James May caught in the glare of Top Gear trio's success

JAMES May still cannot understand why he and his two mates are paparazzi-worthy, writes Andrew Fenton.

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JAMES May still cannot understand why he and his two mates are paparazzi-worthy, writes Andrew Fenton.

Top Gear's James May confesses he doesn't understand all the fuss that gets made over the three middle-aged hosts of the international hit show.

Referring to the widely reported confrontation in March when May and his co-host Jeremy Clarkson were accosted by paparazzi outside a Sydney restaurant, the amiable 50-year-old says the whole thing was "rather exaggerated in the retelling".

"It wasn't very much of a run in. It was just somebody being a bit of a pest when we were trying to have a quiet supper," he says, downplaying the incident in which Clarkson blew his gasket at being photographed with a "posse of beautiful women", including one that the British press refer to as his "ex-mistress".

"I'm amazed people want pictures of us to be honest, because we're never doing anything salacious," May says.

"You'll get lots of pictures of us having a cup of tea or a lie down. All it does is reveal we're not very rock 'n' roll - we're all too old for it now, sadly."

While they may be getting older (Clarkson, the eldest is 53 while Richard Hammond is a decade younger), they show no signs of slowing down, judging by the number of crazy challenges in the 20th season of the revamped Top Gear, first aired in 2002.

The new season has the trio doing their bit for European austerity by blasting across Spain in "affordable" supercars; designing their own hover-van and conducting a "scientific test" to find the world's best taxi by smashing up a bunch of them in a demolition derby. And, in the opening episode a couple of weeks ago, a very seasick-looking May spent a day on an America's Cup yacht in New Zealand, racing against the "world's fastest car" (that is, a hire car).

"Are you going to get annoyed with us now because you're going to say: 'You've not been to Australia yet?'" he asks.

"We will do a film in Australia one day. It's a country of such variety of opportunity we can't make our minds up."

Much of the appeal of Top Gear is in the comic back and forth between the grouchy, brash but very funny Clarkson, the gentler, slightly wonkish May (also known as "Captain Slow") and the enthusiastic puppy-like Hammond.

May's obvious enthusiasm for imparting detailed information is often hilariously derailed by the other two.

"Well, the other two aren't very bright," May says.

"As I just said to Jeremy: I can't dumb things down to his level because I'm scared of heights. But I can make other programs where I go on at length about aerodynamics or piano music or whatever," he says, referring to his work on James May's 20th Century and James May's Big Ideas.

Instead, he says: "Top Gear is knockabout."

Following the new season comes Top Gear Week (August 19-26), a "global television event", featuring a week's worth of new content including a special filmed at the Top Gear Festival - Sydney, and a look back at the 41 best moments from seasons past. Filming the challenges hasn't always been fun or glamorous.

"But it wouldn't make good telly if it wasn't a bit difficult sometimes," May says. "We'd just be spoiled people driving around in cars."

May told the UK's Daily Mail in 2009 he'd be surprised if the trio were still making Top Gear "in five years time" but with that self-imposed deadline looming, he back-pedals.

"Bugger," he laughs. "I hate it when things like that come back to haunt you. Obviously, we can't do it forever, it's just not possible. We will one day have to hand it over to somebody else."

But, he says, Top Gear has become such an institution that it will survive without them.

"After we've gone people will look back and laugh and say: Do you remember when those three stupid blokes did it? The tall, the short, and the floppy-haired one? Isn't it old-fashioned? Because everything is, eventually. But it's not over yet."

Top Gear, BBC Knowledge, Sunday, 7.30pm