Top Gear


5:00 pm - 6:00 pm, Wednesday, January 28 on U&Dave ja vu (74)

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About this Broadcast

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Season 6, Episode 1

Jeremy Clarkson pits the Range Rover Sport against a Challenger 2 tank, while James May and Richard Hammond have a game of five-a-side football with the Toyota Aygo. Actor James Nesbitt is the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, and viewers are invited to vote for the best driving song of all time


subtitles 16x9 audio-description
Leisure Hobbies Motoring

Cast & Crew

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Jeremy Clarkson (Presenter)
Richard Hammond (Presenter)
James May (Presenter)
Gary Broadhurst (Series producer)
Andy Willman (Executive producer)
Brian Klein (Director)

More Information

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Did You Know..

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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 Nesbitt (Guest)
Born: January 15, 1965 in Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Best Known For: Playing Adam in Cold Feet.
Early-life: Born January 15, 1965, in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. He has three older sisters. The son of a primary school headmaster, he grew up in Broughshane, County Antrim. Keen on sport, he excelled at rugby and football, and was also musical, singing in local festivals. He originally intended to be a teacher, but school productions and amateur dramatics inspired him to become a professional actor. He left the University of Ulster a year into studying for a degree in French to attend the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where fellow students included Stephen Tompkinson and Rufus Sewell.
Career: After working in theatre, Nesbitt made his TV debut in Boon and his first film, Hear My Song, in 1991. He hasn't looked back, appearing in a string of hits on both the big and small screens, including Waking Ned, Jude, Touching Evil, and Playing The Field. Cold Feet turned him into a major TV star, while acclaimed film Bloody Sunday marked him out as a gifted serious actor. The lead role of a maverick cop in TV drama Murphy's Law was written especially for him. He's also starred in Quite Ugly One Morning, Match Point and Five Minutes of Heaven. Nesbitt has also been seen in The Deep, Babylon, Monroe, The Hobbit. and The Missing.
Quote: "I'm an extremely fortunate and privileged man who gets constantly challenged in a job that's taken me to extraordinary places and enabled me to meet great teachers in all walks of life."
Trivia: He is a Manchester United supporter.
Gary Broadhurst (Series producer)
Andy Willman (Executive producer)
Brian Klein (Director)

Before / After

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Top Gear
4:00 pm