John goes for literal tension

After entering the living room to find Alex looking uncomfortable, John decides to give him a hug, while smiling at him. Having read the task brief, John immediately requests “some kind of elasticated roping”.

John sets up his attempt outside, in front of the caravan, where he uses tension gauges to empirically measure the physical tension he is creating.

Having attached ropes between harnesses worn by both himself and Alex, he instructs Alex to “increase the tension”, and the pair lean backwards, away from one another. John checks the gauge which has been rigged up between them, and announces that they have created 10kg of tension.

Attempting to up the ante on his literal interpretation of the task, John then gives Alex a small fishing net, in which he is meant to catch “the Marble of Certain Death”. The pair then put some tension back on the ropes connecting them, and John counts down from three, before throwing a marble towards Alex (which he easily catches in his net).

In the studio, Alex confirms that John had created 98 Newtons of tension, which he claims is equivalent to “a small monkey swinging on a tree”. After question how big the monkey in that analogy is, Greg asks Alex how many pounds of tension he had created. When Alex insists that tension isn’t measured in stones or pounds, John is quick to point out that it isn’t measured in monkeys, either.

Greg ultimately awards John 3 points.

(Written by Karl Craven)

(Illustrations collected by Jenny R and adjusted by David Fuller)