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James May: The Reassembler

thoots said:
You're presuming I want to go and jump over his fence and knock on his door. I just want to know where in general it is -- still in London? Somewhere else? We have long known where all three have lived over the past several years....
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Their new house is in a village in Wiltshire, he even turned on the Christmas lights in nearby Shaftesbury in December

James May's missus charms the Nimbys
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-BBC-film-reignites-family-feud-Longleat.html

James May proves a real fan pleaser
http://www.yourvalleynews.co.uk/frontpage-news/james-may-proves-a-real-fan-pleaser/
 
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kurthest said:
He should make some more programs about drinking with Oz Clarke, those programs were ace!
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Revelator said:
Someone on reddit asked if he'd make more programs with Oz. James's response: "I don't know if he's still alive. I'll check and get back to you."
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I agree. Oz and James are really great together. Would love to see them do more shows together. I probably re-watch their wine shows once a year!
 
ahpadt said:
I agree. Oz and James are really great together. Would love to see them do more shows together. I probably re-watch their wine shows once a year!
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Great shows, they should do some more.

RedMoon said:
Their new house is in a village in Wiltshire, he even turned on the Christmas lights in nearby Shaftesbury in December
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Shaftesbury is a lovely place and a tourist destination.

Wiki said:
Shaftesbury is the site of the former Shaftesbury Abbey, which was founded in 888 by King Alfred and became one of the richest religious establishments in the country, before being destroyed in the Dissolution in 1539. Adjacent to the abbey site is Gold Hill, the steep cobbled street made famous in the 1970s as the setting for Ridley Scott's television advertisement for Hovis bread.
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Memories of a mower

Published on Mar 30, 2016
Programme website: http://bbc.in/21TLO8Y James May reassembles a lawnmower from 322 parts. Slowly.


Lawnmower
Episode 1

James is faced with the 331 pieces that make up a 1959 petrol lawnmower. The Suffolk Colt helped make mowing accessible to the masses by producing a smaller and affordable machine to keep our nations lawns at regulation height. As this is a petrol lawnmower, James's first task is to put the engine back together before he gets to grips with the gearing, the clutch and the blades themselves. Armed only with his toolbox and an endless supply of tea, James experiences the highs and lows only possible when attempting to put history back together again, piece by piece.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b076np2b
 
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Telephone
James May: The Reassembler Episode 2 of 3

James tackles a 1957 Bakelite dial telephone - 211 pieces, most of them very small indeed, must be reassembled in the correct order if this telephone is ever to ring again. From the receiver with its carbon filings that enable speech to be amplified, to the electrical pulses created by the dial itself that connect the phone to the outside world, James soon discovers that every single piece of the telephone played a crucial role in revolutionising communication around the world.

Electric Guitar
James May: The Reassembler Episode 3 of 3

James concludes his quest to truly understand everyday objects by putting them back together piece by piece with an electric guitar.

147 pieces must be reassembled carefully and in the correct order, which will entail soldering, extensive use of James's precision Japanese screwdrivers and some fiddly electronics.

The electric guitar transformed the music industry and society itself and, channelling his namesake Brian, James will plug in his reassembled guitar and hope he put all the bits together correctly as he gets ready to perform one of most unexpected guitar solos of all time.
 
I watched, I stayed awake and I liked it. James being nerdy is nothing new but this takes it to a new level and I enjoyed listening to him talk about the history of this mower and others. I even learnt a few new things that I can't put my finger on but will be clear to me when I watch it again.

Also:
It takes him 10 hours to put this thing together! :eek:
 
I just watched it on iplayer. It was interesting but too short to be interesting enough, and the camera work seemed really amateurish: lots of shaking, not focusing on what James was taking about or showing it at all in the shot.
 
I disagree. It's hard in that situation to do rock steady camera work and besides it fits the "made in a shed" nature of the show which in this case is literally true.

I enjoyed it. A half hour of calming, interesting television which absolutely plays to James' strengths as a presenter with genuine interest in things and how they go together. There are too many car/engineering type shows with raspy voice overs, thrashy guitar music, superlatives, false jeopardy etc and this makes a truly decent alternative.

Hoping they commission more of the same.
 
MWF said:
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I enjoyed it. A half hour of calming, interesting television which absolutely plays to James' strengths as a presenter with genuine interest in things and how they go together. There are too many car/engineering type shows with raspy voice overs, thrashy guitar music, superlatives, false jeopardy etc and this makes a truly decent alternative.

Hoping they commission more of the same.
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That also occcured to me that the BBC could make lots of these with James, if he "wunts" to and has time. :smile:

Part 2 - the 1957 dial up telephone with bell, was stangely interesting as well, with some good laughs too. Especially the Sarah joke.
 
I enjoyed it again tonight and learnt something new again. It certainly looks like it was made a whole lot better than most things these days.
 
hajolaser said:
I just watched it on iplayer. It was interesting but too short to be interesting enough, and the camera work seemed really amateurish: lots of shaking, not focusing on what James was taking about or showing it at all in the shot.
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I think the shaky camera work was because of the small girl with the shoulder cam.
 
That show was entirely too short. For me it was way too much left out to be enjoyable. I am talking about the mower one.

I felt like I was flipping thru channels and only getting bits and pieces.
 
skylock said:
That show was entirely too short. For me it was way too much left out to be enjoyable. I am talking about the mower one.

I felt like I was flipping thru channels and only getting bits and pieces.
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I hear what you are saying but it must have been a pretty tough pitch even for a fringe channel like BBC4. An hour would have been too long and they typically look to fill 30 or 60 minute slots.
 
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