Love it or hate it, Marmite is a quintessentially British product – even though it was invented by a German. In the late 19th century, chemist Justus von Liebig was one of the first people to recognise the nutritional properties of yeast extract. However, rather than develop his idea, he put his energies into another product – Oxo. It was left to the Marmite Company of Burton upon Trent to begin manufacturing the famous spread in 1902.
Today the production line runs 24 hours a day, producing more than 5,000 tonnes of Marmite a year. The key to making the black stuff is brewer’s yeast, a waste product of beer-making. After it has done its job turning malted barley and hops into ale, it is loaded into tankers for the short trip across Burton to the Marmite factory. The yeast is then broken down by enzymes and salt, before it is filtered, concentrated and mixed with a secret selection of spices to produce the final spread.
Elsewhere, Robert meets a group of designers who have set their minds to a most difficult seafaring challenge. They claim to have a built a lifeboat that will not capsize even in the most violent of storms.
Naval architect Ian Chaplin explains that the RNLI’s most advanced lifeboat yet, the Tamar Class, is designed with a fibreglass and foam hull and a low centre of gravity to make it almost unsinkable. Robert watches on as the boat is put to the test and deliberately capsized. Will the brand-new £2.4million boat right itself, or will it sink to the bottom of the harbour?
Robert also discovers the secrets behind the world’s most spectacular light show in Hong Kong. Surprisingly enough, this fantastic display was developed to save power and reduce light pollution. With the city’s skyscrapers vying for attention with ever brighter lighting, the city authorities came up with the idea of a coordinated light show. Now over seven kilometres of LEDs, two-and-a-half kilometres of neon and 15,000 lights and lasers are illuminated each evening in a computer-controlled 14-minute display – all for the tidy sum of $15million.
Comments (12)
over 1 year ago
jamie coppell
it was cool ;0
almost 2 years ago
john mcmanaman
your site is a disgrace.go to bbc iplayer look and learn
almost 2 years ago
phil woodford
what IS the problem with not being able to see episodes of "How do they do it"? It's a great informative programme which I miss every Monday night,and cannot get to see again
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2 years ago
dave wood
this has got to be the worst site for 'catch-up tv' every programme, including 'how do they do it' never seems to work or is un-available I don't know why I bother
2 years ago
chrisbrooks
i cant seem to get anything to work on this site every thing i try to watch comes up as not available WHY IS THIS
over 2 years ago
annonymous
show ended prematurely, at end of first half, before they got to the marmite bit.couldn't even get some of the other programmes (e.g. CSI and NCIS) to play.
over 2 years ago
ken palmer
Picture froze before finishing the life boat sequence!!!!!
over 2 years ago
Demand_FIVE
Thanks for making us aware of this issue. We are experiencing a technical problem with our video at present. It is being investigated and we’ll get this restored as soon as we can. Thanks for your patience.
over 2 years ago
Brian Regelous
How can you justify not showing ' How dot they do it ? shown on Channel 5 on 8/11/2010 ? Could you please tell me why it is not called ' Channel 5 On Demand except for '' How do they do it ? Episode 14/20 when I forget to record it '' ?
over 2 years ago
Alan Clare
Only showed ten minutes instead of 23 minutes.