| Extreme Machines | |
|---|---|
| Narrated by | William Hootkins |
| Music by |
|
| Countries of origin | United States United Kingdom |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| Production | |
| Production company | Pioneer Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | The Learning Channel Discovery Channel |
| Release | April 26, 1997 – December 29, 2001 |
Extreme Machines was a documentary series created by Pioneer Productions for The Learning Channel and Discovery Channel. The series focused mainly on machines although in some episodes of Seasons 4 and 5, it also looked at disasters involving them. The series was largely narrated by William Hootkins. The show made also made use of scale miniatures in many episodes, managed by David Barlow.
| Seasons | Episodes |
|---|---|
| 1 | 11 |
| 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 12 |
| 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 10 |
| Specials | 7 |
| No. in
Season |
Episode Title | Technology shown | Episode Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diving Deep | Submersibles | |
| 2 | Choppers | AH-64 Apache | Hugh Whiteworth |
| 3 | Hovercrafts [sic] | Hovercraft | |
| 4 | Image Impossible | ||
| 5 | Fastest Man on Earth | ||
| 6 | Race Cars | Honda HRH V8t (Tasman Motorsports - 1996 U.S. 500)
McLaren F1 GTR (Gulf McLaren - 1996) |
Hugh Whiteworth |
| 7 | Rockets | Space Shuttle | Rod Parker |
| 8 | Roller Coasters | ||
| 9 | Spaceplanes | Space Shuttle
DC-XA Energia/Buran |
Rod Parker |
| 10 | Speed Freaks | ||
| 11 | Wheels of Steel | TGV | Yavar Abbas |
| No. in
Season |
Episode Title | Technology Shown | Episode Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tanks | M1 Abrams | |
| 2 | Motorcycle Mania | ||
| 3 | Earth Breakers | ||
| 4 | Car Crazy | Lotus Elise
Jim Router's F-117 Car |
|
| 5 | Smart Weapons | BGM-109 Tomahawk
Fat Man and Little Boy |
|
| 6 | Flight Power | BAE Harrier II | Hugh Whiteworth |
| 7 | Supersonic Landspeed | ||
| 8 | Power Boats | ||
| 9 | Mega Trucks | Komatsu 930E
Volvo ECT |
|
| 10 | Four Wheel Force | ||
| 11 | Supersight | ||
| 12 | Carriers | USS John C. Stennis CVN-74 (Nimitz Class Carrier)
USS Forrestal CV-59 (Forrestal Class Carrier) USS Peleliu LHA-5 (Tawara Class Amphibious Carrier) AV-8B Harrier II |
Hugh Whiteworth |
| No. in
Season |
Episode Title | Technology shown | Episode Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emergency Vehicles | ||
| 2 | Submarines | USS Nebraska SSBN-739 (Ohio Class Submarine) | |
| 3 | Speed Freaks II | X-15 | |
| 4 | Ultimate Space Machines | ||
| 5 | Ice Master | ||
| 6 | The Ultimate Speed machines | ||
| 7 | Balloons | ||
| 8 | Super Cars | ||
| 9 | The Landspeed Record | ||
| 10 | Incredible Robots | MIT Leg Laboratory | |
| 11 | Metal Monsters | Chesapeake & Ohio 614 | |
| 12 | Flight of the Future | YF-22/F-22 Raptor | David Holryod |
| No. in
Season |
Episode Title | Technology shown | Episode Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pedal Power | ||
| 2 | Rocketeers | ||
| 3 | Car Crash | ||
| 4 | Aviators | ||
| 5 | Raiders of the Deep | ||
| 6 | Super Trains/Super Trains Ultimate | P-40DC Genesis (Amtrak Sunset Limited)
Superliner Railcar (Amtrak Sunset Limited) Acela Express Shinkansen TGV |
Yavar Abbas |
| 7 | Adrenaline Junkies | ||
| 8 | Extreme Rides | ||
| 9 | Disasters at Sea | ||
| 10 | Airships | ||
| 11 | Mega Machines | ||
| 12 | Jump Jets | AV-8B Harrier II
GR.1 Harrier FRS.1 Sea Harrier BAE Harrier II |
| No. in
Season |
Episode Title | Technology shown | Episode Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bridges | ||
| 2 | World's Greatest Ships: Power & Glory | ||
| 3 | World's Greatest Ships: Dangerous Seas | ||
| 4 | Incredible Motorcycle Jumpers | ||
| 5 | Ultimate Underwater Machines I
(Submarines) |
K-141 Kursk (Oscar II Class Submarine) | |
| 6 | Ultimate Underwater Machines II | ||
| 7 | Fear of Flying I
(Crash Landing) |
Boeing 747-100 (United Airlines Flight 811)
Boeing 747-400 (Singapore Airlines Flight 006) Aérospatiale/BAE Concorde (Air France Flight 4590) Boeing 737-200 (Aloha Airlines Flight 243) Boeing 707, Vickers VC-10, Douglas DC-8 (Dawson's Field hijackings) Boeing 767-200ER (Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961) Boeing 737-300, Fairchild Metroliner (1991 Los Angeles runway collision) |
Yavar Abbas |
| 8 | Fear of Flying II | ||
| 9 | World's Tallest Buildings: Fear of Heights | ||
| 10 | World's Tallest Buildings: Reach for the Sky | World Trade Center (note: this episode aired a month before (August 8, 2001) and mentioned severals subjects similar to the September 11 attacks)
Empire State Building (1945 Empire State Building B-25 crash) |
Mike Beckham
Luke Campbell |