
UKTV has commissioned Masters of Reinvention (6x60) for its leading factual channel Yesterday and free streaming service UKTV Play, to be produced by Air TV.
In the new series, multi-award-winning mechanical engineer and broadcaster, Dr Shini Somara (Tomorrows Food, BBC One) will turn to back copies of Practical Mechanics magazine - once the bible of British inventors - to challenge a dream design team to update its vintage blueprints for the 21st century.
Each week Dr Shini will lead a diverse crew of engineers, crafters and gadgeteers to update inventions dating back to the 1930s, 40s, 50s or 60s using only Practical Mechanics faded plans as a guide. Working from a repurposed vintage shed on a Yorkshire airfield, the build teams will be drawn from a consistent pool of returning experts, with Dr Shini allocating team members to the projects that most suits their skills.
Masters of Reinvention has been commissioned for UKTV by commissioning editor Kirsty Hanson with head of factual and factual entertainment Helen Nightingale, and ordered by Yesterday channel director, Gerald Casey, and director of commissioning, Hilary Rosen. Produced by Air TV, the production company that makes Bangers & Cash, the executive producers are Matt Richards and Ian Cundall, and the series producer is Ben Bhatia.
UKTVs Kirsty Hanson said, "Britain is a nation of inventors and its brilliant to not only celebrate that, but inspire our viewers to be ambitious and creative with their spare time. Masters of Reinvention feels like an exciting, new turn of the wheel for Yesterday."Gerald Casey said, "Yesterday viewers will love how Masters of Reinvention combines innovation and invention in a new format, revealing how designers and engineers use their expertise to build gadgets from scratch."Air TVs Matt Richards said, "Its great to be working with UKTV on this innovative and authentic new format combining inspiration from the past with innovation for the future. The team will be attempting to build everything from powered cars, to sailing boats and bizarre gadgets. Its going to be a real challenge and the team cant wait to get started." Dr Shini Somara said, "We havent yet reinvented the wheel, so Im curious and amped on how and why we can improve on the ingenuities of yesteryear!"UKTV recently announced its intention to launch U - a new Masterbrand that will unite its family of free-to-air channels and its free streaming service. Launching in Summer 2024, the move will see its current streaming service UKTV Play transition to U and UKTVs family of free-to-air channels will become U&DAVE, U&DRAMA, U&YESTERDAY and U&W.
Masters of Reinvention will air in 2025 on U&Yesterday and available on free streaming service U. Yesterday is the home of other new UKTV Originals including Bangers & Cash, Canal Boat Diaries, Find It, Fix It, Flog It and Dream Car Fixers.
Masters of Reinvention is being distributed worldwide by BBC Studios.
Ends
For more information, please contact:
Notes to Editors: Masters of Reinvention images featuring Dr Shini are available .
About
Dr Shini trained as a mechanical engineer, completing a PHD in Computational Fluid Dynamics at Brunel University London. Her previous presenting roles include The Health Show and Tomorrows Food both for the BBC, and Smoke and Steel on Yesterday.
About Yesterday
Freeview 27 | Sky 155 | Virgin 129 | Freesat 159 | Youview 27 Stream for free on UKTV Play | uktvplay.co.uk/channel/yesterday | @yesterdaytweets TV for curious minds, revealing fascinating factual stories from the world around us. Yesterday showcases original series such as Dream Car Fixers and Secrets of the London Underground as well as new and exclusive observational documentaries, including Bangers & Cash, Find It, Fix It, Flog It and Canal boat Diaries.
About UKTV
UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 30 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - Dave, Gold, W, Drama, Alibi, Eden and Yesterday - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to audiences through UKTV Play, Sky, Virgin Media, NOW, Freeview and Freesat; and to Irish viewers through Sky, Virgin Media, Eir, Vodafone and NOW. Channel & content availability varies by platform. UKTVs content is also available to UK viewers via dedicated FAST channels on Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Freevee Pluto TV and Virgin Media.
UKTV is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers. UKTV is part of BBC Studios, the UKs most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the worlds leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.
corporate.uktv.co.uk | press.uktv.co.uk | @uktvpress
About
Air TV is one of the fastest-growing independent production companies in the UK with an unrivalled reputation for creating high-volume award-winning factual TV. In 2023 they won the "Gamechanger Programme of the Year" award at the Broadcast Digital Awards for the ratings-busting classic car show Bangers & Cash on UKTVs Yesterday channel.
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
16/09/2025
SVG All-Stars: Leigh Michaud, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe UConn grad rose from ESPN's mailroom to become one of its most valuable ops leadersBy Bran...
16/09/2025
Live From IBC 2025: Friday's Latest From Halls 1-4, Outdoor Exhibits in Amst...
16/09/2025
Live From IBC 2025: Saturday's Latest From Halls 5-7 in Amsterdam By SVG Staff
Friday, September 12, 2025 - 17:00
Print This Story
The SVG Europe and ...
16/09/2025
Live From IBC 2025: Sunday's Latest From Halls 8-10 in Amsterdam By SVG Staff
Saturday, September 13, 2025 - 17:00
Print This Story
The SVG Europe and...
16/09/2025
Live From IBC 2025: Monday's Latest From Halls 11-14 in Amsterdam By SVG Staff
Sunday, September 14, 2025 - 17:00
Print This Story
The SVG Europe and ...
16/09/2025
Amazon Prime Video Picks Up Four Hours of Early-Round Masters Coverage in 2026By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 10:15 a...
16/09/2025
VERSANT Inks Deal for League One Volleyball as Women's Sports Rights Slate G...
16/09/2025
ESPN VP, Corporate Communications, Katina Arnold Named SVP, Disney Advertising C...
16/09/2025
IBC 2025 in Review: SVG Europe's Full Collection of Video Interviews From th...
16/09/2025
Hace una d cada, la m sica latina representaba apenas el 8% de las reproducciones globales en Spotify. Hoy, constituye m s de una cuarta parte (27%) de toda la ...
16/09/2025
A decade ago, Latin music made up just 8% of global Spotify streams. Today, it a...
16/09/2025
Spotify is expanding our video lineup with a new partnership with Zoo 55, part of ITV Studios. For the first time, acclaimed content from ITV Studios is landing...
16/09/2025
At DSEI 2025, James Dunne of L3Harris Maritime UK chaired a panel on aligning the supply chain to the warfighter, where leaders discussed modernising support fo...
16/09/2025
Calrec has strengthened its collaboration with audio metering expert RTW by integrating RTW's new TMxCore metering platform across its full range of Argo IP...
16/09/2025
College Football Scores Top Telecast in August with 16M+ Viewers on FOX, Followe...
16/09/2025
Collaboration marks the first SSP integration of Gracenote IDs, enabling show-le...
16/09/2025
AMSTERDAM The organizers of IBC2025 are reporting that 43,858 visitors from more than 170 countries attended the event, which had more than 1,300 exhibitors and...
16/09/2025
Wooden Camera announces the release of its new Accessory Collection for the FUJIFILM GFX ETERNA 55. The highlights of this collection include vital power soluti...
16/09/2025
Anton/Bauer, a leading manufacturer of mobile power solutions for broadcast and cinematic equipment, has announced the launch of Anton/Bauer Fleet Management, a...
16/09/2025
Teradek, a leading provider of video transmission and live production solutions, today announced the launch of Prism Jetpack, a groundbreaking 5G video contribu...
16/09/2025
Astera, the leader in wireless LED lighting solutions, announces the ultra-versatile SolaBulb. Building on the success of the Astera bulb family, SolaBulb intro...
16/09/2025
As the world gathered at TED2025 to explore the provocative theme "Humanity Reimagined", Clear-Com , supported by NETGEAR networking infrastructure, delivered f...
16/09/2025
Bitfocus' Buttons platform celebrated as a catalyst for AV and broadcast convergence
Bitfocus has been named winner of the IABM Impact Award Pro AV Chan...
16/09/2025
Record entries and outstanding innovation celebrated at IBC2025 as the MediaTech community honors its leading people, projects and organizations
IABM announced...
16/09/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (SJC), a leading satellite operator and pay-TV provider in Japan, has partnered with H...
16/09/2025
Telestream congratulates Sky Group, which has been awarded the prestigious IBC Innovation Award for Content Distribution for its MediaMesh platform on Sunday, S...
16/09/2025
Leading space solutions company will use optical ground stations to deliver faster, more secure data from space
Luxembourg, September 15, 2025 - SES, a leading...
16/09/2025
NOVI, Mich. ENCO has unveiled Raptor, a cloud-based live streaming captioning encoder that injects the speed, power and reliability of real-time AI capabilities...
16/09/2025
NEW YORK Comcast NBCUniversal and NBCUniversal Local have announced that a total of $2.5 million has been awarded in 2025 to 69 nonprofit organizations servicin...
16/09/2025
AMSTERDAM Martin Euredjian has joined Atomos as director of advanced imaging and will lead innovation for advanced display technology....
16/09/2025
AMSTERDAM Calrec introduced a 48-faced Argo M and showcased its largest Argo software updates at the recently concluded IBC2025....
16/09/2025
AMSTERDAM Lawo introduced its HOME Audio Shuffler app, a replacement for a traditional baseband audio matrix within an IP-based Dynamic Media Facility, during t...
16/09/2025
CBS is reporting that the 77TH Emmy Awards hosted by Nate Bargatze on Sunday Sept. 14 was seen by more than 7.42 million viewers on the CBS Television Network a...
16/09/2025
Back to All News
Meet the Adversaries That Will Clash in Rulers of Fortune, a S...
16/09/2025
Back to All News
Would You Take 30 Million Baht from a Dead Persons Account? E...
16/09/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Official Trailer and Poster for She Walks ...
16/09/2025
Comscore Unveils The Scoreboard: An Interactive Destination Surfacing Consumer B...
15/09/2025
Steve Zahn, Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, and Janeane Garofalo star in Ben Stiller&...
15/09/2025
Global K-Pop sensation aespa is redefining what it means to be rich with the r...
15/09/2025
Every day, millions of people around the world turn to Spotify to enjoy the audi...
15/09/2025
After months of intensive planning and implementation, Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic...
15/09/2025
A U.S. Marine launches a Javelin shoulder-fired anti-tank missile during a training exercise. (Photo credit: U.S. Marine Corps)...
15/09/2025
AMSTERDAM TV Tech has named its Best of Show Awards winners for IBC2025, which wraps up today. Entrants were judged by a panel of industry experts on the criter...
15/09/2025
Unique sports content orchestration platform builds momentum among SES's cus...
15/09/2025
Back to All News
Over 41 Million Global Viewers On Netflix Watch Terence Crawfo...
15/09/2025
Paris, France - September 15, 2025 -- Space42 (ADX: SPACE42), the UAE-based AI-p...
15/09/2025
Back to All News
The Great Flood' Teaser Trailer Previews A Gripping Struggle for Survival
Entertainment
15 September 2025
GlobalSouth Korea
Link copi...
15/09/2025
Back to All News
From Hardship to Hope: Typhoon Family' Presents a Tale of...