Engineering by Catastrophe: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Across the globe, engineers are creating extraordinary modern masterpieces, structures that push beyond the limits of what came before. Each year, innovations grow more impressive as bridges, tunnels, skyscrapers and even spacecraft become bigger, bolder and more ambitious. Yet, every breakthrough brings new risks. 

To ensure the safest outcomes, engineers must study worst-case scenarios in which major structures are pushed to their limits and fatal flaws are exposed. Fires, explosions, floods and catastrophic collisions are difficult to confront but essential to understand. 

In this series, we learn from the past to build a safer future.

Series details

• Title: Engineering by Catastrophe
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Premiere date: 2026-05-17
• Status in TVmaze: Running
• Network listed by TVmaze: National Geographic
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 91927
• IMDb ID: tt42223428
• TVDB ID: 477813

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2026-05-17; final listed air date 2026-06-21; episode order: 6.

Source and licence

Adapted from Engineering by Catastrophe on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.