James May

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James May

James Daniel May (born January 16, 1963 in Bristol , England ) is a British television presenter and journalist .

Until 2015, he was the presenter of the television program Top Gear at the side of Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson and has hosted the program The Grand Tour with them on the US streaming service Amazon Video since 2016 . May also designed and hosted other shows in the fields of technology, science, toys and wine, such as James May: The Reassembler .

Career

Early years

James May has two sisters and one brother. He attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Wales and spent his youth in South Yorkshire , where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and sang in the church choir of Whiston Parish Church. He spent his school days with the current actor Dean Andrews . May later studied music at Lancaster University and shortly after graduating from high school worked as a clerk in a hospital.

journalism

In the 1980s, May was the editor of The Engineer and later Autocar Magazine . As May confirmed during an interview with BBC Radio 2 in 1992 , he was fired from Autocar Magazine for unauthorized changes to four articles and a vulgar message to the magazine's head. May formatted the first letters of the first four articles in larger and red font because he saw the articles as "extremely boring". Since then, May has only written a few articles for newspapers such as Car Magazine , The Daily Telegraph and Top Gear Magazine .

Television productions

Overview: DVDs and TV shows by James May
year title Sender / label
watch TV
March 18 - June 3, 1999 Top gear
May 11, 2003-2015 Top gear BBC Two
2005 James May's Top Toys BBC
2006 Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure BBC
2006 Inside Killer Sharks Sky
2007 Top Gear of the Pops BBC Two
2007 James May's 20th Century BBC Two
2007 James May: My Sisters' Top Toys BBC Two
2008 Top Ground Gear Force BBC Two
2008 James May's Big Ideas BBC Two
2009 Oz and James Drink to Britain BBC Two
2009 James May on the Moon BBC Two
2009 James May at the Edge of Space BBC Four
2009 James May's Toy Stories BBC Two
2010 - today James May's Man Lab BBC HD , BBC Two
2011 - today James May's Things You Need To Know BBC HD , BBC Two
2014 James May's Cars of the People BBC Two
2014 Phineas and Ferb Disney Channel
2016 - today The Grand Tour Prime Video
2020 James May: Our Man in Japan Prime Video
DVD
2006 James May's Motormania Car Quiz Acorn Media
2006 Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, Series One DMD
2007 James May's 20th Century ITV
2008 Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, Series Two Acorn Media
2009 Oz and James Drink To Britain, Series Three Acorn Media
2009 James May's Big Ideas: The Complete Series DMD
2009 James May's Amazing Brain Trainer DMD
2009 James May On The Moon BBC DVD
2009 James May's Toy Stories: The Complete Series Channel 4
2010 Top Gear: Apocalypse BBC DVD
2011 James May's Man Lab: Series One Acorn Media
2011 Top Gear: At The Movies BBC DVD
2012 James May's Man Lab: Series Two Acorn Media
2012 Top Gear: Worst Car in the History of the World BBC DVD

Top gear

May's modified Lexus LS 400 as a police car for Top Gear

May achieved great fame through the BBC car magazine Top Gear and the television series of the same name, in which he worked alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 to 2015. He earned his nickname “Captain Slow” during the Top Gear series because of his “Christian motoring” driving style. This is one of the reasons why he was allowed to move the Bugatti Veyron up to a speed of 407 km / h on the VW test site in Ehra-Lessien as part of Top Gear . In a Top Gear Special, James May and Jeremy Clarkson reached the point 78 ° 36 ′  N , 104 ° 12 ′  W , which has been regarded as the Arctic magnetic pole since 1996 . This means that May and Clarkson are the first - within a certain tolerance range - to have reached the location with a motor vehicle.

James May's Toy Stories

At the beginning of October 2009, his Toy Stories series, consisting of six episodes, began to be broadcast , in which May improves and enlarges children's toys from his past and tries to incorporate them into everyday life. Using found Airfix , Plasticine , Meccano , Scalextric , Lego and Hornby .

The Lego House shortly before its completion in August 2009

The highlight of the season was his larger-than-life house made of 4.6 million Lego bricks in the Surrey vineyards, which was completed in August 2009 . After spending one night in the house, it was decided to move the house to Legoland . But that failed because of the high costs of dismantling, transporting and rebuilding the house piece by piece. The building was demolished on September 22nd of the same year. The components were used for charity purposes. He also attempted a world record when he built the Brooklands Racetrack from Scalextric. May did not receive the world record because spectators stole some sections of the track and blocked the race track. In December 2012, a Christmas special called Flight Club aired. May and his team built an oversized plane that flew 35 kilometers from Devon to Lundy . Another episode was released in 2013. He built a fully functional motorcycle out of Meccano. Together with Oz Clarke, the vehicle completed one lap (60.7 kilometers) of the Isle of Man TT Course.

James May on the Moon

In 2009, the BBC broadcast 2 James May on the Moon on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. Previously, the program James May at the Edge of Space appeared , in which May reached the stratosphere in a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane together with a pilot from the International Space Station . Highlights from this program were also used in James May on the Moon . During the flight, an altitude of over 20 km was reached.

Oz and James

End of 2006, beamed BBC the season Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure , in May and wine expert Clarke Oz by France were traveling from. At the end of 2007, the second season was broadcast from the California wine region. A third season, Oz and James Drink to Britain , filmed in the UK , came out in 2009.

science

May presented the documentaries Inside Killer Sharks for Sky and James May's 20th Century about inventions. For the latter, he flew a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of 2124 km / h . At the end of 2008, the three-part show James May's Big Ideas was released . The hit show James May's Man Lab has been on BBC HD since October 2010 .

The Grand Tour

After Mays co-host Jeremy Clarkson's contract at Top Gear was not renewed, the trio Clarkson, Hammond and May moved to the streaming provider Amazon . There they started their new car show The Grand Tour in November 2016 . The show initially consisted of three seasons with a total of 36 episodes, the concept of which was strongly reminiscent of Top Gear . The moderators continue to test mostly luxurious or curious vehicles and traveled to exotic places such as Namibia, Colombia or Mongolia. After the third season, the tent that was initially used as a studio was abandoned; since then only so-called "specials" in feature length have been produced.

James May: Our Man in Japan

On January 3, 2020, the travel show James May: Our Man in Japan was again published on Prime Video . In the six-part series, May travels across Japan from north to south and presents various elements of Japanese culture in an entertaining way.

vehicles

May owns or has owned the following cars, among others:

However, he otherwise uses a Brompton folding bicycle to commute .

May also has a pilot's license and is the owner of a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire' and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon .

literature

Overview: Books by James May
year title publishing company Remarks
2006 May on Motors: On the Road with James May Virgin Books Reprint: 2007
2006 Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure BBC Books
2007 Notes from the hard shoulder Virgin Books
2007 James May's 20th Century Hodder & Stoughton Reprint: 2007
2008 James May's Magnificent Machines Hodder & Stoughton
2009 Oz and James Drink to Britain Pavilion
2009 James May's Car Fever Hodder & Stoughton Reprint: 2010
2009 James May's Toy Stories Conway
2010 James May's Toy Stories: Lego House Conway
2010 James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook Conway
2010 James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook Conway
2010 How to land on A330 Airbus Hodder & Stoughton Reprint: 2011
2011 James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness Hodder & Stoughton Reprint: 2012
2012 James May: On board Hodder & Stoughton

In 2006 he published his first book called May on Motors , which contains all of his newspaper and magazine articles. In the same year May wrote the book Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure with Oz Clarke for the eponymous show. In September of that year he penned the epilogue for Long Lane with Turnings, written by LJK Setright . Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century , a book for the eponymous television series, were published in 2007. May wrote a total of 14 books.

Others

In December 2012, May and a group of scientists, mathematicians and comedians created the YouTube channel and the Head Squeeze program of the same name . The videos look at open issues, ambiguous thinking, bizarre facts from science, technology, history, and breaking news. The videos are produced by 360 Production for BBC Worldwide. In 2014, May spoke in the Forza Motorsport 5 video game developed by Turn 10 Studios .

Private

May is unmarried and lives with his partner Sarah Frater, a journalist, in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham . He is known for his car and watch collection, which includes particularly older and luxurious pieces. May currently owns six cars, including Porsches and Ferraris , 42 motorcycles and an airplane .

Awards and honors

May won the Television and Radio Industries Club Award three times (2008, 2009, 2011) in the Best Entertainment Program category for Top Gear . Also three times the TV Quick Award (2008, 2009, 2012) for the show. Top Gear won four times at the National Television Awards . May was honored with an Emmy and a BAFTA award.

James May is an Honorary Doctor of Lancaster University.

Web links

Commons : James May  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James May: My Sisters' Top Toys , December 23, 2007, BBC
  2. ↑ James May: Frocks make a boy a man , Nov. 10, 2007, The Daily Telegraph
  3. ↑ Nick Duerden: The mild one: How James May became the most in-demand presenter on British television , August 18, 2009, The Independent
  4. ↑ BBC Radio 2: James May Interview , January 6, 2006
  5. ↑ Captain Slow takes the fast lane - TV & Radio - Entertainment , June 19, 2008, The Age
  6. ↑ Top Gear: Bugatti Veyron Top Speed ​​Test - Top Gear - BBC (9:44), accessed on November 27, 2014, youtube.com
  7. ↑ UK | May starts building Lego house , August 1, 2009, BBC News
  8. ↑ Absolute Radio: James May talks to The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show (4:47 pm), accessed November 28, 2014, youtube.com
  9. ↑ Radio Times, October 24-30, 2009
  10. ↑ Entertainment | James May's Lego house demolished , September 22, 2009, BBC News
  11. ↑ May to attempt Scalextric record , Aug. 7, 2009, BBC News
  12. ↑ Model train record bid off track , August 25, 2009, BBC News
  13. ↑ BBC Two James May's Toy Stories: Flight Club , accessed November 28, 2014, BBC
  14. ↑ James May on the Moon , July 7, 2013, BBC
  15. ↑ James May at the Edge of Space , March 8, 2012, BBC
  16. ↑ Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure Series 1 - Episode guide , June 17, 2019, BBC TWO
  17. ↑ Series 1 - Episode guide , June 17, 2019, BBC TWO
  18. ↑ Oz and James Drink to Britain , accessed June 17, 2019, BBC TWO
  19. ↑ BBC / OU Open2.net - James May's 20th Century ( Memento of November 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), November 5, 2009, Open2.net
  20. ↑ Good news: After season 3 #TheGrandTour will be returning for an even bigger adventure. Bad News: We have a tent to sell. In: @thegrandtour (Twitter). December 13, 2018, accessed January 20, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Lucy Mangan: James May: Our Man in Japan review - penis festivals are no place for jokes! In: The Guardian . January 3, 2020, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed January 20, 2020]).
  22. ↑ James May: As seen on TV: Porsche breaks the spell of perfection . In: The Daily Telegraph , October 22, 2005. Retrieved November 5, 2009. 
  23. ^ Mine's a pint: a preposterous excuse for a Porsche . In: The Daily Telegraph , February 3, 2006. Retrieved March 21, 2009. "James May with his Brompton bike" 
  24. ↑ Aircraft G-OCOK, 1999 American Champion Aircraft 8KCAB C / N 825-99 . Airport-data.com. June 13, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  25. ↑ James May fronts BBC Worldwide's latest original YouTube channel - Head Squeeze , January 31, 2013, BBC
  26. ^ Head Squeeze - YouTube ( February 24, 2014 memento in the Internet Archive ), accessed December 1, 2014, 360production.com
  27. ↑ James May | Equipboard® ( Memento of December 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on November 27, 2014, equipboard.com
  28. ↑ Skavlan: James May Interview | “Some people like a slow man” | Skavlan (8:43), accessed November 29, 2014, youtube.com
  29. ↑ BBC News - Top Gear presenter James May awarded honorary doctorate , July 15, 2010, bbc.co.uk
personal data
SURNAME May, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES May, James Daniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British presenter and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH January 16, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Bristol