Line #52 Series/BlastLab


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blast_lab.jpg]]
2
3	->''"Some of my experiments are a little... unreliable."''
4
5	By day, Creator/{{Richard\|Hammond}} "[[FanNickname The Hamster]]" [[Creator/RichardHammond Hammond]] presents [[Series/TopGear television]] [[Series/BrainiacScienceAbuse programmes]] in which [[StuffBlowingUp things get blown up]] on [[RuleOfCool flimsy pretexts]]. However, he also has a SecretIdentity in which he likes to... um... [[TypeCasting blow things up on flimsy pretexts.]].
6
7	''Richard Hammond's Blast Lab'' is a ScienceShow aimed at [[SaturdayMorningKidsShow children]] which attempts to [[EdutainmentShow teach]] various scientific theories by conducting [[DonttryThisAtHome dangerous experiments]] and [[EducationThroughPyrotechnics blowing stuff up]].
8
9	Every week a large haul of science-related prizes are set aside for [[RivalScienceTeams two competing teams]] who have to conduct experiments and answer science questions with help from the StudioAudience. The winning team get to take their prizes home. The losing team [[AllOrNothing don't]]. (You can probably guess [[MadeOfExplodium what happens to THEIR prizes]].)
10
11	In the opening credits of ''Blast Lab'', we learn that within the grounds of Hammond's [[BigFancyHouse home]] lies an old water mill that conceals the entrance to his secret [[ElaborateUndergroundBase Blast Lab]] where he does [[MadScientistLaboratory weird experiments]], grows strange new lifeforms in a tank of [[CoveredInGunge toxic waste]] and creates [[HomemadeInventions bizarre machines]] all in the name of [[ForScience science]]!
12
13	He is assisted by his [[NeverMessWithGranny Ninja Nan]], who guards the lab, and a [[SternTeacher science teacher]] from his schooldays whom he has [[TimeTravel brought from the past]] to [[GadgeteerGenius help with his experiments]], but who is currently stuck in the body of a [[OlderThanTheyLook ten-year-old]] after the TimeMachine [[HilarityEnsues malfunctioned]]. Also assisting is [[NonHumanSidekick Oliver]] (or should we say [[VanityLicensePlate OLIV3R]]?), an [[CoolCar Opel Kadett]] who [[PromotionToOpeningTitles started out as a minor character]] on Hammond's other show ''Top Gear''. There are also an apparently infinite number of [[NominalImportance nameless]], [[TheVoiceless mute]], [[SortingAlgorithmOfMortality expendable]] henchpeople known as [[BumblingSidekick The Lab Rats]].
14
15	Speculation whether this show was originally supposed to be an episode of MTV's ''Cribs'' is best confined to WildMassGuessing.
16	----
17	!!This show provides examples of:
18	* AdamWesting: Hammond's MadScientist character is just an exaggerated version of himself.
19	%%* AllOrNothing
20	* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: The explanations of the scientific theories.
21	* ATeamMontage: Building the hovercraft.
22	* LittleMissBadass: Despite being only ten years old, Mini Miss is a million times cooler than Hammond.
23	* BadassLongcoat: Hammond's labcoat is made of black leather.
24	* BumblingSidekick: The Lab Rats.
25	* CoolCar: Oliver.
26	* CoveredInGunge: Every episode somehow involves the toxic tank.
27	%%* CowTools
28	%%* DontTryThisAtHome
29	%%* EducationThroughPyrotechnics
30	%%* EdutainmentShow
31	%%* ElaborateUndergroundBase
32	%%* ForScience
33	* GadgeteerGenius: Mini Miss.
34	* TheHitFlash: The opening credits and the Lab Rat sequences.
35	* HomemadeInventions: Hammond's "disguised" microphones.
36	* {{MacGyvering}}: Most of Mini Miss' experiments.
37	%%* MadeOfExplodium
38	* MadScientist: Hammond.
39	* MadScientistLaboratory
40	* {{McNinja}}: Ninja Nan.
41	* TheNapoleon: Hammond.
42	* NeverMessWithGranny: Ninja Nan.
43	* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: No animals were harmed during filming... [[CreditsGag except for the Lab Rats]].
44	* NominalImportance: The Lab Rats.
45	* NonHumanSidekick: Oliver.
46	* OlderThanTheyLook: Mini Miss.
47	* PlotRelevantAgeUp: Inverted with Mini Miss.
48	* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Oliver.
49	%%* RivalScienceTeams
50	%%* RuleOfCool
51	%%* ScienceShow
52	* ShoutOut: Especially to ''Top Gear'', ranging from comments in the hovercraft episode (referring to ''Gear'''s amphibious car challenge) to the [[AudibleGleam "ting!"]] of Hammond's [[TwinkleSmile smile]] in the opening credits (which riffs off the ''Top Gear'' tooth-whitening [[RunningGag gags]]).
53	* SortingAlgorithmOfMortality: The Lab Rats
54	* SternTeacher: Mini Miss
55	%%* StuffBlowingUp
56	%%* ThreeWallSet
57	* TimeMachine: Mini Miss
58	* TimTaylorTechnology: The experiments get bigger and more powerful as each episode progresses.
59	* TruthInTelevision: Oliver really is Hammond's car.
60	* VanityLicensePlate: [=OLIV3R=].
61	* VanityPlate: "Hamster's Wheel Productions"

Context Series / BlastLab