[James]

Weird science (online exclusive)

Finding time for both work and play is not an issue for TV's biggest science geek, Dr Jon Tickle. TV WEEK's Clare Rigden catches up with the Brainiac presenter to find out how he got to where is — being paid to play!

How long have you been on the show?
We've just finished our third series and we start filming the fourth series in the new year. It's been going since the autumn of 2003.

In that time you must have seen some fairly whacky experiments?
Oh yes, absolutely. Thats what the show is all about. We like doing the weird and wonderful, that’s for sure.

I read your biography and noticed that you had been a science fiend from way back?
Fiend? You can say "geek", it’s okay! Yes, I have always been interested in science. I have got a physics degree, so that’s my background really; that's who I am. A science geek!

When you were a kid, did you do experiments in your bedroom with chemistry sets and a couple of Bunsen burners?
Oh, not in my bedroom; we had a shed at the bottom of the garden! One of the spare sheds was our play shed, and we had chemistry sets and things down there.

Did you ever blow anything up?
I spent most of my time making brown sludge! The universal product from chemistry sets!

Doing a physics degree is pretty full-on, but then I read you went on to star in the UK version of Big Brother! That’s a bit of a leap...
It certainly was! I had graduated and started working, and I had just got promoted. I just stuck in an application form and for some reason they kept inviting me back for more interviews. So one day I wandered into the house and the rest is history!

There’s a bit of a "big boys with their toys" vibe with Brainiac. It must sometimes feel amazing that you're getting paid to, well, play!
That's it entirely! You’ve summed it up exactly right when you say "boys with their toys". That's all we do. We just think of things that young men would like to do, but really can't be bothered working out how to do it, and then we just go out and do it. And we have lots of fun! I think it’s in the first series that we get a water bottle from a water-cooler in the office, one of those big plastic ones, and pump it full of air, and then use that as a rocket and launch it into the sky. It got really quite high up. You know, mad things like that. It's all just boys having fun, really! It’s so great to work on this show and, as you say, I can’t believe I get paid!

Do people come up to you on the street and want to talk about the show?
Oh, absolutely. More people come up and talk to me about Brainiac than Big Brother. Which proves how popular the show is in the UK. I think now it’s the highest-rating show commissioned by Sky. So we are very pleased with that.

To read more from Dr Tickle, including his selection of the silliest and most dangerous Brainiac experiments to date, buy this week’s issue of TV WEEK.

http://tvweek.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=70203

[Ruth]

I love that show! And Jon Tickle is so perfect for it.

[cc100]

Yes, its a good watch.