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Season 2, Episode 1
Comedian and presenter Alexander Armstrong explores some of Britain's best and most spectacular pub walks. In the first episode, he is joined in Yorkshire by James May, who discusses memories from his childhood, getting repeatedly fired from jobs, his eventful Top Gear days and, under a tree in the grounds of Bolton Abbey, opens up about ageing and retirement
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Education/Science/Factual Topics
General
Cast & Crew
Alexander Armstrong
(Presenter)
James May
(Guest)
James Quinn
(Executive producer)
Leo McCrea
(Director)
More Information
Did You Know..
Alexander Armstrong
(Presenter)
Born:
August 14, 1970
in
Rothbury, Northumberland
Best Known For:
The Armstrong and Miller Show.
Early-life:
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong was born in Northumberland on March 2, 1970. His father is a distant relative of Ralph Richardson, and an appearance on Who Do You Think You Are? showed him to be a direct descendent of William the Conqueror. Alexander was a gifted pianist as a child but was nervous about featuring in concerts. At Cambridge University, he performed with the Footlights entertainment troupe, where he was the comedy partner of Spooks creator David Wolstencroft.
Career:
Armstrong made his film and TV debuts in 1994 in There's No Business and A Breed of Heroes. He was introduced to Ben Miller in 1996 and their subsequent success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe led to their first sketch series in 1997; they've worked together a number of times since on various projects. Armstrong played the lead in short-lived sitcom Beast. He has also appeared in Birthday Girl (2001), I Saw You, TLC, Saxondale, Life Begins, The Trial of Tony Blair, Mutual Friends, Woody Allen's Match Point (2005) and Scoop (2006). Armstrong was the voice of supercomputer Mr Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures, appeared in the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas Special and has presented the BBC game show Pointless since 2009. In recent years, he has also voiced Danger Mouse in the revival of the animated series and presented Rome's Invisible City, Land of the Midnight Sun and Don't Ask Me Ask Britain.
Quote:
'Offers come up all the time, and I'm getting better at saying no to things, and just picking the things that amuse me.'
Trivia:
In 2010, he won a Bafta TV Award for The Armstrong and Miller Show.
James May
(Guest)
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 Quinn
(Executive producer)
Leo McCrea
(Director)
