[Top Down]

No - but I'm recording the series 

[dvd3500]

I groan when they dub in engine noises when showing a Formula E car but otherwise a nice little show.
I like how Simon talked about some very private things and you can see everyone is very interested in the company.

[Gordon Steadman]

It's on again tonight at 8pm.

9pm here but I think I might watch a bit of it just to see if the format annoys me. The fact that it will be about trains is enough but if the presentation sucks as well then I know not to bother with the rest.

[woodcote]

The second episode was interesting mostly for the use of a 3D scanner as part of the design process for the Corgi bi-plane. The new scanner has been used by the Scalextric team for some of the models that will appear in the 2022 range.

Simon, who introduced the scanner on the TV programme, is the researcher for Scalextric and brand manager for Scalextric and Pocher. He is pretty excited by how the scanning technology will revolutionise the accuracy of modelling of older cars - ie ones where manufacturer's CAD files are not available. The CAD files are only a start, but they do give an accurate foundation for the design process.

The first two programmes are here: https://uktvplay.uktv.co.uk/channel/yesterday

Looks like more trains and scenery tips next week.

[woodcote]

Part 3 last night was 100% trains - but also a good look round the old factory and some hints at future plans for development of the site. The Hornby herring gulls also made an appearance.

There was a fun interlude with Laurie Calvert, who I met at the London Toy Fair in 2020 with the Steampunk trains Hornby launched under the Bassett-Lowke brand. Laurie's approach is very different to the average model railway enthusiast and it's great to see him work.

There was also another design timeline - this week a rookie designer recreated Winston Churchill's funeral carriage in OO. Plus 'Britain's largest model railway' being built by a bloke who made his fortune with those Super-Car experiences. He sold the business so he can work on his layout full-time.

You can watch the first three episodes here: https://uktvplay.uktv.co.uk/channel/yesterday

[CMOTD]

One slightly bizarre aspect of the program was that the builder of the enormous layout intends to take it on tour, starting with a visit to Wakefield's Market Hall in December. It is 192 ft long in 115 separate parts, will take eight people a full week to dismantle and reassemble the parts and will need two articulated lorries to transport it -  I bet that seemed like a good idea at the time!

Apart from which, although it is a truly magnificent creation, it is an O gauge layout without a single item of Hornby rolling stock on it so quite why the producers thought it relevant to the program escapes me.

[CMOTD]

Four episodes in now with no mention of Scalextric yet. We have had one about a Corgi biplane and next week is about an Airfix Spitfire. The introduction to the programme would indicate that a Scalextric Formula E will feature at some point but the trains are obviously taking centre stage. We probably shouldn't be surprised at this as the model railways are their main profit generator with the other brands much lower down in the pecking order.

[Maestroman]

Looks like the Hornby A model world episode featuring The Scalextric formula E car is going to be shown on December 13th at 9.00pm on Yesterday.

[autoavia]

 We probably shouldn't be surprised at this as the model railways are their main profit generator with the other brands much lower down in the pecking order.

 The other way of looking at it is that, assuming model railways is the main profit generator, the series is also an opportunity to promote the other products and brands.

It is disappointing that only one programme is going to be about Scalextric and that will supposedly be about the Formula E car which, I must admit, has no interest for me whatsoever. It would have been better to have something to promote a wider part of the Scalextric range but I wonder how much of the content was chosen by the production company rather than by Hornby.
My past experience of TV production companies is that they use the content that best suits their ideas rather than looking for something which suits both the production company and others involved.

[Scuderia_Turini]

I think that the over-riding aspect of this series is that it is designed for the mass-market, both in terms of the Hornby promotion and the producers aims.  
No doubt genuine enthusiasts of all the brands featured will find it uncomfortable viewing.