Impossible Engineering is a tribute to the ingenious experts who are behind every seemingly impossible marvel of engineering.
This new and exclusive six-part series, on Yesterday from Tuesday 26th May at 9pm, is an intriguing insight into modern-day structures, from record-beating buildings, to the worlds most cutting-edge ships, trains and planes. Each episode uses captivating 3D graphics, insight from engineering experts and specially shot footage to explore the innovations that account for todays mind-blowing structures.
This fascinating programme takes an in-depth look at the worlds most influential engineering projects across Europe, China and Japan that have been developed from prominent historic structures by their forward-thinking engineers. Featured in this series are the HMS Queen Elizabeth Carrier, the Rion-Antirion bridge, the Shanghai Tower, Kansai airport, the Maglev Train and the Airbus A380.
Episode Guide 1. Aircraft Carrier
The HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest aircraft carrier in the history of the British Royal Navy. With a surface area bigger than two football pitches, and the most advanced short take-off strip and vertical landing in aircraft history, building this ship would have been impossible without the great engineering innovators of the past. In this episode experts explain some of the historic engineering principles from around the world, including the first British shipboard aircraft take-offs in 1912 and the revolutionary HMS Argus. Both of these enabled engineers in the 21st century to create the ground-breaking Queen Elizabeth.
2. Rion-Antirion Bridge
The three kilometres long Rion-Antirion Bridge is awe-inspiring, not only due to its record-breaking dimensions, but also due to its location in one of Europes most active seismic zones where winds reach up to 70mph. This episode gives an insight into the engineers who had to conquer the problems of deep water, high winds, earthquake risks and constant land mass movement to engineer the colossal bridge. Engineering experts travel around the world to understand how iconic creations such as the Salginotobel Bridge in Switzerland and World War II sea forts paved the way for the Bridge.
3. The Shanghai Tower
Due to Shanghai being so densely populated the only place to build is up. Soaring 632 metres into the sky, the Shanghai Tower is the second tallest building in the world. Constructed within one of the most seismically active corners of the globe, it is built to withstand damaging winds of typhoon proportions. Analysing revolutionary designs of the past and engineers such as Jack E. Carmak and Dankmar Adler, this episode demonstrates how trail-blazers allowed ambitious engineers to build an 850,000 tonne skyscraper in a city that is slowly sinking into the soft soil below.
4. Kansai Airport
The construction of Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay, Japan, on the largest man-made island in the world, was one of the most ambitious engineering projects of modern times. Pioneering innovators from the past such as Pierre Danel, who developed a system against the pounding sea, and nineteenth century mechanic Richard Dudgeon made it possible. In this episode the development of airports including Berlins Tempelhof Airport and Londons Croydon Airport are explored to see how engineers attempted this feat of impossible engineering.
5. Maglev Train
This episode explores the history of locomotives. Experts analyse the work of engineers including Sir Nigel Gresley who engineered the worlds fastest steam train in 1938 and Eric Laithwaite, whose linear motor made frictionless travel a real possibility. These audacious innovators of the past influenced the engineering of The Shanghai Maglev, the fastest passenger train in operation on the planet. Held in place by a series of electromagnets, it levitates on an air gap of just ten millimetres and is able to reach a phenomenal top speed of 431 kilometres per hour. Built to cut through a busy metropolis in one of the worlds most active seismic zones, the Shanghai Maglev was an ambitious project that broke engineering boundaries.
6. Airbus
The Airbus A380 is the largest passenger plane ever built and can carry over 850 people non-stop nearly half way around the world. With the largest wingspan of any commercial aircraft, and four specially developed mighty turbo jet engines, the A380 weighs a colossal 560 tonnes. However getting a plane this size off the ground would not have been possible without the nifty innovators of the past: Sir George Cayley, whose ground-breaking work in aerodynamics launched the worlds first glider in the 19th century and Frank Whittle, whose jet engine changed the aviation industry forever. Key developments in aerospace engineering from Richard Whitcombes energy-efficient wing-tip designs, to NASA engineers cutting edge control system, Fly by Wire, helped bring the A380 to fruition.
For more information contact: Emily Jones, Publicist
or email: pressoffice@uktv.co.uk
Notes to Editors About Yesterday Sky 537, Virgin 206, Freeview 19, BT and TalkTalk 019 and on demand via UKTV Play Showcasing UK premiere series such as Raiders of the Lost Past, Forbidden History, and UFO Declassified, Yesterday provides fascinating factual stories. The channel also features dynamic nature and science programming including David Attenboroughs Natural Curiosities and Why Planes Crash, and programmes which challenge expectations including Secrets of the Bible. Ancient history is also featured in series including Medieval Dead, plus modern conflict in shows such as Black Ops.
About UKTV UKTV is the multi-award winning media company that reaches over 42 million viewers every month.
UKTVs eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, Watch, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food - include the most popular non-PSB channel in the UK
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
Impossible Engineering is a tribute to the ingenious experts who are behind every seemingly impossible marvel of engineering. 
