James May: New Lego & Meccano Engineering Series

That sounds really cool. Look forward to this, James May is just an excellent show host!
 
Well, eventually this series will need a thread of it's own and this seems the right place.

Apart from lego, James is also going to play with do a project with plasticine

plasticine%20man%202.jpg
.

James is going to make a garden out of the stuff - should go nice with the Lego house - and it will be part of the Chelsea Flower Show (19?23 May 2009). He will be assisted by Blue Peter garderner Chris Collins. Not a lot of publicity yet, but someone over at the James May Board spoke to James's agent and she confirmed it.

So dudes, surprise your mums and tell her you will take her out there for the day. :D
 
It appears that filming for this series is underway!

Two twitters spotted James today. One guy spotted him on Clifton Suspension Bridge. (Not the place for him to be, considering his vertigo.) And another guy spotted him in the reception of Aardman. They are famous for doing plasticine animations. :D
 
Last edited:
clifton09-1.jpg


James was spotted by The Times as well. Oh, the glamorous world of television. :D
 
Some more information about the new series. Next to the Lego house, the Mecanno bridge and the Plasticine garden, he is apparently also going to link two villages by a large-scale Hornby train set and race a Scalextric car against a taxi.

The article by the way also mentions that James has signed a deal with Plum Pictures to produce all his TV projects apart from Top Gear. Good move, I think. :)
 
Last edited:
man this is getting me a.l excited. thats all stuff i was into back in the day, and i stil.l build airfix models to this day.
 
Another BBC press release. I can honestly say I'm looking more forward to this programme than any of the other series he did. :)


BBC Two to bring out the kid in us in James May's Toy Stories
Date: 12.03.2009
Category: Factual & Arts TV; BBC Two
James May is a man on a mission: he wants to get kids out of their bedrooms and away from their games consoles, he wants to drag parents off their backsides and get them all playing together again.

In James May's Toy Stories on BBC Two, he is going to take some of Britain's best-loved toys and put generations of families at the heart of some ludicrously ambitious adventures that will remind us all of the joys of making something together, with toys that have long captured the imagination.

Proving the best toys don't always need batteries, James's madcap toy adventures will see him using some of the best-loved toys of our generation, and reminding everyone that there's a big kid in all of us.

In each episode James and his team will be faced with a new toy challenge.

These include:

Attempting to build the world's first full-size house made entirely out of Lego bricks: he'll even try and plumb in and fearlessly road test a Lego loo, take a dip in a Lego bath and rest his weary head in a giant Lego bed...

Creating the world's first Plasticine garden ? and entering his colourful fantasy for the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show. From the flowerbeds to the paths and the plants, James will use all 24 colours to make his fantasy come true...

Attempting to build a full size model Spitfire. Once built, he'll literally stop traffic as he navigates through narrow streets to its grand unveiling...

James also hopes to pit a Scalextric car against a taxi in a 1.6 mile race through a busy town centre...

He and his family of helpers are planning to build a lifesize bridge made entirely out of Meccano in one of Britain's most historic university cities ? a world first; James will employ structural engineers as they get him to personally test the pressure point of his bridge...

And he hopes to build the world's greatest model train set to link two villages who have long since lost their railway.

James says: "For too long now we have regarded the great toys as mere playthings. It's time to use them to bring people together and achieve greatness. And I bet it'll be a right laugh as well."

The series was commissioned for BBC Two by Mark Linsey, Controller of Entertainment Commissioning, who says: "It will be exciting to see whether James can carry out each challenge he hopes to or whether this time he has taken on more than he can handle. Whatever the outcome, this series promises to be must see viewing that the whole family can enjoy."

The series will be Executive Produced for the BBC by Mirella Breda and for Plum Pictures by Will Daws (Equator, Power To The People) and Stuart Cabb (who oversaw Louis Theroux's return to BBC Two).
 
I like how James hate's the american name for Meccano, he says 'Erector' with such disdain.
 
I like how James hate's the american name for Meccano, he says 'Erector' with such disdain.

Yeah, normally he likes names that have double entendre potential.
 
There is going to be a book accompanying the series as well. :)
 
Last edited:
Your help is needed. This is a video about the new programme, but I can't watch it, because it's UK only. :(

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9MChi1oxr4[/youtube]


Edit: Thanks to Tui over on the James May Board: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ck4n35.

It looks all rather brilliant. James better hurry, because on the 10th May he has to show his garden to the Queen.
:)
 
Last edited:
This could be realy good, amazing what some people can do with lego (and toys in general) these days, throw in some James May and you've got yourself a winner!
 
Last edited:
It looks all rather brilliant. James better hurry, because on the 10th May he has to show his garden to the Queen.
:)

And he'll be missing Thundersprint because of it.

Seriously, though; this does look like it'll be made of win.
 
Top