

Chris Barrie screaming at engines while fully committed to the bit.
Season 1 • Episode 10
LatestChris rounds out the series by charting the development of attack helicopters from the experimental autogyro of the 1920s, to heavily-armed military models of the 1970s and 80s, including the fearsome Soviet Hind, the record-breaking Lynx, and the stealthy Apache AH-64.
Chris Barrie's Massive Speed follows on from the series Massive Engines and Massive Machines , both of which were also presented by petrolhead Chris (of Red Dwarf fame). In Massive Speed Chris turns his attention to the evolution of machines designed purely to achieve maximum speed. He travels the world searching for the most thrilling, speed-packed machines he can find and introduces audiences to huge engined bikes, planes, trucks and boats that battle it out in power races. Whether it's crossing an otherwise impenetrable snow drift, desert or swamp at the speed of an Olympic sprinter or cutting through the atmosphere at six times the speed of sound, Chris tells the stories of the greatest achievements of speed design and engineering. In each episode Chris follows the evolution of a specific genre of machine by testing them and reveals both the classsic stories and secret histories that surround each of them.
Practical Effects
Real machines doing genuinely stupid speed things.
Editing
That crunchy early-2000s documentary energy.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Barrie's post-Red Dwarf pivot to factual presenting, proving smegheads can pivot.
Part of a golden era of British engineering docs where hosts were actively endangered for entertainment.