Buffeting james may biography

James May

English television presenter and journalist (born )

For other people named James May, see James May (disambiguation).

James Daniel May (born 16 January )[1] is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, of the motoring programme Top Gear from until and the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video from to He also served as a director of the production company W.

Chump & Sons.[2]

May has presented other programmes on themes including travel, science & technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph's motoring section from to

Early life

James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of aluminium factory manager James May and his wife Kathleen.

He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother.[3] May attended Caerleon Endowed School in Newport, Wales. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.[4]

May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano; he also spent a year studying metalwork at a technical college.[5][6][7] After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer and had a short stint in the civil service before taking up journalism and broadcasting in his thirties.[8] He also held a part-time job as a moulder at the foundry his father was employed at and suggested in a interview with The Times that this formed his interest in mechanics.[9]

Journalism career

During the early s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed for performing a prank.[10] He has since written for several publications, including the regular column England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.

He has written the book May on Motors (), which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure (), based on the TV series of the same name. He wrote the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September , the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright.

In the same month, he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. Notes From The Hard Shoulder and James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, were published in

Dismissal from Autocar

In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2,[11] May confessed that in he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue.

Buffeting james may biography death The stereotypical fat people who are always at buffets. May and Clarkson including Andy Wilman ; later as executive producer in format and TGT are one of the presenters that appeared first from the original format, then later in the format until Top Users ArtLevin. Retrieved 13 February

At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Yearbook" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial or a drop cap). May's role was to put the entire supplement together.

To alleviate the tedium, May wrote each review such that the initials on the first four spreads read "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK".

Subsequent spreads seemingly had random letters, starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI"; when punctuated, these letters spelt out the message: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."[12]

In a interview with , May stated that while the hidden message originally passed through the magazine's pre-printing review processes unnoticed, he was found out when readers began calling in to Autocar's offices, thinking there might be a prize involved.

Upon learning of this, the magazine's management called for May to be fired.[13]

Television career

His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in , narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School,[14] and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the London Boat Show.[15] He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One).

James May: My Sisters' Top Toys attempted to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal.[16] In series 3, episode 3[17] of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating bull penis and rotten shark and with his fish pie recipe.[18][19]

Top Gear

Main article: Top Gear ( TV series)

May was briefly a co-presenter of the original Top Gear series in During an interview in , Jeremy Clarkson claimed that the show's original producers had decided to replace him with May in , though they felt dissatisfied with May as he was soon fired in , shortly before the entire program was cancelled the following year.[20] Following the first season of the show's relaunch in , Clarkson managed to convince Andrew Wilman to rehire him as Jason Dawe's replacement.[21] He first co-presented the revived series of Top Gear in its second series in ,[22] where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style, and his OCD-like obsessions with order.[12][23] Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving – in the series, he took a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of &#;mph (&#;km/h), then in he achieved &#;mph (&#;km/h) in the Veyron's newer Super Sport edition.[24] In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the Pagani Zonda F.

May, along with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew, travelled by car to the magnetic North Pole in , using a modified Toyota Hilux.[25][26] In the words of Clarkson, he was the first person to go there "who didn't want to be there". He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.[27]

Following the BBC's decision not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract with the show on 25 March ,[28] May stated in April that he would not continue to present Top Gear as part of a new line-up of presenters.[29]

Science

May presented Inside Killer Sharks, a documentary for Sky, and James May's 20th Century, investigating inventions.[30] He flew in a Royal Air ForceEurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around &#;mph (&#;km/h) for his television programme, James May's 20th Century.

In late , the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction.[31] He also presented James May's Man Lab from – In , May narrated To Space & Back, a documentary on the influence of developments in space exploration on modern technology produced by Sky-Skan and The Franklin Institute.[32]

James May on the Moon

Main articles: James May on the Moon and James May at the Edge of Space

James May on the Moon (BBC 2, ) commemorated 40 years since man first landed on the Moon.[33] This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the stratosphere (70,&#;ft) in a US Air ForceLockheed U-2 spy plane.

Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme.[34] This made him one of the highest flying people, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.[34]

James May's Toy Stories

Main article: James May's Toy Stories

Beginning in October , May presented a six-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern-day.

The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. In August , May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey.[35] Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high;[36] despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.[37]

Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track,[38] and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to parts of the track being stolen and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit.[39] Later, in , May tried for the record again, proposing a race between German model railroad enthusiasts and their British counterparts.

The two teams would start at opposite ends along double tracked mainline. This time, the effort succeeded with both teams successfully running three trains the entire route.[40]

A special Christmas Episode called Flight Club, aired in December In this special, James and his team built a huge toy glider that flew 22 miles (35&#;km) from Devon to the island of Lundy.[41]

In , May created a life-size, fully functional motorcycle and sidecar made entirely out of the construction toy Meccano.

Joined by Oz Clarke, he then completed a full lap of the Isle of Man TT Course, a full 37+3&#;4 mile-long circuit.

Oz and James

Main articles: Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure and Oz and James Drink to Britain

In late , the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke.[42] A second series was broadcast in late , this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country,[43] and was followed by a third series in called Oz and James Drink to Britain.

James May: Our Man in

Main article: James May: Our Man in

In January , May hosted a travel documentary named James May: Our Man in Japan, the 6-episode series was released on Amazon Prime Video and follows May's journey from the north end of Japan to its south. Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time.[44] During the trip through major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, he is accompanied by a cast of different guides and translators.

A second series, James May: Our Man in Italy, is a travel documentary with May on a journey throughout the regions of Italy from Palermo to the Dolomites on a trip exploring the culture, food, and more.[45]

A third series, James May: Our Man in India, is another travel documentary with James May on a journey throughout the country of India.[46] In October , May confirmed the series was cancelled.[47]

Internet presence

May created Head Squeeze[48] (now renamed "BBC Earth Lab"; May no longer features as a presenter).

The channel is a mix of science, technology, history and current affairs. The first video was published in December Videos are produced by Production[49] for BBC Worldwide.

  • James May – Wikipedia
  • TIL that Gordon Ramsay challenged James May from Top Gear to ...
  • 2 minutes of James May shouting "CLARKSON" - Reddit
  • James May - Wikiwand
  • James May | The Grand Tour Wiki | Fandom

    • May created his own YouTube channel, titled "JM's Unemployment Tube", in after Top Gear was postponed by the BBC following Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal. Mainly featuring cooking videos filmed from his kitchen, as well as mock builds of Airfix models, the channel has over , subscribers as of March [50]

    In , May launched, with his former Top Gear presenters, a social network for motoring fans called DriveTribe.[51]

    In , May moved on to created videos on a Drivetribe spin-off brand Foodtribe (replacing JM's Unemployment Tube) frequently using a small, bedsit-like kitchen setup called "The Bug-out Bunker".[52] The channel has since been rebranded as "What Next?"[53]

    May became an Internet meme when one of his Foodtribe videos went viral.

    In it, while preparing to make two cheese sandwiches, May bluntly uttered the word "cheese" after placing a block of Red Leicester on a table.[54] The quote went viral, and was used in various memes and image macros.

    Personal life

    May lives in Hammersmith, West London, with art critic Sarah Frater, with whom he has been in a relationship since [55] In July , May was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lancaster University, where he had previously studied music.[56] He holds a Doctor of Letters degree.[57]

    In August May was one of public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.[58]

    In June he supported Remain in the EU referendum.[59] May has described his political leanings as "liberal".[7]

    In May bought half the ownership of a pub in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire called The Royal Oak,[60] which dates from the early 18th century and is a Grade II listed building.[61]

    Vehicles

    May has owned many cars.

    These include a Saab Aero, Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph , Rover P6, Alfa Romeo , Rolls-Royce Corniche, Triumph Vitesse, Jaguar XJS, Range Rover Classic Vogue, Datsun Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, a Ferrari GTB, a Toyota Mirai, a Toyota Mirai,[62]Ferrari F, Ferrari Italia, Porsche Turbo, a Tesla Model S D,[63] a BMW i3, and a Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new).[64]

    May currently owns a Porsche Carrera S facelift, a Alpine A, a Fiat Panda, a Volkswagen Polo, a Tesla Model 3 Highland, a prototype Rover Mini Cooper RSP,[65] "a couple of Land Rovers", a Triumph Stag, a Ferrari Speciale which he ordered following his exit from Top Gear and the VW Beach Buggy used in The Grand Tour Special "The Beach Buggy Boys".[66] He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting.[67] He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".[68]

    May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October , having trained at White Waltham Airfield.

    He has owned a Luscombe 8A Silvaire, a Cessna AE Skywagon,[69] and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon with registration G-OCOK, which serves as a reference to a common phrase attributed to him.[70]

    Filmography

    Television

    DVD

    Year TitleLabel
    Oz & James' Big Wine Adventure: Series OneAcorn Media
    James May's Motormania Car QuizDMD
    James May's 20th Century: The Complete SeriesITV
    Oz & James' Big Wine Adventure: Series TwoAcorn Media
    James May's Big Ideas: The Complete SeriesDMD
    James May on the MoonBBC DVD
    James May's Amazing Brain TrainerDMD
    James May's Toy Stories: The Complete SeriesChannel 4
    Oz and James Drink to BritainAcorn Media
    Top Gear: ApocalypseBBC DVD
    James May's Man Lab: Series OneAcorn Media
    Top Gear: At The MoviesBBC DVD
    James May's Man Lab: Series TwoAcorn Media
    Top Gear: Worst Car in the History of the WorldBBC DVD
    James May's Man Lab: Series ThreeAcorn Media
    James May's Toy Stories: Balsa Wood Glider/Great Train RaceChannel 4
    James May's Toy Stories: The Motorcycle Diaries
    James May's Toy Stories: Action Man at the Speed of Sound
    James May: The Reassembler: Series OneSpirit Entertainment Limited
    James May: The Reassembler: Series Two

    Video games

    Television advertisements

    Bibliography

    • May on Motors: On the Road with James May. Virgin Books.

      Reprinted ISBN&#;

    • Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. BBC Books. ISBN&#;
    • Notes from the Hard Shoulder. Virgin Books.

      James may biography top gear Retrieved 7 January Over the course of three months, May explores and participate in many activities to truly understand the country which has intrigued him for a long time. In late , the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas , a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction. National Heritage List for England.

      ISBN&#;

    • James May's 20th Century. Hodder & Stoughton. (H/B). Reprinted (P/B). ISBN&#;
    • James May's Magnificent Machines. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN&#;
    • Oz and James Drink to Britain. Pavilion (Anova). ISBN&#;
    • James May's Car Fever. Hodder & Stoughton. (H/B).

      Reprinted (P/B). ISBN&#;

    • James May's Toy Stories. Conway (Anova). ISBN&#;
    • James May's Toy Stories: Lego House. Conway (Anova). ISBN&#;
    • James May's Toy Stories: Airfix Handbook. Conway (Anova). ISBN&#;
    • James May's Toy Stories: Scalextric Handbook. Conway (Anova).

      ISBN&#;

    • How to Land an A Airbus. Hodder & Stoughton. (H/B). Reprinted (P/B). ISBN&#;
    • James May's Man Lab: The Book of Usefulness. Hodder & Stoughton. (H/B). Reprinted (P/B) ISBN&#;
    • James May: On Board. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN&#;
    • James May: The Reassembler. Hodder & Stoughton.

      ISBN&#;

    • James May: Oh Cook!. Pavilion. ISBN&#;
    • Carbolics: A Personal Motoring Disinfectant. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN&#;[74]

    Britcar 24 Hour results

    References

    1. ^"My Secret Life: James May, TV presenter, age 45". The Independent.

      27 September Retrieved 16 January

    2. ^"W. Chump & Sons Limited Company Register". UK Companies House. Retrieved 2 July
    3. ^Philby, Charlotte (27 September ). "My Secret Life: James May, TV presenter, age 45". The Independent. Retrieved 20 January
    4. ^James May (10 November ).

      "Frocks make a boy a man". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 14 November Retrieved 31 December

    5. ^"Top Gear's James May awarded honorary degree". . 16 July Archived from the original on 11 January Retrieved 13 February
    6. ^"James May on Chris Evans, Amazon and life after Top Gear".

      Radio Times. Archived from the original on 11 May Retrieved 13 February

    7. ^ abCrampton, Robert (10 June ). "James May: 'I am more liberal than people think'".

      Buffeting james may biography wiki UK Companies House. Top Gear Wiki Explore. The Grand Tour Wiki Explore. In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2 , [ 11 ] May confessed that in he was dismissed from Autocar magazine after putting together an acrostic in one issue.

      The Times. Retrieved 30 July

    8. ^Duerden, Nick (15 August ). "The mild one: How James May became the most in-demand presenter on British television". The Independent. London. Retrieved 18 August
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      The Times. Retrieved 7 January

    10. ^Michael Deacon (19 June ). "Interview: James May". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 September
    11. ^BBC Radio 2, broadcast 6 January
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      The Age. Melbourne. 19 June Retrieved 5 November

    13. ^Karkafiris, Michael (15 July ). "James May Opens Up About The Time He Got Fired From Autocar". . Retrieved 23 March
    14. ^James May Internet Movie Database
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      Speakers Corner. Retrieved 5 November

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      Archived from the original on 14 November Retrieved 9 February "The worst ever would have to be James May, with his fish pie. Even though he won, which was extraordinary. He was drinking a bottle of red wine throughout the challenge, so I thought it was in the bag."

    19. ^[1] "This recipe is Gordon's version of a posh fish pie originally made by James May."
    20. ^"Here's How James May Rose To Petrolhead Royalty".

      26 July

    21. ^"Jeremy Clarkson on the first time he met Richard Hammond and James May". YouTube.
    22. ^"Top Gear's James May Shifts His Career Into Overdrive". Fox News. 17 March Archived from the original on 12 April Retrieved 5 March
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      YouTube.

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    27. Buffeting james may biography book
    28. James may biography wiki
    29. Buffeting james may biography images

      30. "Copy Top Gear's polar trip". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January Retrieved 31 March

    30. ^"Toyota Hilux taunts Iceland's volcano moments before eruption – Top Gear takes credit". WorldCarFans. 19 April Retrieved 31 March
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      BBC News Online. 25 March Retrieved 25 March

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      Buffeting james may biography Retrieved 25 January Archived from the original on 11 January Quotes [ ] "Oh, cock. Speakers Corner.

      The Guardian. 23 April Retrieved 23 April

    33. ^"BBC/OU – James May's 20th Century". Archived from the original on 21 November Retrieved 5 November
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      . Archived from the original on 28 April Retrieved 11 March

    36. ^"James May on the Moon". BBC. 7 July Retrieved 2 September
    37. ^ ab"James May at the Edge of Space". BBC. 8 March Retrieved 2 September
    38. ^"UK &#; May starts building Lego house".

      BBC News. 1 August Retrieved 5 November

    39. ^Radio Times 24–30 October
    40. ^"Entertainment &#; James May's Lego house demolished". BBC News. 22 September Retrieved 5 November
    41. ^May to attempt Scalextric record, BBC News, 7 August Retrieved 9 August
    42. ^"Model train record bid off track".

      BBC Online. 25 August Retrieved 29 December

    43. ^"The Great Train Race". (Programme listing). BBC. Archived from the original on 10 June Retrieved 7 June
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      BBC. Retrieved 5 November

    46. ^"Food – TV and Radio". BBC. Retrieved 5 November
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    48. ^"James May: Our Man in Italy". Amazon Studios. Retrieved 18 August
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      Amazon Studios. Retrieved 10 December

    50. ^"James May confirms his Our Man In series has been cancelled". Yahoo News. 28 October Retrieved 28 October
    51. ^"James May fronts BBC Worldwide's latest original YouTube channel – Head Squeeze". BBC. 31 January Retrieved 29 April
    52. ^"Head Squeeze – YouTube".

      Archived from the original on 24 February Retrieved 11 December

    53. ^"Top Gear presenter James May posts first video on 'unemployment' YouTube channel". The Independent. Archived from the original on 11 January Retrieved 18 April
    54. ^Butcher, Mike (6 September ). "Motoring community DriveTribe secures $M from 21st Century Fox".

      TechCrunch. Retrieved 25 April

    55. ^"James May talks about cheese and eggs on new Foodtrive channel". Auto Revolution. 24 January Retrieved 13 October
    56. ^Richard Hammond announces something NEW | What Next? on YouTube
    57. ^James May finds the ultimate cheese sandwich, retrieved 22 August
    58. ^"Transmission – BBC Top Gear Video: behind-the-scenes at the first of the new series «".

      23 January Retrieved 26 November

    59. ^"Top Gear presenter James May awarded honorary doctorate". BBC. 15 July Retrieved 3 August
    60. ^"James May answers the internet's questions". 12 May Archived from the original on 12 May Retrieved 12 May
    61. ^"Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories".

      The Guardian. London. 7 August Retrieved 26 August

    62. ^"Jeremy Clarkson tells David Cameron 'my gut says stay in the EU'". The Guardian. 16 June Retrieved 9 December
    63. ^"James May buys 'half' of Royal Oak in Swallowcliffe". BBC News.

      19 September

    64. ^Historic England. "The Royal Oak, Swallowcliffe ()". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 May
    65. ^"James May properly drives his new car for the first time". YouTube. 4 July [dead YouTube link]
    66. ^"James May reviews his own cars – Tesla Model S vs Toyota Mirai".

      YouTube. 25 December Archived from the original on 21 December

    67. ^May, James (22 October ). "As seen on TV: Porsche breaks the spell of perfection". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 October Retrieved 5 November
    68. ^"Collecting Cars - Rover Mini Cooper RSP auction (James May's specific car)".

      Collecting Cars. Archived from the original on 2 September Retrieved 26 August

    69. ^TheSmokingTirePodcast (20 August ). James May - TST Podcast #. Retrieved 20 August &#; via YouTube.
    70. ^"Mine's a pint: a preposterous excuse for a Porsche". The Daily Telegraph. London. 3 February Archived from the original on 11 January Retrieved 21 March
    71. ^"Dave: What's on Dave: James May interview".

      29 March Retrieved 5 November

    72. ^"Incident Cessna AE Skywagon - SE-FMX, 05 April ".

      Buffeting james may biography book: Sign In Register. Retrieved 10 December Retrieved 24 May Yahoo News.

      Aviation Safety Network - Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 14 August

    73. ^"Aircraft G-OCOK, American Champion Aircraft 8KCAB C/N ". 13 June Retrieved 2 September
    74. ^"Series 1, James May: The Reassembler - BBC Four". BBC. Retrieved 13 February
    75. ^"BBC Four - James May: The Reassembler".

      BBC. Retrieved 13 February

    76. ^James May to reassemble Kenwood food mixer in new BBC 'Slow TV' series 6 September
    77. ^"Carbolics". Hodder & Stoughton. 20 May Retrieved 9 October
    78. ^"Britcar 24 Hours – Provisional Result". DailySportsCar. Retrieved 11 June

    External links