetvdb.com. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
- ^ "About". dbarlow.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
- ^ Extreme Machines, Super Trains - Pioneer Productions
- ^ "Extreme Racing - IndyCar and Gran Turismo", retrieved 2023-05-13
- ^ "Discovery Channel Documentaries - Extreme Machines: Rockets - TheTVDB.com". www.thetvdb.com. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
- ^ "Spaceplanes - The Ultimate Journey", retrieved 2021-10-16
- ^ Extreme Machines, Wheels of Steel (1997) - The Learning Channel
- ^ "Flight Power - Aircraft History", retrieved 2021-10-20
- ^ Extreme Machines, Carriers (1998) - Discovery Channel
- ^ "Flight of the Future - Science Fiction or Reality", retrieved 2021-10-20
- ^ "The Making Of Ultimate Underwater Machines". Broadcast. 2001-05-11. Retrieved 2025-06-14.
- ^ Naked Science (2014-08-20). Fear of Flying - Aircraft Crashes and Hijackings. Retrieved 2025-06-16. – via YouTube.
- ^ [VHS] Video Home System (2025-04-28). Reach for the sky: Extreme Machines S5E2 [NO ADS] | Discovery Channel UK, 8th August 2001 | VHS. Retrieved 2025-06-15. – via YouTube.