James May: The Reassembler | |
---|---|
Written by | James May |
Directed by | Dan Lewis |
Starring | James May |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 7 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Will Daws Stuart Cabb |
Producer | Dan Lewis |
Running time | 30 minutes (BBC Four), 45 minutes (DVD, Quest, Together TV, On-demand) |
Original release | |
Network | BBC Four |
Release | 4 April 2016 |
James May: The Reassembler is a BBC Four documentary programme focusing on the reassembly of various pieces of technology from the past. The host, James May, discusses the item, its place in society, historical significance, and the engineering principles of the components whilst he reassembles the final product back to its original state.
Featured items have included a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, [1] a 1970s Honda Z50A miniature trail motorcycle, [2] a dial telephone from the late 1950s, [3] as well as a plethora of other items.
During this time, May was the only one out of the former Top Gear trio still doing work for the BBC. The three moved to Amazon's The Grand Tour in 2016 after they had not renewed their Top Gear contracts. Although the relationship between Clarkson and the BBC had gone quite sour, May still released The Reassembler on BBC Four.
Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
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Series premiere | Series finale | |||
1 | 3 | 4 April 2016 | 6 April 2016 | |
2 | 4 | 28 December 2016 | 18 January 2017 |
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | Viewers [4] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Lawnmower" | 4 April 2016 | 659,000 | |
James reassembles the 331 parts of a 1959 Suffolk Colt | |||||
2 | 2 | "Telephone" | 5 April 2016 | 578,000 | |
3 | 3 | "Electric Guitar" | 6 April 2016 | 555,000 | |
James reassembles the 147 parts of a Tōkai Gakki "Goldstar Sound" Stratocaster replica. |
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | Viewers [4] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | 1 | "Christmas: Hornby Train Set" | 28 December 2016 | 666,000 | |
James reassembles the 138 parts of a 1972 Hornby Flying Scotsman (with realistic chuffing sounds) | |||||
5 | 2 | "Food Mixer" | 4 January 2017 | N/A | |
James reassembles the 235 parts of a 1960s Kenwood Chef a701a Food Mixer | |||||
6 | 3 | "Mini Motorcycle" | 11 January 2017 | 478,000 | |
James reassembles the 303 parts of a 1970s Honda Z50A Mini Trail Motorcycle | |||||
7 | 4 | "Portable Record Player" | 18 January 2017 | 493,000 | |
James reassembles the 195 parts of a 1963 Dansette Bermuda |
While the BBC Four airings were in a 30-minute timeslot, an extended 45-minute version of each episode was released on DVD and is the version available across various video-on-demand platforms. The extended versions of Series 1 have also been shown on Quest [5] and both seasons on Together TV, in an hour-long slot incorporating commercials. The extended versions are also publicly available for free on the YouTube channel Naked Science. [6]
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English television presenter, journalist, writer and farmer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes Top Gear and The Grand Tour alongside Richard Hammond and James May. He also currently writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun. Clarkson hosts the ITV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and co-hosts the reality show Clarkson's Farm.
James Daniel May 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 2003 until 2015 and the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video from 2016 to 2024. He also serves as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons.
Richard Mark Hammond is an English journalist, television presenter, mechanic, and writer. He is best known for co-hosting the BBC Two motoring programme Top Gear from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James May. From 2016 to 2024, the trio presented Amazon Prime Video's The Grand Tour.
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Series 1 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2002, consisting of ten episodes that were aired between 20 October and 29 December. This series featured Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond as the co-hosts of the programme, a role they would both maintain until the end of the twenty-second series, but the only series to feature Jason Dawe as their co-presenter before he was replaced by James May for the second series.
Series 2 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2003, consisting of ten episodes between 11 May and 20 July; a compilation episode, titled "Best of Top Gear", was broadcast after the series concluded on 27 July, featuring the best moments of the previous two series. It was the first series to feature James May, who was brought in to replace Jason Dawe following the first series, and the first to credit the programme's anonymous driver, "The Stig", as an additional presenter; though not under their actual identity.
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Top Gear Australia is an Australian motoring reality television series, based on the British BBC series Top Gear. The programme first premiered on SBS One on 29 September 2008. A second season was ordered following the high ratings for the premiere episode and positive comments from advertisers, and the second season began broadcasting from 11 May 2009. After acquiring the rights to broadcast the UK version in 2009, the Nine Network started airing their own version of Top Gear Australia in September 2010. Top Gear Australia returned for a fourth season in 2011. The show was cancelled on 28 April 2012 due to declining ratings. An eight part series returned in 2024 on Paramount+ with new hosts.
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Tom Boswell was a journalist who worked in both BBC Radio and Television.
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Series 17 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2011, consisting of six episodes that were aired between 26 June and 31 July. This series' highlights included the presenters making their own trains with cars and caravans, and using second-hand military vehicles to demolish houses. The seventeenth series faced criticism over its review of electric cars by attempting to mislead viewers.
Series 22 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2015, consisting of eight episodes - seven of these were aired between 25 January and 8 March, while the eighth was aired on 28 June following a disruption in production; two additional episodes were planned but never produced. The series was preceded by a two-part special focused on the presenters conducting a road trip across Argentina, titled Top Gear: Patagonia Special, and aired during 2014 on 27–28 December. This series' highlights included the presenters conducting a race across St. Petersburg, creating home-made ambulances, a recreation of a famous Land Rover Defender advert, and a road trip across Australia in GT cars.
Top Gear is a British motoring magazine and currently inactive motoring-themed entertainment television programme. It is a revival devised by Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman of the 1977–2001 show of the same name for the BBC, and premiered on 20 October 2002. The programme focuses on the examination and reviewing of motor vehicles, primarily cars, though this was expanded upon after the broadcast of its earlier series to incorporate films featuring motoring-based challenges, special races, timed laps of notable cars, and celebrity timed laps on a course specially-designed for the relaunched programme. The programme drew acclaim for its visual and presentation style since its launch, which focused on being generally entertaining to viewers, as well as criticism over the controversial nature of its content. The show was also praised for its occasionally controversial humour and lore existing in not just the automotive community but in the form of internet memes and jokes. The programme was aired on BBC Two until it was moved to BBC One for its twenty-ninth series in 2020.
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