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*James May's 20th Century*
James May's 20th Century
Genre	Documentary
Starring	James May
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producer	Phil Dolling
Running time	29 minutes (approx)
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	10 July –; 24 July 2007
Related
	James May's Big Ideas

James May's 20th Century is a television series first aired on 10 July 2007 on the British terrestrial channel BBC Two. The series is a co-production by the BBC and the Open University.

The series covers various inventions and discoveries over the past century with some reference to discoveries made before the past century. The show features the eponymous James May, exhibiting and discussing the implications of many of the major advances and inventions made during this period. Each episode features some theme, which was discussed in depth during the show, often following sequential advances in chronological order. The programme is now shown on Eden, Yesterday and Dave. The theme tune is called "The Long Boot", by Jeff Knowler.

Critical reviews

Sam Wollaston writing for Guardian Unlimited described James May's 20th Century as "essentially Top Gear, masquerading as something educational" but conceded that if "teaching history can be achieved through Top Gear, then maybe that's not such a bad thing".^[1] The New Statesman thought that James May was "ill-suited to the task in hand" and described the biggest problem as May being unable to "put his wretched motors behind him".^[2] The Lancashire Telegraph wrote positively of the show praising the presenter May as "someone with genuine enthusiasm for what they were doing."^[3]

Ratings

The 6 episodes were originally aired in 3 double-bills on BBC Two in a Tuesday 8pm to 9pm timeslot. Episodes 1 & 2 both attracted 2.4 million viewers and a 12% share. Episodes 5 & 6 received slightly less with 1.9 million and 2.3 million viewers, and respective shares of 10% and 12%. The programme finished behind BBC One and ITV but ahead of Channel 4 and Five.^[4]^[5]

Episodes

Original air dates:

10 July 2007 - Episode 1 - Honey, I Shrunk The World
10 July 2007 - Episode 2 - Blast Off
17 July 2007 - Episode 3 - Body Fantastic
17 July 2007 - Episode 4 - Take Cover!
24 July 2007 - Episode 5 - Inventing The Teenager
24 July 2007 - Episode 6 - Big City, Bright Lights

References

^ Wollaston, Sam (11 July 2007). "Last night's TV: James May's 20th Century". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
^ "Toys for the boys: why has this silly man been given his own, eponymous programme?". New Statesman. 23 July 2007.
^ Anson, John (11 July 2007). "James May's 20th Century: BBC2". The Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2007.
^ Brooke, Stephen (11 July 2007). "Cape Wrath hits choppy waters". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 December 2007.
^ Holmwood, Leigh (25 July 2007). "Posh outshines Becks in ratings". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 December 2007.