Post by lindenchase on Sept 19, 2008 15:51:38 GMT
Another gem long thought lost. ;D It's the interview in which he mentions having been asked for Strictly Come Dancing. 
Again apologies for the length of this post, but direct linking doesn't work.
Eastbourne Motorshow - 15th July 2006
Armed with a bag of roast chicken flavoured crisps and some American Hard Gums as a form of bribery, I sought to gain an audience with James for a second interview. James agreed to spend some time at the end of the first day of the 2006 Eastbourne Motorshow discussing recent projects and what's coming up in the future.
Exactly a year has passed since we last spoke for the website, and it's been a very busy 12 months for James.
"Well it's about to get much busier actually because I've got to do my drunken wine tour of France with Oz Clarke."
Oz & James' Big Wine Adventure was a topic I planned to bring up later, but since James had brought the subject up himself I pointed out that his columns in The Daily Telegraph and Top Gear magazine have never been favourable towards France or the French. Does he really not like them?
"Well, I don't really, I mean, I exaggerate it a bit. I find the French quite annoying and France a slightly irritating place but I couldn't really be tempted to dislike them because it's still Europe and I think Europe is fantastic so… I'm sure I'll get annoyed with the French and their stupid driving habits and their obsession with cheese and Napoleon and all that other rubbish that they're always going on about."
Since James will be spending a month on the road across the channel, I give him one single tip, to look out for Parisian number plates.
"Oh yeah, they're the worst aren't they? But even the other French think the Parisians are awful. I think they're on their own, that's a separate nation Paris!"
James' first book, May On Motors was published earlier this year. This must have been a proud moment for James.
"Yes, well it was cheating really, because it's actually a collection of stuff that I'd already written elsewhere but I thought it would be quite interesting to put them all together. I started doing it at home just out of interest to compile stuff I'd done over the best part of 8 years I think, to see if there was any difference. As I started doing it I thought I should just keep doing this and see if someone would publish it and no-one would, and then I got on Top Gear then it was quite easy to be honest."
Will there be a sequel?
"Well I suppose it will take another 8 years to write another load of good columns so one day maybe. The publisher, and the agent who did the deal for me rings me up once or twice a week saying "do another book and we'll get you published" but I can't be bothered is the honest answer."
There are several coffee table books related to motoring that have been published in the last few years, with lots of pictures and very few words. Is that a tempting way to earn pennies quickly?
"Is that a dig at Hammond's What Not to Drive by any chance? I sort of could I suppose, except that Hammond's already done it, so I mean..."
I point out that Richard Hammond isn't the first to publish such a book about cars, mentioning the name of Top Gear's script editor.
"You're right he has, hasn't he? So there's no reason why I shouldn't. The agent was saying "You could do a book on your life and cars, and talk about all the cars you've ever had or that you've ever rode in. You know, because they were your Dad's car or your Mum's car and talk about those and how interesting they are." And I thought about it and all the cars in my life have been really boring. He's just desperately trying to find one thing for me to do because he wants to do the deal and because he makes a commission I suppose. I can't be bothered to do that. Basically, I can't think of anything interesting to say about the Mark 1 Cavalier it's just not an interesting car."
Since my last interview with James, he has presented programmes beyond his area of expertise of cars and motoring. Notably, James May's Top Toys for BBC2 and Inside Killer Sharks for Sky One.
"Toys are something I'm quite into or certain ones anyway. The ones I like, like Scalextric and Meccano and train sets. The sharks programme, I'm not particularly into sharks, but they wanted someone who didn't know very much about them because they wanted whoever went to do the programme to speak to the experts and learn things and be interested. It was pretty fascinating actually once you got into it, but mainly because it was in the Bahamas."
So was it really just a vacation to the Caribbean?
"No, I can't say that, because it was extremely hard work from dawn to dusk and I was exhausted. We were in the Bahamas for 10 days and I also did 4 days in Britain. There was a lot of filming in different places, because we went to the marina in Hull and then we went somewhere else and we went to a museum to talk to some experts so it was quite a bit of belting around."
Still on the theme of television appearances, I ask James if it's true that he turned down Strictly Come Dancing.
"Yes it is. I'm absolutely a cripple when it comes to things like sport and dancing."
Former Top Gear presenter Quentin Wilson was previously a celebrity dancer on the first series of the popular entertainment show.
"He was alright really. He looks the part Quentin, because he's quite suave and debonair and he's got sort of slick back hair and you know he smiles and pulls the right face. I just look an idiot and I think that those programmes... people like Quentin doing it is good, because you know people are fond of Quentin and he's having a go and nobody would hold it against him. But I think if you come from something that's quite spiky and irreverent like Top Gear, if you did something like that you'd look as if you were just doing it for the money and you'd make a bit of an idiot of yourself. People would enjoy it because you were being an arse, and I don't think it was right to do that. The great thing about Celebrity Come Dancing is they offer you (to be brutally honest) quite a fat fee for doing it, and the chances are you'll get knocked out right at the beginning. So, you and up with a great big pile of money for doing a few days work, but unfortunately if you end up staying in it you end up working weeks and weeks on end."
Despite a guaranteed vote or two from yours truly, it doesn't look like we'll see James on any reality TV show like Celebrity X Factor in the near future.
"No, I wouldn't do anything like that. Can I sing? Not particularly. I can play the piano."
So what else has James got pencilled in his diary for this year?
"There's a quiz DVD that I'm presenting. It's one of those interactive TV ones where you get the questions and then my face comes up and says "no", "yes" or whatever and that's coming out for Christmas. There's another series they want me to do for the BBC early next year which will involve filming later this year, but I can't tell you what it is yet because it's a secret. If it gets the go ahead and they agree that they want me to do it, I'm quite interested in it. It's... it's... well, I can't tell you what it is but it's the sort of thing I'd be into, but not cars."
This time last year James said that he felt more of a writer than a TV presenter, is that opinion still the same?
"I still think I'm better at writing than TV presenting. I'm only alright on the TV because I'm a bit hopeless, but people seem to quite like that."
Surely that's exactly what the British public would like to see on television, thinking back to the large number of reality based shows on our screens.
"Can I just say though, you say reality TV, the wine trip will be a sort of reality TV. It will be edited obviously, but it's completely un-contrived. We haven't scripted or planned any of it beyond the route."
Has it been filmed yet?
"No no, it's next month. We're taking a whole month in France. I've bought a Jaguar XJS convertible and Oz has planned a route, and the regions to go through, but they've deliberately kept that secret from me so I don't know where we're going from one day to the next. So that will be pretty much reality TV. We should actually get pretty good weather and end up just essentially hung-over, burnt and knackered. We're going to a festival of clog making and folk dancing or something like that. There's a few…I'm pretty sure…again, they've kept most of it secret but they're planning a few events so there's some regional festivals, some regional food things like cheese throwing."
It sounds stereotypically French.
"Oh, yeah, it's hideously French. We're just doing all the wine regions and I think we're going to have a go at making our own wine, and they're going to try out some of my breakfasts on the French. Some of my hangover cures like Spam and beans and stuff, I'm going give those a go. We're also going to work out which wines go best with them and I think I'm going to sneak some beer along for when I get bored with wine and I think Oz is going to sneak some New World wines along, to see if he can fool the French with them. We'll probably get our heads kicked in."
I can already see the scope in this format for further series. Perhaps South Africa or California could be next on the wine list?
"Well, secretly, although we're not saying it because it's tempting fate, but secretly we hope that if this is any sort of success - and there's a book with it as well: Oz and James' Great Wine Adventure Guide to Wine Drinking - and if this one works and the BBC like it they then might let us go to say Chile and we can drive over the Atlas Mountains in an old Land Rover. It'll be a lifelong partnership of getting drunk with Oz Clarke, but I think honestly if I spend too much time in his company it will kill me."
James is of the opinion that Oz is a 'professional drinker'.
"I thought I was quite good at it but he's…he's just legendary, so I'd expect we will start the wine programme off looking reasonably fresh and upbeat and actually not knowing each other particularly well (I've only met him a few times) and by the end of it we will be decrepit, injured, ill, you know... cirrhosis of the liver and at each other's throats I should think, but it'll make good TV."
That doesn't sound as though it bodes well for a second series.
"Yeah, but we'll have a year to get over it."
If the last 12 months are anything to go by, James has proved just how much can happen in a year.
Interview by Lynese copyright © 2006. Recording, transcript and photographs by Vikki.
Again apologies for the length of this post, but direct linking doesn't work.Eastbourne Motorshow - 15th July 2006
Armed with a bag of roast chicken flavoured crisps and some American Hard Gums as a form of bribery, I sought to gain an audience with James for a second interview. James agreed to spend some time at the end of the first day of the 2006 Eastbourne Motorshow discussing recent projects and what's coming up in the future.
Exactly a year has passed since we last spoke for the website, and it's been a very busy 12 months for James.
"Well it's about to get much busier actually because I've got to do my drunken wine tour of France with Oz Clarke."
Oz & James' Big Wine Adventure was a topic I planned to bring up later, but since James had brought the subject up himself I pointed out that his columns in The Daily Telegraph and Top Gear magazine have never been favourable towards France or the French. Does he really not like them?
"Well, I don't really, I mean, I exaggerate it a bit. I find the French quite annoying and France a slightly irritating place but I couldn't really be tempted to dislike them because it's still Europe and I think Europe is fantastic so… I'm sure I'll get annoyed with the French and their stupid driving habits and their obsession with cheese and Napoleon and all that other rubbish that they're always going on about."
Since James will be spending a month on the road across the channel, I give him one single tip, to look out for Parisian number plates.
"Oh yeah, they're the worst aren't they? But even the other French think the Parisians are awful. I think they're on their own, that's a separate nation Paris!"
James' first book, May On Motors was published earlier this year. This must have been a proud moment for James.
"Yes, well it was cheating really, because it's actually a collection of stuff that I'd already written elsewhere but I thought it would be quite interesting to put them all together. I started doing it at home just out of interest to compile stuff I'd done over the best part of 8 years I think, to see if there was any difference. As I started doing it I thought I should just keep doing this and see if someone would publish it and no-one would, and then I got on Top Gear then it was quite easy to be honest."
Will there be a sequel?
"Well I suppose it will take another 8 years to write another load of good columns so one day maybe. The publisher, and the agent who did the deal for me rings me up once or twice a week saying "do another book and we'll get you published" but I can't be bothered is the honest answer."
There are several coffee table books related to motoring that have been published in the last few years, with lots of pictures and very few words. Is that a tempting way to earn pennies quickly?
"Is that a dig at Hammond's What Not to Drive by any chance? I sort of could I suppose, except that Hammond's already done it, so I mean..."
I point out that Richard Hammond isn't the first to publish such a book about cars, mentioning the name of Top Gear's script editor.
"You're right he has, hasn't he? So there's no reason why I shouldn't. The agent was saying "You could do a book on your life and cars, and talk about all the cars you've ever had or that you've ever rode in. You know, because they were your Dad's car or your Mum's car and talk about those and how interesting they are." And I thought about it and all the cars in my life have been really boring. He's just desperately trying to find one thing for me to do because he wants to do the deal and because he makes a commission I suppose. I can't be bothered to do that. Basically, I can't think of anything interesting to say about the Mark 1 Cavalier it's just not an interesting car."
Since my last interview with James, he has presented programmes beyond his area of expertise of cars and motoring. Notably, James May's Top Toys for BBC2 and Inside Killer Sharks for Sky One.
"Toys are something I'm quite into or certain ones anyway. The ones I like, like Scalextric and Meccano and train sets. The sharks programme, I'm not particularly into sharks, but they wanted someone who didn't know very much about them because they wanted whoever went to do the programme to speak to the experts and learn things and be interested. It was pretty fascinating actually once you got into it, but mainly because it was in the Bahamas."
So was it really just a vacation to the Caribbean?
"No, I can't say that, because it was extremely hard work from dawn to dusk and I was exhausted. We were in the Bahamas for 10 days and I also did 4 days in Britain. There was a lot of filming in different places, because we went to the marina in Hull and then we went somewhere else and we went to a museum to talk to some experts so it was quite a bit of belting around."
Still on the theme of television appearances, I ask James if it's true that he turned down Strictly Come Dancing.
"Yes it is. I'm absolutely a cripple when it comes to things like sport and dancing."
Former Top Gear presenter Quentin Wilson was previously a celebrity dancer on the first series of the popular entertainment show.
"He was alright really. He looks the part Quentin, because he's quite suave and debonair and he's got sort of slick back hair and you know he smiles and pulls the right face. I just look an idiot and I think that those programmes... people like Quentin doing it is good, because you know people are fond of Quentin and he's having a go and nobody would hold it against him. But I think if you come from something that's quite spiky and irreverent like Top Gear, if you did something like that you'd look as if you were just doing it for the money and you'd make a bit of an idiot of yourself. People would enjoy it because you were being an arse, and I don't think it was right to do that. The great thing about Celebrity Come Dancing is they offer you (to be brutally honest) quite a fat fee for doing it, and the chances are you'll get knocked out right at the beginning. So, you and up with a great big pile of money for doing a few days work, but unfortunately if you end up staying in it you end up working weeks and weeks on end."
Despite a guaranteed vote or two from yours truly, it doesn't look like we'll see James on any reality TV show like Celebrity X Factor in the near future.
"No, I wouldn't do anything like that. Can I sing? Not particularly. I can play the piano."
So what else has James got pencilled in his diary for this year?
"There's a quiz DVD that I'm presenting. It's one of those interactive TV ones where you get the questions and then my face comes up and says "no", "yes" or whatever and that's coming out for Christmas. There's another series they want me to do for the BBC early next year which will involve filming later this year, but I can't tell you what it is yet because it's a secret. If it gets the go ahead and they agree that they want me to do it, I'm quite interested in it. It's... it's... well, I can't tell you what it is but it's the sort of thing I'd be into, but not cars."
This time last year James said that he felt more of a writer than a TV presenter, is that opinion still the same?
"I still think I'm better at writing than TV presenting. I'm only alright on the TV because I'm a bit hopeless, but people seem to quite like that."
Surely that's exactly what the British public would like to see on television, thinking back to the large number of reality based shows on our screens.
"Can I just say though, you say reality TV, the wine trip will be a sort of reality TV. It will be edited obviously, but it's completely un-contrived. We haven't scripted or planned any of it beyond the route."
Has it been filmed yet?
"No no, it's next month. We're taking a whole month in France. I've bought a Jaguar XJS convertible and Oz has planned a route, and the regions to go through, but they've deliberately kept that secret from me so I don't know where we're going from one day to the next. So that will be pretty much reality TV. We should actually get pretty good weather and end up just essentially hung-over, burnt and knackered. We're going to a festival of clog making and folk dancing or something like that. There's a few…I'm pretty sure…again, they've kept most of it secret but they're planning a few events so there's some regional festivals, some regional food things like cheese throwing."
It sounds stereotypically French.
"Oh, yeah, it's hideously French. We're just doing all the wine regions and I think we're going to have a go at making our own wine, and they're going to try out some of my breakfasts on the French. Some of my hangover cures like Spam and beans and stuff, I'm going give those a go. We're also going to work out which wines go best with them and I think I'm going to sneak some beer along for when I get bored with wine and I think Oz is going to sneak some New World wines along, to see if he can fool the French with them. We'll probably get our heads kicked in."
I can already see the scope in this format for further series. Perhaps South Africa or California could be next on the wine list?
"Well, secretly, although we're not saying it because it's tempting fate, but secretly we hope that if this is any sort of success - and there's a book with it as well: Oz and James' Great Wine Adventure Guide to Wine Drinking - and if this one works and the BBC like it they then might let us go to say Chile and we can drive over the Atlas Mountains in an old Land Rover. It'll be a lifelong partnership of getting drunk with Oz Clarke, but I think honestly if I spend too much time in his company it will kill me."
James is of the opinion that Oz is a 'professional drinker'.
"I thought I was quite good at it but he's…he's just legendary, so I'd expect we will start the wine programme off looking reasonably fresh and upbeat and actually not knowing each other particularly well (I've only met him a few times) and by the end of it we will be decrepit, injured, ill, you know... cirrhosis of the liver and at each other's throats I should think, but it'll make good TV."
That doesn't sound as though it bodes well for a second series.
"Yeah, but we'll have a year to get over it."
If the last 12 months are anything to go by, James has proved just how much can happen in a year.
Interview by Lynese copyright © 2006. Recording, transcript and photographs by Vikki.
