HOW BRITAIN WORKED

How Britain Worked C4 Sunday Nights 8pm: 1/6

An absolute genius in the broadcasting media has realised that Guy Martin is going to make an exquisite addition to British television.

Martin 30, has done a similar series before for the BBC and also appeared in film TT3D observing his career as a road motorbike racer whilst he was competing in the 2010 Isle of Man TT races.

Episode 1 saw Guy Martin restoring a steam engine. His duties involved mending track, commentating on workplace photos of yesteryear depicting grafting in abundance and practicing some of the techniques involved with the whole process of restoration and preserving heritage.

He articulates well, and his broad Lincolnshire accent is extremely endearing as it evoked a sense of heartfelt motivation in me, as he immersed himself in the countries industrial heritage by taking on tasks head on and meeting younger workers who enjoy heavy engineering.

“That’s a grand shovel Guy.”

Practical work was depicted in abundance. Guy made a stoke shovel using some particularly complex metal craft techniques. He seemed to adapt well to these advanced skills.

He’s a truck mechanic by day as well a lunatic bike racer. The heavy-duty nuts and bottles of lorries juxtapose the intimate and delicate engineering process needed to maintain bespoke road racing motorbikes to produce results measured in milliseconds. Both these approaches produce a well rounded and capable individual, able to appreciate the complex maths, science and precision that were they key factors in the industrial revolution as well as the need to hit stuff in the right place with massive hammers.

OK, so the project wasn’t exactly a start to finish man versus metal death match that went the distance over 15 rounds. You got a tiny inkling that some of his appearances were a tad media constructed, but the lad has to  balance a day job and a motorsport career too. I really liked the over all vibe of the episode and I particularly liked the segments with like minded individuals who had a passion for making things to a perfect specification. It gave a real labour market insight and depicted young people working in engineering that were extremely skilled.

Merging history, working practices of the present, restoration projects and historical accounts into one hour of commercial television is extremely tricky.

 “I don’t think I’ve ever fried an egg.”

This extremely likable northern chap transcends an honesty to the audience that you rarely get in the media. His passion for mechanical engineering is clearly what drives him and his motivation and excitement was oozing from the television. I am excited too. The ability to get stuck in and appreciate the situation you have been put in, is a rare asset. I’m going to go out on a limb and say we have a new Fred Dibnah in the making. This is extremely important as Dibnah pretty much had the same way about him too and compelled millions to appreciate Britain’s true backbone.

Today is a good day for the memories of our industrial past, recognising the present day quality of channel four’s documentaries and for taking solace in the knowledge that some cool folk, want to preserve our heritage way into the future...