Top Gear


2:20 pm - 3:20 pm, Wednesday, July 15 on U&DaveJaVu (74)

Average User Rating: 4.33 (12 votes)
My Rating: Sign in or Register to view last vote

Add to Favourites

About this Broadcast

-

Season 11, Episode 3

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May explore the old adage that having owned an Alfa Romeo is the sign of a real automobile addict, testing out three second-hand models, each bought for less than £1,000. The unwieldy Bentley Brooklands receives a power test, and Gavin & Stacey's James Corden and Rob Brydon go head to head as the Stars in a Reasonably Priced Car


subtitles 16x9 audio-description
Leisure Hobbies Motoring

Cast & Crew

-

Jeremy Clarkson (Presenter)
Richard Hammond (Presenter)
James May (Presenter)
Rob Brydon (Guest)
Pat Doyle (Series producer)
Brian Klein (Director)
Andy Willman (Executive producer)

More Information

-

No Logo

Did You Know..

-

Jeremy Clarkson (Presenter)
Born: April 11, 1960 in Doncaster
Best Known For: Presenting Top Gear.
Early-life: Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson was born on April 11th, 1960, and claims he could say 'Maserati' before he could say 'mummy'. He was the only son of affluent parents who manufactured Paddington Bear dolls. His passion for cars began as a child, but he admits to losing interest during his teens when he discovered girls and punk rock. Jeremy attended public school for five years, but was expelled shortly before he was due to take his A-levels. His first car was a Ford Cortina.
Career: Jeremy was employed as a trainee journalist on the Rotherham Advertiser, but he quit while reporting on a local agricultural show because he grew tired of the marrow-growers and Pony Club mums. He joined the family firm as a salesman and moved to London, where he found a new career as a motoring writer. In 1987, he met a Top Gear producer at a car launch and was invited on to the show. He quickly became one of its most popular presenters, but left the programme in 1998 to concentrate on other projects. Other series he has fronted include Speed, Meet The Neighbours and his own chat show, Clarkson. However, he missed talking about cars and returned to a revamped Top Gear, which is now one of the world's most-watched shows.
Quote: 'It's amazing how easily people are upset. When I said that a car snapped knicker elastic at 50 paces, I couldn't believe the furore that was created.'
Trivia: He lent his vocals to the first Cars movie, and the Forza 5 video game.
Richard Hammond (Presenter)
Born: December 19, 1969 in Solihull
Best Known For: Co-hosting Top Gear, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and James May.
Early-life: Richard Mark Hammond was born in Birmingham on December 19, 1969. His mum Eileen, father Alan and younger brothers Andrew and Nicholas moved to Ripon where his father ran a probate business. After attending Harrogate College of Art and Technology, Richard decided not to pursue a degree and instead took a series of part-time jobs, including working behind the bar of a pub and being a 'chicken chaser' at a local farm.
Career: His broadcasting career began on local radio, before he got his big TV break hosting a number of daytime shows on Men & Motors. In 2002, he landed a slot on BBC's Top Gear, where he was given the nickname Hamster. Other series Richard has presented include Crufts, the British Parking Awards, Should I Worry About…?, The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend, Time Commanders, and Sky One's Brainac: Science Abuse. He was also a team captain on the quiz show Petrolheads and narrated the BBC series Last Man Standing. In recent years, he has started presenting serious documentaries on such subjects as warfare and engineering, and secured a world exclusive interview with his hero, Evel Knievel. He is the current face of the rather silly but very enjoyable Total Wipeout.
Quote: On his Top Gear colleagues: 'Of course we get on - the show wouldn't work if we didn't get on. The arguments you see on-screen are for real and often carry on off-screen as well.'
Trivia: He has published books on motoring and science.
James May (Presenter)
Born: January 16, 1963 in Bristol
Best Known For: Being Captain Slow on Top Gear.
Early-life: James Daniel May was born on January 16, 1963, in Bristol. He has a brother and two sisters. He attended school in Rotherham with Life on Mars star Dean Andrews before heading to Lancaster University to study music. After graduating, May made ends meet in a series of jobs, including working in a hospital. During a stint with an engineering company, he produced a leaflet and liked what it involved, so applied for a job as a magazine sub-editor. He then worked for Autocar, but was fired after inserting a 'secret' message in the text.
Career: May's TV career began in 1998 with the Channel 4 series Driven, which ran for four years. In 1999, he landed a presenting role on BBC's Top Gear before it was axed due to low ratings. He rejoined the revamped version of the show in its second series. Other projects for the BBC have included Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, James May's 20th Century, James May's Big Ideas, James May's Man Lab, and James May's Toy Stories.
Quote: On his sex-symbol status: 'Perhaps they look at me in the way that I might look at a slightly tacky Jaguar XJS, and think 'that's potentially not bad, maybe I could improve that'.'
Trivia: Away from TV, he has written columns for several publications and penned the books May on Motors and Notes from the Hard Shoulder.
James Corden (Guest)
Born: August 22, 1978 in Hillingdon, London
Best Known For: Playing Smithy in Gavin & Stacey.
Early-life: Born James Kimberley Corden on August 22, 1978, in Hillingdon, London, to a social worker mother and an RAF musician-turned-bookseller father. He has two sisters. After being spotted in a school play, he attended stage school, and at 17 appeared in the West End production of Martin Guerre. James also featured in Shane Meadows' breakout feature Twenty Four Seven in 1997, and in 2000, starred alongside Ruth Jones and Alison Steadman in Kay Mellor's ITV comedy drama Fat Friends. He also enjoyed roles in TV offerings Boyz Unlimited and Teachers.
Career: Alan Bennett's internationally successful play and film The History Boys boosted his profile. He co-hosted Big Brother's Big Mouth in 2007, the same year he re-teamed with Fat Friends' Ruth Jones to pen and star in BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, which was a huge, Bafta-winning hit. Corden also worked with Gavin & Stacey's Mathew Horne on sketch show Horne & Corden and the film Lesbian Vampire Killers. In 2010, he fronted a series of comedy chat shows for ITV1 revolving around that year's World Cup. Since then he has hosted Sky1's sporting quiz A League of Their Own and appeared in Doctor Who, The Wrong Mans, The Three Musketeers, One Chance and Gulliver's Travels. He has also been the subject on Piers Morgan's Life Stories and hosted the Brits. He returned to the stage in 2011 in the critically acclaimed One Man, Two Guvnors.
Quote: 'There's nothing nicer than getting a round of applause for turning up for work, It's amazing! You start work and people clap. Do you know what I mean? And then they stand up and clap at the end.'
Trivia: In 2012, Corden won a Tony Award for his performance in the Broadway version of One Man, Two Guvnors.
Rob Brydon (Guest)
Born: May 03, 1965 in Swansea
Best Known For: His chat show and Gavin & Stacey.
Early-life: Born Robert Brydon Jones in Swansea, South Wales, on May 3, 1965. His early years were spent in Baglan near Port Talbot before he and his family moved to Porthcawl. He attended two secondary schools, one alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, the other with Ruth Jones. Under the guidance of his drama teacher at the local comprehensive school, his interest in acting grew, leading to him attending The Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. During the second year of his course, he quit to work for BBC Wales and enjoyed six years of presenting work on local TV and radio stations.
Career: While still presenting, Brydon ventured into comedy, and made ends meet by providing voices for adverts and animations. A small role in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels inspired him to make a short film of his comic characters; series of Marion & Geoff, A Small Summer Party and The Keith Barret Show followed. Other credits include Director's Commentary, Human Remains, Supernova, A Cock and Bull Story, Little Britain, Annually Retentive and Gavin & Stacey. He's also hosted his own BBC chat show and has chaired the comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? since 2009. In 2010, he starred alongside Steve Coogan in the partially improvised BBC Two sitcom The Trip and has since appeared in its follow-up.
Quote: 'I was always very good with girls, I could talk to them no problem at all. But I could never close the deal. You need Dutch courage to do that, to kiss them.'
Trivia: He released an autobiography, Small Man in a Book, in 2011.
Pat Doyle (Series producer)
Brian Klein (Director)
Andy Willman (Executive producer)

Before / After

-

Top Gear
1:20 pm