ajd1992 From UK - England, joined Jul 2006, 2645 posts, RR: 6 Reply 2, posted (2 years 9 months 3 weeks 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 1246 times:
I watched them all on iPlayer when it was on the BBC here in the UK, I loved them all. Most of the stuff he used in the programs I grew up with so it really interested me to see how he did with it. I'm an avid top gear fan which is what turned me on to them but I'm glad I watched it. He presented them really well too.
fbgdavidson From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2004, 3688 posts, RR: 31 Reply 5, posted (2 years 9 months 3 weeks 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 1196 times:
I watched it too, although haven't seen all the episodes yet. I caught some when they originally aired in the UK which meant you saw the full version rather than the slightly edited BBC America ones...
I rather like James May but you get the impression the volunteers he works with on the show get a little fed up with him!
"My first job was selling doors, door to door, that's a tough job innit" - Bill Bailey
DucatiRacer From United States of America, joined May 2005, 231 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (2 years 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 1054 times:
We are watching it here in the US on BBC America as well. It's a great show. We have seen up to the 10 mile long model railroad and have the full size model airplane waiting on the DVR.
BBC America is definitely the favorite channel at our house (although their recent fascination with Star Trek TNG is a little confusing).
MasterBean From UK - England, joined Apr 2010, 181 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (2 years 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 1017 times:
I liked the scalelectrix episode the best since it was held at Brooklands which is officially a cool place. Have you seen the Oz and James Drink to Britain Series, tis a good one.
signol From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2007, 2948 posts, RR: 7 Reply 10, posted (2 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 23 hours ago) and read 942 times:
I saw all except the Hornby episode. Waiting for a rerun of that now!
Best I think was the first, where they made a full-sized Airfix model kit of a Spitfire.
Quoting fbgdavidson (Reply 5): I rather like James May but you get the impression the volunteers he works with on the show get a little fed up with him!
He does seem a bit like the unsufferable know-it-all perfectionist at times. Might be why he always get such a bashing on TG.
He is quite smart and does excellent quality TV though.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit posting...
baguy From UK - England, joined Mar 2006, 528 posts, RR: 1 Reply 12, posted (2 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 913 times:
Quoting DucatiRacer (Reply 8): We have seen up to the 10 mile long model railroad and have the full size model airplane waiting on the DVR.
I actually could have been in that episode - no joke! I was on an Air Cadets trip to the museum at RAF Cosford (where it is filmed) and the guy who was organising it asked me and a few friends if we wanted to be involved. Our stupid Officer couldn't be bothered to talk to him and so that was that
Dreadnought From United States of America, joined Feb 2008, 7785 posts, RR: 22 Reply 13, posted (2 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 860 times:
I like how he's trying to revive some of the old toys where you actually learned something. I had Mechano and Lego when I was a kid, and they were great. You learned how gears worked, things like leverage, bracing, and the importance of planning ahead.
Even Lego now is a shadow of what it was. a lot of unique specialty pieces and instructions on how to put it together. We just had blocks and beams of various sizes and you had to use your imagination.
I got this by email a little while ago, and I think it's appropriate.
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!!
First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads.
As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight.
WHY?
Because we were always outside playing....that's why!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day.
--And, we were OKAY..
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot about adding brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from those accidents.
We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.
We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and - although we were told it would happen - we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever. The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
If YOU are one of those born between 1925-1970, CONGRATULATIONS, you had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.
2707200X From United States of America, joined Mar 2009, 6940 posts, RR: 1 Reply 14, posted (2 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 846 times:
Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 13): As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
I agree with you there I dint understand having to weigh 40 lbs.
I never got the bottle eather but how many people drink water from a garden hose, nothing wrong with than though.
Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 13): We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot about adding brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 13): WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
Quoting Dreadnought (Reply 13): We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
I most certainly agree with the statement, parents are these days afraid to let their children play without supervision or really play outside, many parents freak out when they hear about bad thing happening to children in the national or local news, you hardly see kids play outside anymore in this generation of helicopter parenting. In the late eighties and early nineties me and friend Brian would go outside in our new neighborhood in Rancho Cucamonga and play in the orchards and collect lizards and horny toads and have a good time.
Quoting baguy (Reply 12): We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
We still do.
"And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by." John Masefield Sea-Fever
MD-90 From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 8418 posts, RR: 13 Reply 15, posted (2 years 9 months 3 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 830 times:
Quoting francoflier (Reply 11): He does seem a bit like the unsufferable know-it-all perfectionist at times. Might be why he always get such a bashing on TG.
That's why he needs Clarkson to keep him in his place.
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I like his "solo" programmes the best of the three TG presenters'. The drink programmes with Oz Clarke aren't bad either.
I found it absolutely fantastic, especially the part in the U-2.
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