James May
James May is a TV show on BBC4. James May discovers how the car became an everyday part of normal people's lives. The program has been available since 2025. A total of 13 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in July 2026.
Last episode
50:00
50:00James May
The one-time Top Gear host reveals how the masses were mobilised, hearing how the car industry in Japan and Germany bloomed after WWII.
Catching up on James May?
Don't want to miss an episode anymore? Set up a free alarm and receive an email when new episodes are available. Handy!
55:00It's back to the future for James May - he asks what happened to the cutting-edge motors our forebears promised, including fanciful steam cars and ludicrous jet turbines.
55:00James May goes off-road to explore how the 4x4 conquered the world - from Mount Fuji to the Mojave Desert, Captain Slow puts our favourite four-wheel drives to the test.
1:00:00The erstwhile Top Gear host can't get enough of driving... James reveals the cars that turned post-war Germany and Japan into motoring powerhouses at the expense of Britain.
Series 1
55:00
55:00Captain Slow finds out how we became a nation of car drivers - here James hears how aspiration drove the development of the Rolls Royce and stages a race-off.
55:00Top Gear's hairiest host explores the weird world of the microcar, revisiting Britain's infamous three-wheeled disasters as well as French deathtraps.
Series 3 50:00
50:00James May continues his epic quest to reskill the modern male as he attempts a risky stunt involving an ailing seaside town and a great big monster.
50:00James May goes in search of a wedding ring lost in the 1970s, the team launches its very own pirate radio station, and there are a couple of amazing inventions on offer.
50:00James takes to the air to help an Oxfordshire town with its diamond jubilee celebration and also tests whether it is possible to make your own luck.
1:00:00James's team try to catch a bolt of lightning, and James visits the Rock Paper Scissors World Championships and a Welsh coal mine while also recruiting some feline crime fighters.
Series 2 50:00
50:00James reassembles the past to hear what it sounded like as he pieces together the 195 parts of the 1963 Dansette Bermuda portable record player.
50:00James May tries to create a Christmas miracle by making it snow, invents a Christmas tree-decorating blunderbuss gun, and discovers the easiest way to wrap presents.
James May takes a rare and privileged flight 70,000 feet above Earth in a U2 spy plane to a place known in the Air Force as the 'space equivalent zone' or the 'edge of space'.