Yes, the guy in the car was Jeremy. Here, I'll give you a quick guide!
Jeremy Clarkson - The longest serving presenter of Top Gear has been present since the old days when it was a more serious car program. He writes for newspapers, mainly satirical stuff aside from proper car reviews, which have also been published as very funny books. Frequently thought of as Britain's ideal Prime Minister
, because of his out-spoken old fashioned views and ceaseless support of all things British. If there's an "ism" on the end of a word, he's probably been accused of it! Recent outbursts have included calling then Prime Minister Gordon Brown a "one eyed Scottish idiot" (not to his face!) and remarking in a review of a van (I think), that it was ideal for "truck drivers who want to murder prostitutes"! Not known for tact, the other two frequently laugh at his poor practical skills (he tends to bash things a lot with hammers), lack of patience, bluster and tendency to yell "POWWWER!" when reviewing cars. Actually very intelligent of course, he also fronted a favourite documentary of mine on the BBC called
The Greatest Raid of All Time which was essentially the WWII mission that gave birth to the SAS.
This for me, is possibly his finest moment. A full road test of the Ford Fiesta, following a complaint that Top Gear doesn't do serious reviews anymore. It starts very straightforward. The end is jaw-dropping!
James May - Regularly the butt of jokes for being fastidious and nerdy, "Captain Slow" got his nickname for being very careful about everything. He's very clever about anything to do with the war and engineering, a fact the other two find very boring! He's also a licensed pilot and hosted very good shows about classic toys and another about the moon landings where he was flown to the edge of space to experience as near as possible what it was like for an astronaut. It is of no surprise to anyone that he would reminisce about Airfix models and train sets! If you drop across any of his other shows, I highly recommend them.
I gave you the Ken Block clip before, so I'll leave it this time!
Richard "Hamster" Hammond - Almost every episode will feature a joke at some point targeted at Richard's shortness, mid-life crisis fashion/hair or the fact he had his teeth whightened. Despite this, he is possibly the sharpest of the three and might be the most skilled driver, with a love of Porsche, Mustang and bikes. Also brings his trademark wit ("I broke it... a bit" is a typical style of his) to a gameshow called Total Wipeout, a version of which I believe is in the States.
This version of Top Gear that's now ran for a good few years possibly matured when the real relationship between all three was proven by Hammond's near fatal crash while filming for the program that left him with brain damage. Truly very lucky, it was a life or death moment and he has said he doesn't want to dwell on it. The first episode of that series examined the crash in full, but hasn't been mentioned since except for a very sly comment just last week, courtesy of Jeremy.
Here's the clips from the show when they talked about it. Still send a shiver down my neck!
