Scrapheap Challenge poster

TV series

Scrapheap Challenge

199812 seasons6.4 / 10

Scrapheap Challenge is an engineering game show produced by RDF Media and broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. In the show, teams of contestants had 10 hours in which to build a working machine that could do a specific task, using materials available in a scrapheap. The format was exported to the United States, where it was known as Junkyard Wars as a completely different TV series. The US show was also produced by RDF Media, and was originally shown on The Learning Channel. Repeats have aired on another Discovery network, the Science Channel.

Streaming, rental and purchase options

Where to watch in United States

Checked Jul 26, 2026

Scrapheap Challenge is available to stream on Prime Video and Amazon Freevee in United States. You can also buy it from Amazon. Use the direct links below to open the provider.

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Synopsis

Scrapheap Challenge is an engineering game show produced by RDF Media and broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. In the show, teams of contestants had 10 hours in which to build a working machine that could do a specific task, using materials available in a scrapheap. The format was exported to the United States, where it was known as Junkyard Wars as a completely different TV series. The US show was also produced by RDF Media, and was originally shown on The Learning Channel. Repeats have aired on another Discovery network, the Science Channel.

Season 10 episodes

Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.

← Season 9

Episode 1

Scrap Speed Record

To get the series off to a smashing start, the first episode challenges the teams to break one of Scrapheap's longest-standing records. Back in series six, The Catalysts set a top speed of 72mph in the Grand Prix Challenge. Now The Rocketeers, a team of pyrotechnicians from Bath, and The Brum Brums, motor mechanics from Birmingham, are challenged to beat that time, in the scrap speed record attempt. Where better to do it than historic Pendine Sands, the spiritual home of British land speed record attempts? The teams are under expert scrutiny as they attempt to race their way into the 'heap record books - this week's judge is two-time land speed record-holder Richard Noble.

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Episode 2

Scooter Shooters

This week's mechanical migraine promises to be a Scrapheap classic. The teams must build contraptions to throw a 100-kilogramme scooter as far as they can, without the help of compressed gas or gunpowder. The Balloonatics, a trio of hot air balloonists from Liverpool, take on The Aquarium Crew, a team of aquarium constructors from Dorset.

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Episode 3

Superbikes

The teams build high speed motorbikes capable of racing each other head-to-head around the twisty Scrapheap circuit.

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Episode 4

Decoration Dash

It's a decorator's dream as two teams compete to build a mobile painting machine capable of decorating a house from a distance

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Episode 5

Dune Bashers

The teams must build super-swift vehicles capable of racing up and over the Scrapheap's very own desert dunes.

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Episode 6

Powerboats

The teams compete to build wave-pounding power boats capable of skimming across the Scrapheap lake. And it's not as easy as it sounds.

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Episode 7

Rocket Railway

Inspired by the sleds used to test supersonic planes and spacecraft, the teams are challenged to build a superfast railway... but all usual forms of propulsion are banned.

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Episode 8

Fire Fighters

The teams are challenged to build fire engines in just 10 hours. They have to complete a tight course in the fastest possible time, extinguishing two burning mock jet engines.

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Episode 9

Snow Shifters

The teams are challenged to build super snow shifting machines as well as having to race up a ten-degree slope in temperatures of minus four degrees.

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Episode 10

Savvy Salvaging

This challenge tests the teams' underwater ingenuity as they build a salvage machine from a stockpile of scrap in order to retrieve lost treasure from the bottom of a mini ocean.

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Episode 11

Final: Land Tugs

Two teams have reached the final and now they have just ten hours to build a tow tug capable of pulling a 155 ton jumbo jet along.

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Episode 12

Grand Final: Manphibious Madness

It's the grand final of Scrapheap Challenge and the Rusty Regiment go head-to-head with Woof Justice for 2008's Rings of Steel trophy

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Episode 13

10th Anniversary Special: Hover Bother

A blast from the past, taking inspiration from the very first episode, when two teams were challenged to race makeshift hovercraft around the Scrapheap course.

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Episode 14

Scrapheap Challenge Roadshow 4: Dragsters

Sixteen teams of backyard bodgers from around the UK battle it out for the chance to take on the crème de la crème of the engineering world, the Scrapheap Allstars.

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Episode 15

Scrapheap Challenge Roadshow 5: Ballistas

Teams from around the country have been challenged to build giant mechanical bows capable of launching four-foot arrows, making for an archery tournament of epic proportions.

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Episode 16

10 Years on the Heap

Robert Llewellyn looks back over the highlights of a decade on the heap with the presenters, experts and contestants who've made the show such a success.

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Episode information updated Jul 26, 2026

More about Scrapheap Challenge

Cast

Robert Llewellyn
Lisa Rogers
Dick Strawbridge
Helen CzerskiHerself - Contestant
Dave PriceSelf

Production details

Status
Ended
Series type
Scripted
Episodes
165
Original language
English

Networks & production

  • Channel 4United Kingdom

Themes

contests and competitionsengineeringexpert opinion