With the collapse of the BBC's production quality came the rejection of some its most loved presenters in British television history: James May, Jeremy Clarkson, and Richard Hammond. These three figures were at the height of weekend evening television for many, where their travels and 'banter' led them throughout the world performing many different challenges that grew more and more silly as the years went on. Top Gear was something vastly different, something that felt truly British; in my opinion, the decline of the United Kingdom was felt when Top Gear was abandoned, when the culture began to shift and it was clear that the times, as Bob Dylan said, were a'changin'. When Amazon announced that they had picked up the three presenters, everyone sort of knew what was coming: a remake of Top Gear of some sort. Though, The Grand Tour as it was later announced, wasn't actually that good, albeit for many legal reasons that meant they couldn't exactly copy the format of Top Gear, nor could they find the budget, funnily enough, from Mr. Bezos. Though, the best productions featuring this group later came with Amazon creating individual series for them each. Hammond only really had one, and it was terrible. But May and Clarkson both had some major hits: May travelled the world, and Clarkson displayed the struggles and humour in life on an English farm in the Cotswolds.
James May has always been one of the lesser-appreciated of the trio, though. The one that many assumed was boring and 'slow' based on the references made about him in Top Gear, as well as having his more nerdy 'boomer' attitude. An interest in engineering and creativity, admiring the beauty of how things work and are made. 'James May: Our Man in...' seemed like the perfect show for him, where he gets the ability to navigate throughout the world and find new places to portray alongside natives. To show the culture and changes in the world by meeting various businesses and individuals and talking about those developments in the nation. It's no Anthony Bourdain's: Parts Unknown, that's for sure. But with May, it held a lot of charm, primarily in the humour, as his love for discovery was met with the chaotic of the world, the silliness that it contains. It's a simple series with not a whole lot of episodes or seasons, but quickly grew to be one of my favourites.
With season three now out, though, it doesn't really have that same magic. And I am curious as to what happened for it to take a bit more of a less-interesting direction. Seeming more rushed, less focused. This time, the show takes May to India, though briefly, and barely hitting the mark in the philosophy and the art. Joining with odd figures and showcasing what felt like such a snippet of the large nation. 2022 and 2023 were hard years in which costs were cut, so I assume much of this is a result of that, unfortunately.
James May: Our Man in India
One of the great things about James May: Our Man in... was that it felt incredibly fresh from the start, no major introduction or cinematic that made you feel like you entered some grand journey, but instead a simple introduction from May stating where he now was, a little bit of context on the place, and immediately jumping in to his first meeting with some of the locals, Usually this meant that he had a pre-planned visit with some group of people or some business that held some cultural significance: beer breweries, cheese factories, or in this case: a leather production company. The show takes pride in how it displays culture in a more unique way, how it has May, the host, often just performing simple tasks, talking to people how they operate their business and then taking a go at it himself, it's a very different dynamic to the usual travel show. Though in this series things felt rushed, where he visited an area, quickly displayed what it was about, and promptly left to move on to the next area. Part of the downside of this season was that this speedy movement didn't result in any notable figures in the season. Where some of the prior seasons' strength was how he met interesting individuals that caused a lot of laughter.
It didn't seem like there was a lot of back-and-forth dialogue in this season, not from any translators or any of the hosts May met. There was an odd formality to it that didn't really seem like it was a cultural thing, but more an awkwardness thing. That the whole thing was a quick job where the film crew had begged to enter and been accepted, to then quickly being told to leave once they got their minimum amount of footage necessary. I feel this way more about the show because at the end of the season they display some of the cut moments, and it seemed like a lot of the good stuff got cut and replaced, with shortcuts thrown in all over. One of these negatives I noticed was the very stereotypical colour grading that had been slapped on the footage. It removed a lot of the authenticity of travel and culture that you'd expect to find in a travel show about a colourful place like India. This made the show seem a lot cheaper in budget as well.
It's not all negatives though. It's always fun to see James May thrown into places he loves and doesn't understand. To see a man so curious about the world and also capable of laughing at everything. It makes for a travel show that isn't all serious and about how deep the world is, but more shining a light at how exciting it can be. How all over the world people enjoy laughter, how craftsmanship details how we feel about ourselves and each other. The small stories that are waiting to be told by someone, all that's needed is a host and camera to capture it all and convey it, regardless of language barriers. It makes you realise these events are taking place all at once on the planet, no matter how caught up we get in our own little bubbles, to and from work, or with the little snippets of drama and our own culture we have grown so familiar and ignorant of. There aren't many travel shows like this: quick, fun, and with a lot of information to take in still. A little adventure that almost feels like some YouTube videos in a way.
