Masters of Reinvention

Father and son engineers Pete and Ellis are working on a modern twist for a portable canoe, aiming to improve its design and functionality. Ellis and Ruth are also modernising the lie detector that dates back to 1935, bringing the historic device up to contemporary standards.

The episode titled is a programme that follows a pair of engineering projects. It’s presented as a single instalment rather than a series, and the focus is on the hands‑on work of the inventors involved. In the first storyline, father and son engineers Pete and Ellis set about giving a portable canoe a contemporary edge. Their aim is to re‑imagine the watercraft so it can be folded, carried and used with modern convenience, while still keeping the original spirit of a double‑seater design. Meanwhile, Ellis teams up with Ruth to bring a lie‑detector, originally devised in 1935, up to date. Together they retrofit the old device with current technology, aiming to make it more reliable and easier to operate. The episode highlights the collaborative dynamic between the three engineers, showing how family ties and professional partnership blend when tackling old‑school gadgets. Their work on the canoe and the lie‑detector runs in parallel, underscoring a theme of modernising classic inventions. Both projects are portrayed as practical experiments rather than speculative ideas. By the end of the programme, viewers see a clear picture of how a 1930s lie‑detector and a traditional portable canoe can both be transformed through contemporary engineering solutions.