Episode Information

We follow a group of scientists, hoping to answer big questions about the largest, most violent natural phenomenon in the world by building their own gigantic, lava-spewing volcano. As the 2010 eruption at Eyjafjallajokull so disastrously revealed, the ability of modern science to forecast volcanic cataclysms is very much in its infancy. Despite a bewildering range of high-tech kit, volcanologists haven’t got a clue exactly when an eruption will happen, what form it will take or how long it will last. Now, in an epic and ambitious quest for answers, a team of volcanologists, working with a Hollywood effects crew, are going to design and build a carefully four-storey high, 100 foot-wide volcano – then, in a series of spectacular eruptions they’ll use the model to test cutting edge scientific theories. Along the way the team will carry out experiments to test every component of the model. Informing the process our team will visit real Volcanoes and do real science in dangerous global hotspots such as Stromboli and Mt St Helens.