Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom
Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom is a British television series broadcast on CBBC and presented by Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood (Dick and Dom). In each episode the duo study the work of a genius (3 in later series) and attempt to recreate one of their ideas, occasionally with some improvements using technology not available in the subject's lifetime. They are assisted by Fran Scott (credited as Science Consultant) and experts in the field of what is being studied.
| Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom | |
|---|---|
 Title cards for Series 1-2 | |
| Also known as | Appsolute Genius (2014–15) Absolute Genius: Super Tech (2015–16) Absolute Genius: Monster Builds (2016) |
| Presented by | Richard McCourt Dominic Wood |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 46 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBBC (2013–2016) CBBC HD (2013–2016) |
| Original release | 23 January 2013 – 21 December 2016 |
The series was one of several commissioned by the BBC to interest young children in science, it follows the success of Professor Brian Cox who has been credited with making teenagers interested in the subject. The BBC chose Dick and Dom as the appropriate presenters for the intended age group.[1]
In November 2014, Dick and Dom won the 2014 Children's Presenter BAFTA Award for series 2 of the show [2]
In summer 2014, CBBC renewed the program for a third and fourth series. The third was called Appsolute Genius and explored video games, while the fourth, Absolute Genius: Super Tech looked at technology from around the world. The fifth and final series, titled Absolute Genius: Monster Builds, was filmed and released in 2016 and looked at geniuses behind monster builds.[3]
Series overview
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 10 | 23 January 2013 | 27 March 2013 | |
| 2 | 10 | 22 January 2014 | 2 April 2014 | |
| 3 | 8 | 7 October 2014 | 26 March 2015 | |
| 4 | 8 | 28 October 2015 | 18 February 2016 | |
| 5 | 10 | 19 October 2016 | 21 December 2016 | |
Episode list
Series 1 (2013)
| # | Title | Genius studied | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Archimedes" | Archimedes of Syracuse | 23 January 2013 |
| 2 | "Von Braun" | Wernher von Braun | 30 January 2013 |
| 3 | "Newton" | Isaac Newton | 6 February 2013 |
| 4 | "Faraday" | Michael Faraday | 13 February 2013 |
| 5 | "Derbyshire" | Delia Derbyshire | 20 February 2013 |
| 6 | "Bazalgette" | Joseph Bazalgette | 27 February 2013 |
| 7 | "Watt" | James Watt | 6 March 2013 |
| 8 | "Widdowson" | Elsie Widdowson | 13 March 2013 |
| 9 | "Da Vinci" | Leonardo da Vinci | 20 March 2013 |
| 10 | "Brunel" | Isambard Kingdom Brunel | 27 March 2013 |
Series 2 (2014)
| # | Title | Genius(es) studied | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | "Episode 1 The Wright Brothers" | Wright brothers | 22 January 2014 |
| 12 | "Episode 2 Fleming" | Alexander Fleming | 29 January 2014 |
| 13 | "Marconi" | Guglielmo Marconi | 5 February 2014 |
| 14 | "Benz" | Karl Benz | 12 February 2014 |
| 15 | "Herschel" | Caroline Herschel | 19 February 2014 |
| 16 | "Al-Jazari" | al-Jazari | 26 February 2014 |
| 17 | "Darwin" | Charles Darwin | 5 March 2014 |
| 18 | "Turing" | Alan Turing | 12 March 2014 |
| 19 | "Curie" | Marie Curie | 26 March 2014 |
| 20 | "Fox Talbot" | Henry Fox Talbot | 2 April 2014 |
Series 3 (2014-2015)
In this series Dick and Dom move on from science and now look at all the apps that people can download to their iPads, phones and computers. At the end of each show they try to make their own game in real life. This last segment is narrated by YouTube personality Joseph Garrett (AKA "Stampy Cat"). Series 3 ran for 8 Episodes over 8 weeks. Series three was titled Appsolute Genius with Dick & Dom. The series also ran a competition to create a new app and game for the CBBC website, the winner of which was 14-year-old Alex, which was later made into 'Escargot Escape Artistes'.
| # | Title | Genius(es) studied | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | "Episode 1: Programme One" | N/A | 7 October 2014 | |
| Dick and Dom explore the world of computer games. They reveal some of the past and present games that have had a major impact on the gaming world. Celebrity gamers talk about their favourite games - from the ones they can't put down to the ones they're so bad at even their gran could beat them. | ||||
| 22 | "Episode 2: Animation" | Walt Disney Yuji Naka Jordan Mechner | 14 October 2014 | |
| Dick and Dom explore animation in computer games and reveal the three geniuses whose brilliant ideas all helped develop animation in gaming through the years. | ||||
| 23 | "Episode 3: Character" | Toru Iwatani Jim Henson Colin Urquhart | 21 October 2014 | |
| In this episode Dick and Dom discover how characters are created for computer games. They reveal three geniuses who have all created iconic characters that we know and love. | ||||
| 24 | "Episode 4: Story" | J. R. R. Tolkien Ron Gilbert Yoshinori Kitase | 28 October 2014 | |
| In this episode Dick and Dom discover the genius of stories in computer games. They reveal three geniuses who have all created legendary tales. | ||||
| 25 | "Episode 5: Building a World" | Andrew Whalley Shigeru Miyamoto Markus Persson | 4 November 2014 | |
| Dick and Dom discover the genius of worlds and environments in computer games. They reveal three geniuses who have all created amazing worlds. | ||||
| 26 | "Episode 6: Coding" | Ada Lovelace Ralph Baer Tim Berners-Lee | 11 November 2014 | |
| Dick and Dom discover the genius of coding in computer games. They reveal three geniuses who have changed the programming world. | ||||
| 27 | "Episode 7: Platform" | Allan Alcorn Bill Gates Steve Jobs | 18 November 2014 | |
| Dick and Dom discover the genius of platforms in computer games. They reveal three geniuses who have changed the way we play games. | ||||
| 28 | "Episode 8: The Winner's Story" | N/A | 26 March 2015 | |
| In the final episode of the series Dick and Dom meet the winner of their amazing competition to design your own computer game. | ||||
Series 4 (2015-2016)
In series 4 Dick and Dom are now looking at super tech from all over the world from tech that can save lives to tech that you can buy to tech that is out of this world, and at the end of each show they try to make their own super tech and beat the challenge set to them. Series 4 ran for 8 Episodes over 8 weeks. Series four was titled Absolute Genius Super Tech with Dick & Dom.
| # | Title | Genius(es) studied | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | "Space Tech" | Sergei Korolev Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Rob Manning | 28 October 2015 | |
| Dick and Dom look to the stars and reveal three geniuses whose technology ideas have pioneered space travel. The boys go to Nasa to see where real astronauts train before going to space, meet the man who sent the Rover to Mars, and get to drive a real space vehicle. | ||||
| 30 | "Robots" | William Grey Walter Marvin Minsky Satoshi Shigemi | 4 November 2015 | |
| Dick and Dom meet man's future best friend - robots. The boys reveal three geniuses whose ideas have changed the world of robotics, and they come face to face with one of the world's largest humanoid robots. They also create their very own destructive robot. | ||||
| 31 | "Techno Toys" | TBA | 11 November 2015 | |
| 32 | "Communication" | TBA | 18 November 2015 | |
| 33 | "Superhuman Tech" | TBA | 25 November 2015 | |
| 34 | "Super Transport" | TBA | 2 December 2015 | |
| 35 | "Dick and Dom's Tech" | TBA | 9 December 2016 | |
| 36 | "Absolute Genius" | TBA | 18 February 2016 | |
Series 5 (2016)
In Series 5 Dick and Dom and Fran are looking at monster builds. The fifth series was confirmed on 2 June 2016. Filming took place throughout 2016[4] The fifth series began airing on CBBC on 19 October 2016.[5][6]
| # | Title | Genius studie(s) | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | "Episode 1 Deep Underground" | Eupalinos Alfred Nobel James Robbins | 19 October 2016 |
| 38 | "Episode 2 Mile High City" | TBC | 26 October 2016 |
| 39 | "Episode 3 Battling Nature" | TBC | 2 November 2016 |
| 40 | "Episode 4 Massive Movers" | TBC | 9 November 2016 |
| 41 | "Episode 5 Everlasting Energy" | TBC | 16 November 2016 |
| 42 | "Episode 6 Under Attack" | TBC | 23 November 2016 |
| 43 | "Episode 7 Epic Bridges" | TBC | 30 November 2016 |
| 44 | "Episode 8 Ultimate Playground" | TBC | 7 December 2016 |
References
- Brown, Maggie (20 January 2013). "TV bids to win pre-school kids over to science". guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 September 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- "2014 Children's Presenter BAFTA". BAFTA. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- "Fran Scott on Twitter". Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- "WITH PICTURES: Dick and Dom on da beach - TV duo bring their own brand of carnage to town". Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- "Dick and Dom on Twitter". Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- "Dick and Dom(Official)". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2017.