The Show - Production Notes - Radio controlled cars

This technology does have uses that aren't just about messing around. For example, it can be rigged into a prototype car and pre-programmed so that it will drive the same course over and over again in exactly the same way, allowing engineers to test different tyres and stuff.

When we filmed this item our radio control boffin was about to fly off to a top secret location in the USA, to work with engineers on testing a brand new, and yet-to-be-revealed 4x4, prototype which he was going to tell us about. But only if he could kill us afterwards, probably by remote control.

You might notice that James' hair looks rather wet during much of this film. That's because, though you can't really tell, it was one of the wettest weekends ever. And one of the windiest. That white garage the boys had to manoeuvre into almost wasn't there, because it blew away twice before filming started. If you look closely you can see it was then lashed down with about 30 miles of string and some rocks.

For our big final, we planned to drive one of the cars off a big ramp and smash it through a caravan parked on the other side. Obviously we could only afford one shot at this and needed the most competent RC driver we had. This turned out to be 13-year-old Krizty Rosenberg. She took the controls and performed the stunt perfectly first time out. Cheers Krizty!

To get a dramatic shot of the car coming over the ramp, our director positioned a very expensive digital camera well behind the predicted landing spot, reasoning that the car could never jump that far. Of course, it did jump that far, landing directly on top of the camera. Still, we managed to get the tape out and the shot was indeed dramatic.