Post by PP on Jun 12, 2008 14:45:04 GMT
I think that I posted this over on the old DS thread ages ago. I've just uncovered it again and can't find it on the board so I thought that I would pop it here. It's an interview with James (during his Paul Merton looky-likey phase) just before he started on 'Old Top Gear'
It's time to move over Clarkson!; Top Gear relaunches next week - without Jeremy Clarkson. GRAHAM YOUNG, the Mail's Mr Telly, meets the man set to fill his giant shoes.
REPLACING the biggest star on the top rating programme on any channel would be a daunting enough challenge for anybody.
Imagine taking over from John Thaw on ITV. Or Desmond Lynam on BBC1.
But that's the relative task facing Top Gear's new recruit James May who only discovered Jeremy was leaving shortly after he'd just agreed to sign up himself.
Suddenly, what seemed to be a formidable challenge in itself became a different proposition altogether.
No wonder James is a touch apprehensive at what he is letting himself in for when Top Gear returns on Thursday (BBC2, 8.30pm).
Joining BBC2's top-rated show means he's had to give up his job on Channel 4's Driven as well as a steady writing career with Car Magazine whose owners weren't happy with him joining a TV show which produces a rival publication.
Given that his new contract only takes him up to the summer, it's a bit of a gamble for the 36-year-old - but one he knows he couldn't refuse.
Naturally he doesn't want to be known as 'the new Jeremy Clarkson' or, heaven forbid, his direct replacement, but the fact remains that people will make comparisons.
"I'm conscious of the huge weight bearing down on my shoulders," he admits. "But there are two other new people joining the show as well! And the regulars will still be there who are not going to let me make a complete cock-up of it because it's not in their interests."
As we chat, it seems the irrepressible enthusiast Quentin Willson has just been giving him some handy hits about the Top Gear style...
"There's always a risk that I'll be seen to be trying to fit into Jeremy's oversized and unpolished shoes," jokes James, whose first two reports will be on the Midlands-built Rover 75 and Jaguar S Type.
"But I'm an enormous fan of his. There's a tendency for some motoring journalists to badmouth him, yet the guys on Top Gear have done all of the others a favour by making it cool to be a motoring journalist, whereas before it was seen as a rather nerdy thing to do.
"People like Jeremy and Quentin have elevated the whole business and so helped to create a couple of new magazines, too.
"Yes, Top Gear will miss Jeremy, but it's not the end of the world."
JAMES, who has a steady girlfriend and lives in Kew, London, is selling his Mazda MX5 sports car because of his new job.
The tiny roadster is not conducive to tearing down motorways quietly late at night while giving other people lifts, but his Midlands-built replacement Jaguar XJ8 will do both jobs admirably.
So what strengths does he think he will bring to Top Gear?
"Well, I like to think I am good at judging new cars," says the man who looks like a cross between former Manchester United stars Steve Bruce and Bryan Robson.
"I started writing about cars in 1994 and tried to use my column to look at the bigger picture of motoring. It was more social commentary than motoring journalism.
"I can make a good layman's assessment of what a car is really like and whether it's any good and I am looking forward to talking to people about their cars.
"As for TV, I don't think I'm a natural - I can think of what to say, but getting the delivery right is different. You have to live your whole life in italics because if I spoke normally, people would think I was at a funeral."
His father was in the steel and then aluminium trades, working latterly at PDM Components in Perry Barr before he retired.
And so, although James the younger was born in Bristol, he grew up in places as diverse as Redditch, South Wales and Sheffield on his way to Lancaster University where he studied music.
He admits to playing the piano badly now, but, through his training, hopes to add more jazz and classical music to Top Gear's famous soundtrack selections in preference to Jeremy's tendency to chose rock, rock and, er... even more rock.
If he could have any car on earth, he'd choose a Bentley Continental R for touring and a tiny car like the VW Lupo - due here in April - for city use.
"I'm more impressed when a manufacturer makes a great car for pounds 7,000," says softly spoken James. "If you drive a small city car that has been designed in the last five years, they are just amazing."
Any more views like that, and James could become an instant favourite with the ordinary, financially hard-pressed motorist.
What price an outburst from the Ferrari-loving Jeremy then?
It's time to move over Clarkson!; Top Gear relaunches next week - without Jeremy Clarkson. GRAHAM YOUNG, the Mail's Mr Telly, meets the man set to fill his giant shoes.
REPLACING the biggest star on the top rating programme on any channel would be a daunting enough challenge for anybody.
Imagine taking over from John Thaw on ITV. Or Desmond Lynam on BBC1.
But that's the relative task facing Top Gear's new recruit James May who only discovered Jeremy was leaving shortly after he'd just agreed to sign up himself.
Suddenly, what seemed to be a formidable challenge in itself became a different proposition altogether.
No wonder James is a touch apprehensive at what he is letting himself in for when Top Gear returns on Thursday (BBC2, 8.30pm).
Joining BBC2's top-rated show means he's had to give up his job on Channel 4's Driven as well as a steady writing career with Car Magazine whose owners weren't happy with him joining a TV show which produces a rival publication.
Given that his new contract only takes him up to the summer, it's a bit of a gamble for the 36-year-old - but one he knows he couldn't refuse.
Naturally he doesn't want to be known as 'the new Jeremy Clarkson' or, heaven forbid, his direct replacement, but the fact remains that people will make comparisons.
"I'm conscious of the huge weight bearing down on my shoulders," he admits. "But there are two other new people joining the show as well! And the regulars will still be there who are not going to let me make a complete cock-up of it because it's not in their interests."
As we chat, it seems the irrepressible enthusiast Quentin Willson has just been giving him some handy hits about the Top Gear style...
"There's always a risk that I'll be seen to be trying to fit into Jeremy's oversized and unpolished shoes," jokes James, whose first two reports will be on the Midlands-built Rover 75 and Jaguar S Type.
"But I'm an enormous fan of his. There's a tendency for some motoring journalists to badmouth him, yet the guys on Top Gear have done all of the others a favour by making it cool to be a motoring journalist, whereas before it was seen as a rather nerdy thing to do.
"People like Jeremy and Quentin have elevated the whole business and so helped to create a couple of new magazines, too.
"Yes, Top Gear will miss Jeremy, but it's not the end of the world."
JAMES, who has a steady girlfriend and lives in Kew, London, is selling his Mazda MX5 sports car because of his new job.
The tiny roadster is not conducive to tearing down motorways quietly late at night while giving other people lifts, but his Midlands-built replacement Jaguar XJ8 will do both jobs admirably.
So what strengths does he think he will bring to Top Gear?
"Well, I like to think I am good at judging new cars," says the man who looks like a cross between former Manchester United stars Steve Bruce and Bryan Robson.
"I started writing about cars in 1994 and tried to use my column to look at the bigger picture of motoring. It was more social commentary than motoring journalism.
"I can make a good layman's assessment of what a car is really like and whether it's any good and I am looking forward to talking to people about their cars.
"As for TV, I don't think I'm a natural - I can think of what to say, but getting the delivery right is different. You have to live your whole life in italics because if I spoke normally, people would think I was at a funeral."
His father was in the steel and then aluminium trades, working latterly at PDM Components in Perry Barr before he retired.
And so, although James the younger was born in Bristol, he grew up in places as diverse as Redditch, South Wales and Sheffield on his way to Lancaster University where he studied music.
He admits to playing the piano badly now, but, through his training, hopes to add more jazz and classical music to Top Gear's famous soundtrack selections in preference to Jeremy's tendency to chose rock, rock and, er... even more rock.
If he could have any car on earth, he'd choose a Bentley Continental R for touring and a tiny car like the VW Lupo - due here in April - for city use.
"I'm more impressed when a manufacturer makes a great car for pounds 7,000," says softly spoken James. "If you drive a small city car that has been designed in the last five years, they are just amazing."
Any more views like that, and James could become an instant favourite with the ordinary, financially hard-pressed motorist.
What price an outburst from the Ferrari-loving Jeremy then?
Becks, are you cheating on Richard?!* Aw, who can blame you - James is so tempting...
