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Scrapheap Challenge has been a programme I’ve always enjoyed, for it’s sheer technical and engineering interest, the enthusiastic engineers, eccentrics, the mad challenges and excellent production values and presenters. It ticked so many boxes: Great family entertainment, a good dollop of education, the thrill of a challenge and lots of humour.

But after ten years, it was clear they needed to do something new. Presenter Robert Llewellyn and Cathy Rogers were moving on, and you can’t really stick to the same format for too long without risking getting stale.

But having watched the first episode from the new version this evening, I’m left feeling rather sad that the production of the new series seems to have tried hard to keep Scrapheap, but missed the fundamentals of what made it work as a programme. Whilst they’ve got a great presenter with Dick Strawbridge, and there’s still a sense of invention, it’s not quite as madcap. It feels like there are too many people involved, and I found it really hard to find a narrative: All the contestants, family and observers seemed to be talking to an anonymous and silent off-camera interviewer, which just seemed to leave me feeling detached.

The production seems cheap too. All the sound effects from the previous version, and painfully simple graphics (including points shown right across the team-pic), and that lack of interviewer, it’s clear that budget costs have been slashed. Given how much the show is repeated on More4, I’m a bit surprised it’s not more of an investment on a show like this. But perhaps the viewing figures were falling away, so something had to give.

All said, I can’t see there being another series. They tried to keep Scrapheap Challenge, but simply forgot what made Scrapheap work. The ‘great egg race’ inspiration of the original was nowhere to be seen. What’s left seems to have many of the ingredients, but just doesn’t ’stick’ together in a cohesive way.

I’ve a bit of a confession to make. I’ve a bit of a soft-spot for US crime/cop shows. Law and Order, CSI (original series, natch), and more recently, and despite some initial reluctance, Numbers.

For a while, it kinda bugged me as to why I like these shows. Let’s face it, they’re rarely that demanding. But I realised that I enjoy their self-contained format. There are, inevitably, story-arc’s, but they’re usually bite-sized in their own way: You can still watch the arc development shows without needing to know or care too much about character development, if you don’t want to. Being able to watch a show, miss a few, then just grab another, is the name of the game. Bite-sized cop shows. Usually something interesting going on, perhaps a bit of a moral or twist. Nothing too taxing at after a hard day at the, er, computer screen.

Of course, it has its downsides. By being bite-sized and time-limited, they have limited scope for complicated stories or characters (hence the story arc). Plus my usual gripe that US shows featuring any science or technology (ie. CSI/Numbers) almost inevitably involves silly computer usage (some “database” that can be readily searched, readily accessible CCTV cameras (always easy to “enhance” to get a retina reflection), and always involving windowing environments you’ve never ever seen before in your life), and painful use of technology no doubt envisaged by muppets.

Some time ago – we’re talking late 1990’s – I used to be a fan of The Bill. Largely because it coincided with my eating dinner, plus living on my own. I’d also recently returned from Germany, so glutted on British TV shows I’d missed. The Bill, you’ll recall, wasn’t previously a soap opera. In fact, as soon as the ‘character development’ cranked up, I pretty much stopped watching it. I didn’t want to care about characters. I just wanted to see a 30 minute show which involved criminals getting nicked godsdammit! (Yeah, BSG is another big favourite! You can tell, can’t you)

New UK derivative arrival “Law & Order: UK” didn’t entice me from the trailers, but it’s actually looking like it’ll go the distance. I can’t quite get used to Apollo^wJamie Bamber speaking with a British Accent, but it’s proving rather good (being born here helps, naturally!). The format seems to make the transition reasonably well. I’ll be curious to know if they show it in the US at any point. But certainly one to watch a bit more, and it’s suitably “bite sized” for my tastes.