Brainiac: History Abuse

British entertainment documentary show

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Brainiac: History Abuse

Genre| Entertainment
Presented by| Charlotte Hudson
Starring| Stephen Wisdom
Regina Cotter
Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
No. of series| 1
No. of episodes| 8
Production
Running time| 60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company| Granada Productions
Original release
Network| Sky1
Release| 1 June (2005-06-01) –
20 July 2005 (2005-07-20)
Related
Brainiac: Science Abuse
Brainiac's Test Tube Baby

Brainiac: History Abuse is a British entertainment documentary show that aired on Sky1 from 1 June to 20 July 2005. It is a spin-off of the show Brainiac: Science Abuse concentrating on historical subjects. The show is presented by Charlotte Hudson with additional input from Stephen Wisdom as "Ernest Clough, History Buff", and Regina Cotter as Shell in the Kitchen cooking traditional medieval delicacies.

The series wasn't as popular as its scientific counterpart, and was axed after one series. However, it is repeated on Sky3.

Regular features include:

* "Men in Steel" and "Knight Fever" – highlighting modern-day activities you can do (with varying degrees of difficulty) while wearing a suit of armour.
* Shell's Kitchen – medieval (and to most modern tastes, unpalatable) recipes, presented in a parody of the style of Nigella Lawson.
* Ancient Hist-O-Wee – historical uses for urine
* Historical medicinal remedies
* Ancient Vege-Battles: historical battles illustrated using fruit and vegetables
* The Brainiac Battering Ram Squad "fixing" an everyday problem with unnecessary force, such as opening a vending machine or a locked car
* Like Brainiac: Science Abuse before it, the show always ends with an item in which a caravan gets blown up. In deference to the theme, they use a "historical" explosive for an everyday task (e.g. a WW2 depth charge to unblock a toilet).
* Torture instruments were shown and demonstrated with fruit

## Releases[edit]

Australian Release

Season | Date Released | # Of Episodes | # Of Discs | Special Features

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Complete Series [1] | 8 September 2010 | 8 | 2 | None

## Soundtrack[edit]

Certain pieces of music are used repeatedly during the series, including:

* "Toxic" and "...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears
* "Doctor Doctor" by the Thompson Twins
* "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees
* "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M.
* "Unbelievable" by EMF
* "Babies" by Pulp
* Theme from Get Carter by Roy Budd
* "Hysteria" by Muse

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Brainiac: History Abuse (2 Disc Set)". 3 May 2012. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2023.

## External links[edit]

* Brainiac: History Abuse at IMDb

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Sky One, Sky Comedy and Sky Max original programming

| 1980s debuts|

* The DJ Kat Show
* Fun Factory
* The New Price Is Right
* Sale of the Century

|

1990s debuts|

* Blockbusters
* CI5: The New Professionals
* Diana: Her True Story
* Dream Team
* Games World
* Guilty!
* Jeopardy!
* Police Stop!
* Prickly Heat
* Space Island One
* Space Precinct
* Spellbound
* Springhill
* Through the Keyhole
* Uncovered
* The Villa
* The Wanderer

2000s debuts|

* All-Star Cup
* Angela and Friends
* Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old?
* Baddiel's Syndrome
* Badger or Bust
* Big Ron Manager
* The Bombmaker
* Brainiac: History Abuse
* Brainiac: Science Abuse
* Brainiac's Test Tube Baby
* Britain's Hardest
* Cirque de Celebrité
* Dirty Money
* Don't Forget the Lyrics!
* Ed vs. Spencer
* Entertainment Tonight UK
* Fear Factor
* Fight School
* Football Icon
* Gamezville
* Gladiators
* Grease: The School Musical
* Guinness World Records Smashed
* Hairspray: The School Musical
* Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show
* Hex
* Is Harry on the Boat?
* Kirsty's Home Videos
* Little Monsters
* The Match
* Mile High
* Noel's Christmas Presents
* Noel's HQ
* Nothing but the Truth
* Oops TV
* The Pop Years
* Porno Valley
* Project Catwalk
* The Race
* Road Raja
* Road Wars
* Ross Kemp: Behind the Story
* Ross Kemp in Afghanistan
* Ross Kemp in Search of Pirates
* Ross Kemp on Gangs
* Sell Me the Answer
* Shock Treatment
* Skellig
* The Strangerers
* Street Wars
* The Stretch
* The Sun Military Awards
* The Take
* Taste
* Terry Pratchett's Hogfather
* Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic
* There's Something About Miriam
* Time Gentleman, Please!
* UK Border Force
* Vroom! Vroom!
* Wayne Rooney's Street Striker

2010s debuts|

* After Hours
* Agatha Raisin
* Ashley Banjo's Secret Street Crew
* The Angel
* The Big Spell
* Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza
* Bliss
* Bounty Hunters
* Brassic
* Bring the Noise
* Bulletproof
* The Café
* Carters Get Rich
* Chickens
* Chris & Wes: Let's Do This
* Cop Squad
* Critical
* Curfew
* David Attenborough's Conquest of the Skies 3D
* Delicious
* A Discovery of Witches
* Don't Stop Me Now!
* Duck Quacks Don't Echo
* Emergency with Angela Griffin
* Fat Families
* Football's Next Star
* The Five
* Frayed
* Gadget Geeks
* Got to Dance
* Harrow: A Very British School
* Hooten & the Lady
* An Idiot Abroad
* Inside Gatwick
* In the Long Run
* Jamestown
* King of the Nerds
* The Kumars
* A League of Their Own
* Little Crackers
* Living the Dream
* Liza & Huey's Pet Nation
* Louie Spence's Showbusiness
* Mad Dogs
* The Moaning of Life
* Moominvalley
* Moonfleet
* Moone Boy
* Mount Pleasant
* Must Be the Music
* Obese: A Year to Save My Life
* One Hundred and Eighty
* Parents
* Pineapple Dance Studios
* Prison: First & Last 24 Hours
* The Reluctant Landlord
* Rob & Romesh Vs
* Ross Kemp: Battle for the Amazon
* Ross Kemp: Extreme World
* Rovers
* The Runaway
* The Russell Howard Hour
* Safebreakers
* Showboaters
* Sick of It
* Sick Note
* Sinbad
* Sing: Ultimate A Cappella
* The Smoke
* Spy
* Stan Lee's Lucky Man
* Starlings
* Stella
* Stop Search Seize
* Strike Back
* Temple
* Terry Pratchett's Going Postal
* Thorne
* A Touch of Cloth
* Treasure Island
* The Trip
* Trollied
* Wall of Fame
* Wild Things
* Yonderland
* You, Me and the Apocalypse

2020s debuts|

* Avenue 5
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* COBRA
* Code 404
* Fantasy Football League
* Funny Woman
* Intelligence
* Intergalactic
* The Lazarus Project
* The Midwich Cuckoos
* Never Mind the Buzzcocks
* The Rising
* Rosie Molloy Gives Up Everything
* Romantic Getaway
* Smothered
* Then You Run
* A Town Called Malice
* Two Weeks to Live
* Upright
* Wolfe

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