Scrapheap Challenge reboot in the works with a new twist

Scrapheap Challenge could make a return 15 years after it was last seen on TV.

First airing in 1998 on Channel 4, Scrapheap Challenge saw teams of contestants competing against each other to construct a working machine or vehicle from materials found in a scrapyard.

Each episode featured a specific engineering challenge, ranging from building amphibious vehicles to constructing trebuchets.

The show aired 11 series and various specials, last broadcasting in 2010.

Now Robert Llewellyn, who hosted the show for a decade, has revealed work is underway on a reboot.

The new version would be a twist on the original, focusing purely on electric vehicles and contraptions.

Robert shared a pilot was in the works under the name ‘Zapheap Challenge’.

Originally, filming was scheduled to take place in the Netherlands in June 2020, but the pandemic halted these plans.

However, he revealed: “It’s just starting to rebrew and there’s some really interesting people I’m talking to. It won’t happen this year but maybe next year.”

Robert shared that the show would start as a one-off, explaining: “It’s really expensive to make. Scripted reality, Married At First Sight, Big Brother, and that, is cheap to make.

“To make Scrapheap in the old days we had a crew of over 60 people, we had six cameras running all the time on each team.”

Hopefully we’ll hear more soon!

For now, you can watch episodes on Channel4.com.

In each episode, teams are given ten hours to build machines that were then tested in competitions.

Alongside the main series, the show aired spin-offs Full Metal Challenge and the Scrappy Races rally. Plus, a US version called Junkyard Wars launched in 2001 and last aired in 2005.