Hamster TV
Richard Hammond’s Journey
to the Centre of the Planet
In making this show I learned that our planet is far, far from being an inert lump of rock that we live on; it has a vital, dynamic role to play in defining and enabling our existence. People talk about going on a ‘journey’ in TV shows: well this has to be the ultimate such journey not only across and around our world but deep into it. It’s a journey that changed the way I think about the earth beneath our feet. I hope it does the same for you.
Richard Hammond’s Journey To The Centre Of The Planet begins on Tuesday, 19th July at 21.00 on BBC One. Episode Two – Richard Hammond’s Journey To The Bottom Of The Ocean – is on Tuesday, 26th July.
CURRENT NEWS:
The Mexican affair.
Look, I was talking about the cartoon characters in western movies we all watched as kids and I am really sorry if I've offended anyone. Yes, we were stereotyping on Top Gear and yes, that can go wrong - as it rather has - but it can also be quite funny and that's what we were hoping to do. We Brits are often portrayed as clumsy snobs in bowler hats with brown teeth and terrible food. And it's funny. The BBC knows that and that's why they've stated quite clearly that 'stereotype comedy is allowed within BBC guidelines in programmes where the audience has clear expectations of that being the case.' I don't think anyone will disagree that Top Gear falls into that category.
Nevertheless, if we really have upset anyone, if they really feel I was expressing a genuinely held view that I believed Mexico to be populated by blokes in big hats and moustaches, then I am very sorry. Clearly, I don't really believe this, any more than I imagine France to be full of amorous cyclists with onions round their necks.
Of course, if I really did believe in these things, don't you think the joke would rather be on me? RH
Look out for a dedicated News page and Blog area soon – and don’t forget to join me on Facebook too, now that the imposters are gone and I’ve got my own page I’ll be fully fledged in the digital domain before long!!
Total Wipeout
A masterful display of the art of balancing keen political insight with sociological commentary, this is an objective platform for informed and razor-edged debate. And there are people falling off things whilst I sit and laugh with you. It’s the biggest – and daftest – obstacle course in the world and the gorgeous Amanda Byram is there with the contestants to laugh at them as they fall on their faces in mud whilst I sit on a stool in a warm and dry studio and make silly comments. I love doing this show more than I love cheese. Which is a lot. A real lot.
Top Gear
colleagues as we embark on a voyage to explore the truths, difficult or otherwise, inherent in our modern society. Mostly we mess about in cars all over the world and get stuff wrong. We are, to quote the show’s unofficial motto, ‘ambitious but rubbish’. Except we don’t say rubbish, we use another word which kind of means the same but is shorter.
BLAST LAB
Blast Lab is filmed in my top-secret underground lab where two teams of young scientists do battle in a series of scientific challenges. The winners take home a wheelbarrow full of prizes. The losers get the same prizes but have to blow them up in an exploding bidet. I know, sounds kinda weird; best go to the show’s own website to find out more.
Blast Lab Series 4 begins on Thursday, 14th July at 16.30 on BBC One and then is repeated on Saturdays at 11.15 on BBC Two
Engineering Connections
I loved making these programmes and hope you enjoy them too.