James takes model aeroplanes to a new level when he tries to make a full-size Spitfire out of Airfix. The venture soon hits problems when it becomes clear the giant 36-foot pieces may not be strong enough, and nobody knows how they will fit together. James hopes he can enthuse a group of reluctant teenagers to help him pull it off - but he soon realises he has another big battle on his hands convincing them it is a hobby to be proud of.
James tries to make a garden entirely out of Plasticine and then enter it at the Chelsea Flower Show. He persuades thousands of members of the British public to help make the thousands of Plasticine flowers he needs, but will it be enough to persuade the guardians of the world's most prestigious horticultural event to let him make a garden with no real flowers in it? While visiting celebrities like Stephen Fry and Joanna Lumley are clearly impressed with James's creation, the RHS judges take a dimmer view, forcing James to defy tradition and take matters into his own hands.
James joins forces with Edwina Currie to build a full-size bridge from nothing but Meccano. Top engineers pitch incredible designs, but the project soon careers out of control when the Meccano does not arrive and James realises it will take longer to build than he imagined. A last-minute accident also means that James's bridge may never see the light of day.
James attempts to construct the world's longest Scalextric track at Brooklands in Surrey.
James attempts to build the world's first full-size house made entirely out of Lego bricks. With thousands of people and over three million Lego bricks, James attempts to do what no-one has ever managed, to build a two-storey house using this colourful toy. Such an ambitious undertaking is not without its problems and James soon has issues with planning regulations, an interior designer who can't get her Lego furniture to stay in one piece and a structural engineer who tries desperately to stop everything from coming crashing down.
James links Barnstaple to Bideford with the world's longest model train set.
James May has a sit down and discusses the ins and outs of filming Toy Stories and some of the challenges that came with it.
A celebration of the toys which have survived across the decades, presented by a man who still plays with them. When James May was three, his father gave him a toy car for Christmas, and a life behind the wheel and under a bonnet became his destiny. Forty-two-year-old James takes us on a tour of his childhood mind as he rifles through his boy toy favourites which include Meccano, Lego, Scalectrix, Airfix and, his all time number one toy, the train set. His love of engineering and building things has shaped the ingredients of his entire toy cupboard. There's not a microchip in sight. He still plays with his toys - still loves building things with his various sets. Each toy prompts a story - a history told via archive, anecdote and obsessive collector.
The show focused on the toys loved by his elder and younger sisters, including dolls, dolls' houses, dolls' prams, Girls' World, Ladybird Books, Spirograph, and a Palitoy (Kenner) Tree Tots Family House. May speaks about how he often played with them as they were hand-me-downs. During the show, May sets up a race as a girls' school (Skipton Girls' High School) and a boys' school (Ermysted's Grammar School) battle it out in a go-kart time trial, using their own converted Silver Cross prams. May gets his own made by the pram factory. He tests it out, battling for first place alongside the girls and the boys.
In 2009, James May went on a quest to show what is possible with old-fashioned toys by using them on a scale never seen before. Five toys were successful but one failed - model trains. James and his team revisit the doomed challenge and make another attempt at building the longest ever model railway track - nearly ten miles long.
The Top Gear presenter investigates the enduring appeal of the model aeroplane and sets out with the intention of achieving the first flight across the English Channel by an engineless, home-made supersized toy - breaking the British distance record in the process. During his quest, James turns Indiana Jones to unearth surprising new evidence identifying children as the true pioneers of flight and wrestles with an underperforming craft that threatens to barely leave the ground.
In this high-octane Toy Stories special, James puts an iconic toy to the most ambitious test ever attempted. The challenge: to build a motorbike and side car entirely out of Meccano to take on the Isle of Man’s legendary TT circuit.
James May attempts to rehabilitate one of Britain's most derided toys by seeing if it's possible for Action Man to do what no toy has ever managed - travel faster than the speed of sound.
In this deleted scene, James visits Peter Snow's attic to take a look at his very own model railway.
James visits one of the best kept secrets of the LEGO company. The Lego Vault, where historic sets are kept and preserved.
A brief deleted scene from episode two, Plasticine, in which James does some excellent flower arranging.
