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unusual facts about James May's Man Lab


Thomas Campion

Repeated reference was made to Campion in an October 2010 episode of the BBC TV series, James May's Man Lab (BBC2), where his works are used as the inspiration for a young man trying to serenade a female colleague.


Amateur rocketry

During Series 9, Episode 4 of the BBC's Top Gear, presenters Richard Hammond and James May were given 12 days to convert a Reliant Robin into a re-usable space shuttle.

Autocar

Former Autocar writers have included Russell Bulgin, Chris Harris and Top Gear presenter James May, who was fired from the magazine in 1992, for putting a hidden message in a supplement, hinting at the tedium he had experienced, whilst compiling it.

Beale Air Force Base

The base hosted James May for the specials James May on the Moon and James May at the Edge of Space, looking at the 40th anniversary of the Moon Landing and highlighting the training necessary for flight at 70,000 ft.

Caerleon Endowed Junior School

Top Gear presenter James May attended the school in his childhood, during the 1970s.

Carbon capture and storage

James May, the British TV presenter, visited a demonstration plant in a programme in his 'Big Ideas' series.

Chelsea Flower Show

2009 James May's Paradise in Plasticine, a garden made entirely of Plasticine.

Colin Goodwin

Colin is married and has one daughter and is also a friend of Top Gear presenter and ex-Autocar staff member James May.

Conway Publishing

Conway produced the books to accompany James May's Toy Stories and the Dan Snow presented 'Empire of the Seas', both aired on the BBC.

Dacia Sandero

After Dacia sent the show a press kit, presenter James May would bring up "Good News!" about the Sandero, with Jeremy Clarkson just saying "Great!" and immediately changing the subject.

Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza

Following a broadcast of the television programme Top Gear on 30 January 2011, during which the presenters made several derogatory slurs depicting a stereotypical portrayal of Mexican culture and people, Medina-Mora wrote to the BBC about comments made by Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May about himself and Mexico, demanding a public apology from the BBC.

Forza Motorsport 5

It features Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond from Top Gear for the game's commentary when choosing a new event, championship, or league.

Greg Murphy

Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond presenting Top Gear Live, when it had its first international Live show at ASB Showgrounds in Auckland from 12–15 February 2009, and again when the show returned in 2010 with James May replacing Hammond.

Henning Solberg

With Top Gear presenter James May as his "co-driver," Solberg made it 1:02:24 in the Evo while the bobsled (with presenter Richard Hammond in it) beat Solberg with a time of 59:68.

Hiroshi Ishiguro

The Geminoid was among the robots featured by James May in his 5 October 2008 BBC2 documentary on robots Man-Machine in his series Big Ideas.

Hybrid rocket

In the February 18, 2007 episode of Top Gear, a Reliant Robin was used by Richard Hammond and James May in an attempt to modify a normal K-reg Robin into a reusable space shuttle.

James May on the Moon

James May on the Moon is a British documentary in which James May commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings.

James May's 20th Century

The show features the eponymous James May, exhibiting and discussing the implications of many of the major advances and inventions made during this period.

James May's Top Toys

James May's Top Toys is a BBC documentary in which James May explored and celebrated his favourite toys, including Etch-A-Sketch, Airfix model aeroplanes, Lego, Meccano, Top Trumps, Scalextric, model cars, and Hornby model trains.

Meccano

A recent large model, weighing approximately 500 kg and 23m long, was built in September 2009 by TV presenter James May and a team of volunteers from the engineering department of the University of Liverpool, who created a Meccano bridge spanning the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Liverpool.

Mercedes-Benz W201

This was demonstrated in a Top Gear episode (S15E02) where James May took a 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth and repeatedly confused reverse and first gear.

Miniatur Wunderland

Miniatur Wunderland has featured on the British Television Series James May's Toy Stories twice, with Sebastian and Gerrit helping BBC Top Gear presenter James May building a 00 scale Hornby model railway along the abandoned railway, The Tarka Trail in Barnstaple to Bideford.

Motorcycle rally

One of the largest motorcycle rallies in Europe is the Thundersprint, held annually in May in Northwich, Cheshire, England and usually features notable motorcycle champions or enthusiasts such as Giacomo Agostini and James May.

MPH Show

The Mph '06, the show was presented by Jeremy Clarkson and James May (Top Gear Presenters) and Tiff Needell (Fifth Gear Presenter) who was drafted in to cover for Richard Hammond who could not make the show due to his crash.

Norwich International Airport

During filming of the BBC show Top Gear, operations from the airport appeared disrupted when a caravan, adapted into an airship and flown by James May, drifted overhead the airport, infringing its controlled airspace.

Porsche Panamera

In the June 2009 edition, Richard Hammond and James May were seen driving the Panamera along the A30 in Devon, Great Britain They were racing against a letter sent via Royal Mail between the Isles of Scilly and the Orkney Islands.

Portofino

Portofino also featured on Top Gear in Episode 5, Series 12 where Richard Hammond, in a Ferrari Daytona raced James May in a carbon fibre powerboat from Portofino to St Tropez.

RAF Cosford

RAF Cosford was the location for James May's Toy Stories, where the BBC's Top Gear presenter constructed a 1:1 scale Supermarine Spitfire completely out of Airfix with the help of students from the Thomas Telford school and Air Cadets from the ATC.

REVA

On the British motoring show Top Gear, presented by Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond on BBC, the G-Wiz (as REVAi is known in the UK) has been the object of much ridicule.

Triumph Mayflower

Although it has many admirers, others share the opinion of Top Gear presenter James May, who called it the ugliest car of all time.

Waters of Nazareth

It was played in episode 5 of series 13 of Top Gear, when Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May drove three cheap rear wheel drive cars in an ice race in France.


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