
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
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
16/04/2026
Appear ASA (OSE: APR) will announce three additions to its X Platform at NAB Sho...
16/04/2026
Harmonic has announced that CentralCast, a centralized master control facility for U.S. public media, has deployed Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor t...
16/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Encompass Digital Media has integrated its BA...
16/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate its Media Infrastructure capabilities at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C2408, Central Hall), bringing routing, signal processing, and orche...
16/04/2026
As preparations ramp up for the FIFA World Cup 2026, Verizon has outlined a sweeping connectivity and infrastructure initiative that will underpin broadcast ope...
16/04/2026
Advanced Image Robotics (AIR) has announced its selection for the 2026 MLS Innovation Lab. AIR will work with MLS clubs, players, and executives on automated vi...
16/04/2026
JWX has announced the acquisition of True Anthem, an AI-powered social publishin...
16/04/2026
Jomboy Media and FuboTV Inc. have launched the Jomboy Media Channel, a 24/7 channel available to FuboTV base plan subscribers. The channel, timed to the start o...
16/04/2026
Wave Central, a Domo Broadcast Company (Booth C2820), and EVS Broadcast Equipmen...
16/04/2026
Tata Communications and Formula 1 have released Race Before the Race, the firs...
16/04/2026
DPA Microphones has released a firmware update for its N-Series Digital Wireless...
16/04/2026
Sony's Live Stage at NAB Show 2026 is the place to hear directly from the content creators, end users, and technology experts who are pushing boundaries in ...
16/04/2026
Perfect Game and Youth Prospects have announced a partnership covering broadcast...
16/04/2026
National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) has announced a media rights partnership with Al...
16/04/2026
Audio-Technica has announced two new mid-side (MS) stereo broadcast microphones:...
16/04/2026
PSSI Global Services has announced the acquisition of Beagle Networks, a provider of IT infrastructure and onsite technical support for media and enterprise cus...
16/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has released Blackmagic Camera for iOS 3.3, a free update available now from the Apple App Store. The update will be demonstrated at NAB Show ...
16/04/2026
As live sports production continues to expand across linear, digital, and in-ven...
16/04/2026
Part of an infrastructure upgrade, the recently constructed spaces accommodate n...
16/04/2026
NBC has added NEP's Supershooter 11, which only just came online in time for...
16/04/2026
At Spotify, we want your experience to feel intuitive and personal across every moment of the day. Whether you're streaming your favorite playlist while you...
16/04/2026
Vintage broadcast experts release second plug-in
Telsie T is the second plug-in to be released by SonicWorld, a German audio company who specialise in servi...
16/04/2026
Compact unit offers hands-on plug-in control
Softube have just announced the launch of their latest hardware unit, the Flow Studio. Housed in a compact desk...
16/04/2026
Use any VST3 plug-in on immersive audio
Fiedler Audio have just released a powerful new plug-in wrapper that brings full VST3 processing to Dolby Atmos and ...
16/04/2026
Analysis plug-in gains enhanced frequency readouts
Nugen Audio's real-time analysis plug-in has just received a significant update that introduces some ...
16/04/2026
Recording & Music Technology Show
Sound On Sound are pleased to announce a new recording and music technology exhibition taking place in London on Saturday ...
16/04/2026
SBS reveals all-star alumni team to celebrate 70 years of the Eurovision Song Co...
16/04/2026
For decades, understanding the physical world from space has required a trade-of...
16/04/2026
The integration accelerates demographic audience delivery across local markets a...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Telestream Cloud Services, including Vantage Cloud, UP, and SENTRY monitoring tools, are now optimized for OCI, powering flexible multi-cloud media orchestratio...
16/04/2026
Fox Corporation (Nasdaq: FOXA, FOX; FOX or the Company ) today announced a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), naming AWS as its preferre...
16/04/2026
Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting, and quality assurance solutions, today announced an ISDB-Tb capabilit...
16/04/2026
Synamedia and SoFast announce strategic go-to-market partnership to accelerate FAST, pay-TV, and VOD
At the NAB Show 2026, Synamedia and SoFast are announcing ...
16/04/2026
Showcases New, Open-Standard IP Solutions Across Its Portfolio, From Production to Playout
Imagine Communications is marking a decade of leadership in ST 2110 ...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Sportway Media Group, a world leading AI-automated sports production company and Broadcast Solutions, a leading system integrator and provider of innovative sol...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
AJA Enters into Agreement to Acquire Video Encoding Software Company Comprimato
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Deal will expand AJA's video ...
16/04/2026
Deity Announces PR-4 Compact Field Recorder with Pre-Orders Launching April 14
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Deity Microphones today announce...