James May ‘worried’ that Top Gear may age poorly amid plea for ‘new generation take’ on the format
Former Top Gear and Grand Tour star James May has expressed fear that his iconic shows may be seen as out of step with the values of future generations.
The 62-year-old was reflecting on the final adventure of One for the Road alongside co-hosts Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond.
May made the admission while speaking on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch in a candid chat with hosts Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer.
The hosts were eager to ask May about The Grand Tour’s conclusion – particularly why the iconic trio had chosen to end it when they did.
“I just couldn’t stand them anymore,” May said with a grin to a burst of laughter from Lovejoy and Rimmer.
“We always said between us that we would land it with some grace rather than fly it into the White Cliffs of Dover desperate to keep it alive,” May explained, sharing the true reason.
“I think we just about managed that,” he concluded, satisfied.
May’s sardonic attitude returned as he also conceded: “We’d exhausted the subject… and are getting on a bit.”
To that end, the 64-year-old argued: “I think its time for a new generation to find a new take” on the Top Gear format reinforcing comments he had made previously.
He felt that new perspective was essential, even while admitting “I don’t know what it is.”
His suggestion was prompted by a fear Top Gear and The Grand Tour may go the way of classic TV and be seen as offensive in the future.
May explained with a pained expression: “We’re now in an era where we look back at things that were very popular in my youth, I’m thinking of TV shows from the 1970’s, and you watch them and go ‘Ohhhh! Really?!’”
The presenter offered It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and Are you Being Served? as examples of shows that have aged poorly.
Recently, fury arose when other beloved classics, like Fawlty Towers and Only Fools and Horses, were slapped with trigger warnings when added to streaming services.
“Is that going to happen to Top Gear?” May asked fearfully.
Imagining potential future reaction to his programmes, he pantomimed: “I can’t believe they put THAT on the telly!”
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Lovejoy cut in, suggesting the revaluation of Top Gear by more sensitive audiences “already has” happened.
Elsewhere, May is preparing for the launch of his new series James May’s Great Explorers.
The upcoming show will follow the journey’s and practices of famous explores Christopher Columbus, Walter Raleigh and Captain James Cook.