James May - could he be a Fred Dibnah for the modern age?

[Micrashed]

I love Fred Dibnah, not in a man love type of way, but you know I hold him with deep respect and affection in my heart for the way he brought engineering and construction from a bygone age into my life. From seeing him on Look North dropping a chimney to following his exploits with his traction engine touring the country smoking tabs, drinking proper beer, Guinness and showing me things I had but wondered about.

Sadly I dont think we will see his like again.

 

This brings me to James May. Nice chap, needs a visit to the barber shop but wears sensible clothes and shoes and has a genuine interest in all things engineering. Hie emphasis seems to be on the modern and like Fred seems to be able to impart knowledge in an interesting and fun way. I do feel his future is outside of Top Gear and in making more programs for the populous in how things work and are made.

 

Dont get me wrong, I like Top Gear, I like it in the same way people I work with like Big Brother, its brain dead telly thats mildly amusing. I think its a safe bet that these days if I want to find out what a car is like I intend to buy I just need to Google it, before my very fingers and eyes will appear pages and pages of information. Road tests, photographs from every angle, Carol from Croydon telling how crap it is, Charles from Christchurch telling me how wonderful it is and how its changed his life and so on....

So Top Gear is a bit of escapism. Cars I can never ever hope to drive, cars I could never afford to drop a piano onto (but secretly want to because I had one in the early 80's and thought it was a pile of horse dung) and silly challenges where its deemed entertaining to race a snail driven by Clarkson with an intercity 125 taken by May and Hammond - you just know that Clarkson is going to win.

 

So - what do you think? Is May a new Dibnah?

[dollywobbler]

Interesting point. Certainly, away from TG, May proves himself a man who loves engineering, but he's not steeped in it the way Dibnah was. Ol' Fred could turn his hand to pretty much anything, and his drawings were absolutely superb. It should be pointed out that while May likes to drive around in a Porsche Boxster (yes, I know he also owns a Fiat Panda) Fred wouldn't drive anything unless it was powered by steam or was his ancient Land Rover. Fred was of another era. May is merely just a passionate bloke.

 

That said, I've very much enjoyed Manlab. The episode where they took pets ashes into space with weather balloons was simply superb.

[autofive]

no

 

dibner was a 'mend and make do' sort of bloke, working-class and unpretentious, an ordinary man (with extra-ordinary skills) thrust into TV and fame, whereas May has none of these qualities.

 

DW: i dont think fred did any of his own drawings, i suspect he just hovered a pencil over them for TV purposes

[Rocket88]

^+1

 

Dibnah was someone being filmed doing what he did most days. May is a bloke being filmed doing what makes reasonably entertaining television. This is not a slight on James May, who seems to be an engageing and personable sort of bloke.

[dollywobbler]

A5 - sorry, that's an overly cynical view of Fred. He was a supremely able drawer - he actually studied engineering, which was a lot more about drawing things accurately in the old days. He wasn't just a bloke who blew chimneys up. His biography is well worth a read.

[quicksilver]

Fred was one of the last of the great British eccentric engineers and I doubt we'll ever see his like again. May might be the closest we have now but although he shares similar interests he is a very different character - remember, he is a professional journalist at heart but Fred seemed to be largely self-taught and didn't set out to be a TV star.

 

As for May himself, I definitely think his future lies as a solo presenter, especially after the latest TG 'special' received such a panning. On TG he's always portrayed as a buffoon who lives in the past and is often the subject of ridicule, but away from the other two jerks his knowledge and enthusiasm are allowed to shine through without fear of being mocked, and he does seem to have a genuine passion for what he does.

[Waderider]

Civil engineers are still taught how to draw - a visiting lecturer from Glasgow School of Art taught me in my first year. It's still pretty crucial for conceptual design and general communication.

 

You can't compare anyone to Fred Dibnah. A man born in the wrong era. James May doesn't measure up, but then I don't like any modern television (And not many modern cars). James May is the best out of the three of them though. He needs to haul his ass off Top Gear before it destroys his credibility for the other stuff he presents.

[Rocket88]

Lets face it.......there's no way that the first Dibnah TV series would even get commisoned now. Can you imagine him on "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here",he'd would have designed a machine to log the entire bloody jungle after about 20 minutes.

[michael1703]

Guy Martin was making a better job of the next fred dibnah, adam hart davis used to be good until he sold out to the inland revenue

[scooters]

IMHO James May is more like the new Macdonald Hastings - Max Hastings's late father who was your boys own pipe smoking no nonsense sort of chap and worked as The Eagle comic's special correspondant

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macdonald_Hastings

[morris_ital_lover]

Guy Martin was making a better job of the next fred dibnah

I hope he gets another series as I loved TBTGB twas some proper programming without the silly crap we have to put up with these days. He could easily slot in as a FD replacement.... although that said no-one can be our Fred.

[Father Ted]

Interesting point. Fred wouldn't drive anything unless it was powered by steam or was his ancient Land Rover.

 

Apparently wanted back by Hollands pies who sold it Fred 20 odd years ago.

[gtd2000]

Here's a video refresher:

 

 

It's ironic - I never had a fear of heights at all until after I did a bungy jump....fuck being on that bosuns chair lol

 

If you want to test yourself for a fear of heights or vertigo - have a gander at this little treat:

 

[jakebullet]

Sim Oakley is the engineering behind man lab, May is just the bloke who presents it. He also appeared / worked on scrapheap challenge.

 

They casually left the weather balloons out of the manlab book as well, which is a shame.

[richardthestag]

If you want to test yourself for a fear of heights or vertigo - have a gander at this little treat:

 

 

 

that is insane, gave me the heebies to be honest

 

Back on topic. I loved Fred's work and still watch all the shows. I honestly cannot think that I would ever get bored of him. My 3 sons also like the shows but bugger off after 2 hours back to back viewing

 

JM is a totally different animal but I love his enthusiasm, I can also relate more to him than I would to Fred - a Blokes bloke without the need to be all controversial and offensive like Jeremy (whom I also quite like for exactly that reason), not afraid to get the train set out or drink brown beer in trendy establishments. I'll bet that he probably lobbed a hairspray can onto his dads bonfire and marvelled at the resulting crater just like I did as a lad and didn't even pass a thought for what ever part of the cannister it was that whistled past the old ear ole at mach 2 before punching a hole through a fence panel 20 yards away. Bloody marvelous stuff.

 

I reckon JM has a solid TV career ahead for when India / Daily Mail get Top Gear cancelled.

[scruff]

The original Fred documentary from 1979 is on YouTube and is well worth a watch. Also search for " Fred Dibnah - The steam holiday"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuSW9kOBADo&feature=plcp&context=C33ef028UDOEgsToPDskIeXPJtaTUmnoqdt8p1A8lV

[Father Ted]

If you want to test yourself for a fear of heights or vertigo - have a gander at this little treat:

 

 

I love the anti climb spikes about 1750 feet up - I mean FFS if any vandal gets that far he deserves a job!

[richardthestag]

If you want to test yourself for a fear of heights or vertigo - have a gander at this little treat:

 

 

I love the anti climb spikes about 1750 feet up - I mean FFS if any vandal gets that far he deserves a job!

 

watch it again with the sound up, used to prevent lightening strikes by grounding tghe electrical charges before they get a chance by some witchcraft

 

more important why was climb partners face blanked?

[TimothyClaypole]

I thought the prog with Guy Martin was ok but they were trying far too hard to be matey and looked to be just turning up to film a few minutes working on things.

[Split_Pin]

I remember the early series of Fred Dibnah programmes and after that I enjoyed every programme that he appeared in. He always seemed so unassuming yet enthusiastic.

 

I also like James May but he's more of an inquisitive and slightly mischevious in his approach. I'm always keen to catch his programmes too and I agree he will have a good chance of being a solo presenter in the future.

 

My favourite moment was when he blew up that toy treehouse. His guffawing afterwards was infectious and the fact that my folks who were watching it with me at the time were appalled by this made it even funnier

[Pete-M]

I reckon JM has a solid TV career ahead for when India / Daily Mail get Top Gear cancelled.

 

Don't think it'll be the Daily Wail etc, it'll be miserable bastards on forums crying about how shit TG is (because they think they could do better)

 

Dibnah = Legend. Having said that, I cancelled my CAR subscription when May left.

[autofive]

A5 - sorry, that's an overly cynical view of Fred. He was a supremely able drawer - he actually studied engineering, which was a lot more about drawing things accurately in the old days. He wasn't just a bloke who blew chimneys up. His biography is well worth a read.

 

i read it thanks

[warren t claim]

If you want to test yourself for a fear of heights or vertigo - have a gander at this little treat:

 

 

I love the anti climb spikes about 1750 feet up - I mean FFS if any vandal gets that far he deserves a job!

 

Was I the only sicko watching that vid who thought of this???

[pompei]

I've never seen any of James May's solo efforts except for the Oz Clark wine series which was mildly entertaining. May is a bloody good writer and I don't suppose he has any pretensions of being anything other than a writer or presenter.

[morris_ital_lover]

...He wasn't just a bloke who blew chimneys up. His biography is well worth a read.

 

Was your mouth out with soap he used no explosives. Strictly a wooden prop and fire man....

[Father Ted]

...He wasn't just a bloke who blew chimneys up. His biography is well worth a read.

 

Was your mouth out with soap he used no explosives. Strictly a wooden prop and fire man....

This is true. For one of the more entertaining "dynamite" boys look up Derek "Blaster" Bates. I have one of his old LP's of after dinner talks somewhere and its very funny

.

Shower of Shit over Cheshire....

[wuvvum]

If you want to test yourself for a fear of heights or vertigo - have a gander at this little treat:

 

Fuck!!!

 

There is not enough money in the world to get me doing that. I was getting dizzy just from a low-definition YouTube clip - I can't even contemplate what I'd feel like doing the real thing.

[autofive]

...He wasn't just a bloke who blew chimneys up. His biography is well worth a read.

 

Was your mouth out with soap he used no explosives. Strictly a wooden prop and fire man....

This is true. For one of the more entertaining "dynamite" boys look up Derek "Blaster" Bates. I have one of his old LP's of after dinner talks somewhere and its very funny

.

Shower of Shit over Cheshire....

 

jelly boys as fred used to call them

[Justin Case]

Fred Dibnah was one on his own and can never be replaced. I had the pleasure of going to 'An evening with....' thing at Oakengates a few years back and in real life he was exactly the same as he appeared on the telly, only standing by a lectern with a frequently replenished pint pot on it. Afterwards, he stayed on in the bar to chat with anyone who wanted to; he did a superb example of his calligraphy for myself and Mrs A which of course is one of my most treasured things. After he had finished, the theatre manager made an announcement stating that Fred was staying at a local hotel and would appreciate a lift back if anyone was going that way Unfortunately we were with friends whose car only seated four, but it might have been an interesting journey.

 

As for James May, perhaps he might be better described as a modern Adam Hart-Davis, full of boyish enthusiasm but good at getting his stuff across.

[morris_ital_lover]

Indeed Fred's calligraphy was quite something, I never met him but a freind of the family did and managed to grab his autograph for me.... it made my 10 year old day and even looking at it now it's a lovely bit of work. I once had John Terry's autograph (not sure how I ended up with it but there you go) and it makes Terry's look like a kid with a crayon.