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Season 8, Episode 6
The team goes on a caravanning holiday in Dorset, and actor Brian Cox is the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. Three saloons - the Vauxhall Vectra VXR, the Mazda 6 MPS and the Ford Mondeo ST220 - are put through their paces on the test track and the Toyota Formula One team finds out how fast it is possible to drive indoors
subtitles
16x9
audio-description
Leisure Hobbies
Motoring
Cast & Crew
Jeremy Clarkson
(Presenter)
Richard Hammond
(Presenter)
James May
(Presenter)
Brian Cox
(Guest)
Brian Klein
(Director)
Pat Doyle
(Series producer)
Andy Willman
(Executive producer)
More Information
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.
Brian Cox
(Guest)
Born:
June 01, 1946
in
Dundee
Best Known For:
Being the original Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter.
Early-life:
Brian Denis Cox was born on June 1, 1946, in Dundee, to an Irish immigrant family. He was the youngest of five children. His mother, Mary Ann Guillerline, worked in the jute mills as a spinner, while his dad, Charles McArdle Campbell Cox, was a weaver and died of cancer when Brian was nine. Brian developed a passion for movies and, inspired by the work of Marlon Brando and Spencer Tracy, decided he wanted to become an actor. At 14, he joined the Dundee Repertory Theatre, and in 1966 honed his craft with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Career:
Cox's earliest TV appearances were as an extra in cult TV series The Prisoner. He has been a mainstay in the world of TV and film ever since, popping up in Hammer House of Horror, Minder, Frasier and Deadwood. He played Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter, Michael Mann's adaptation of Red Dragon. (The name was later spelled Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs). He has appeared in a string of major Hollywood offerings, including The Long Kiss Goodnight, X-Men 2, Troy, The Bourne Supremacy, Zodiac and Red. On the stage he has appeared in Titus Andronicus, Taming of the Shrew and King Lear. He has also voiced characters in the video games Killzone and Manhunt.
Quote:
"I'm an actor who does really interesting work in independent movies. I want to keep doing that because I don't want the burden of an opening weekend sitting on my shoulders."
Trivia:
In 2003, Cox was awarded a CBE for services to drama.
Brian Klein
(Director)
Pat Doyle
(Series producer)
Andy Willman
(Executive producer)
