As you may recall, Jeremy Clarkson – who must by now resemble a prune, so much time does he spend in hot water – and his co-hosts, Richard Hammond and James May angered some viewers of the Top Gear Christmas special by reportedly “mocking” Indians and their culture.
In the special episode, Jeremy was shown driving around in a car that was fitted with a toilet, because, he said, “everyone who comes here gets the trots.”
The team also put a variety of banners on trains, which, when the carriages moved, former “obscene” messages.
The Sun reports that Indian High Commission official Raja Sekhar says that his office has sent a letter to the BBC to “convey our strong disappointment.” Read more & comment »
The PA today report that Top Gear presenter James May called into a radio show yesterday to deny the rumours that the show would end soon.
His call was prompted by hearing DJ Chris Evans during his Radio 2 Breakfast Show putting forward potential replacements for May, as well as Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, if the show were to be re-formatted.
May said, “I woke this morning to you on the radio as planned – I mean I set it to do that – and, as I stirred, your chirpy little voice came out of the ancestral Roberts and I realised with some dismay you were recruiting people for my job.”
James went on to say that although he conceded that perhaps the show has “peaked”, he believes it’s far from over. Read more & comment »
Top Gear’s James May was rushed to hospital after injuring himself while performing a stunt for the show’s Christmas special.
The 47-year-old motoring expert suffered severe concussion and required stitches after falling and hitting his head on a rock while pulling co-host Jeremy Clarkson’s car out of a ditch in the Syrian desert.
James joked: “I stood in the line of where the tow rope went taut. I told the driver to move off and became part of a giant catapult.
July 15th, 2010 by TV Writer Lynn. Tags: BBC2, James May
A new series hosted by James May will endeavour to make James – and other stars – “more of a man”.
To air on BBC2 this autumn, the show will also star Gareth Malone who will be seen taking on the challenge of teaching primary school children.
It’s apparently intended to be a light hearted series of challenges designed to “test” the participants’ skills and knowledge, as well as honing skills that their ancestors would’ve had. Read more & comment »
Sources have suggested that the Top Gear airship stunt featured in the clip above, was completely faked.
In the clip you’ll see James May screaming ‘Mayday, Mayday’ as he crashed the caravan toting airship to the ground. Before he came down, he appeared to stray over Norwich airport, alerting police and causing them to circle him in a helicopter.
October 26th, 2009 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: BBC, James May
James May sets out to prove that traditional toys are still relevant today when he pushes them to the limit in spectacular, supersize challenges. From a full-size Lego house to a bridge made completely of Meccano, he shows just what extremes toys can be pushed to.
In the first of six programmes, James takes model airplanes to a whole new level when he tries to build and paint a life-size Spitfire out of Airfix, over the course of 3 days at the RAF Museum Cosford. But the venture soon hits problems when it becomes clear that the giant 36-foot pieces may not be strong enough, and nobody knows how they will fit together.
July 26th, 2009 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: BBC, James May
As part of his new BBC series ‘May’s Toy Stories’, James May is looking for volunteers to help him construct a house out of lego.
He plans to build a two-storey house complete with staircase, toilet and shower, in the Denbies Wine Estate, in Dorking and has already had 3 million lego bricks delivered.
June 8th, 2009 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: BBC, James May
On Sunday 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin ended a landmark four-day trip on the Apollo 11 spacecraft and made history by becoming the first humans to step foot on the Moon. Forty years since those first “small steps” were taken, BBC Two and BBC Four take a voyage “out of this world” with a month-long Moon Season of programming to celebrate this most momentous historical event, “launching” this summer.
