RDF Media Group, BBC
Release date March 2, 2009
Acorn Media
Seven Episodes
Perhaps this should be called “Oz and James Get Half Pissed Around
Britain”, in the interests of Truth In Advertising. James May (Captain Slow to Top
Gear fans) and Oz Clarke (“International Wine Ponce” to James) cruise
around Britain and Ireland in a Rolls Royce (naturally) towing a caravan, in
search of a true British beer. It sounds boring, but the pair are actually
quite funny in their own laid back way, bouncing happily off each other in a
slightly fuddled way. They get even more laid back after a few more beers. Oz seems to have a lot of trouble with
pronouncing many words in the English language, and James looks even more like
a badly-groomed spaniel than usual. We also get to see rather more than I liked
of James’ hideous blue and pink striped shirt that he favours for Top Gear, and
Oz seems to have far more pink in his wardrobe than any reasonable man should
be allowed.
This Series follows on from two earlier ones, in which Oz introduced
James to the world of wine. James initially is less than amused. “You'll
make beer complicated for me - just like you've made wine!”
We learn an awful lot about beer and its history. Their meandering
course takes them through microbreweries, home brewers, modern brewing
factories, and all the other sub-industries associated with beer. Oz teaches
James the beer-tasting equivalent of wine-talk. It sounds just as pompous when
applied to beer, although a little harder to understand after lots of pints.
One memorable episode involves a pub crawl by train to three consecutive
railway stations whose refreshment rooms still serve beer. The results can be
imagined, but the reality is still not pretty. Neither is their episode
drinking Guinness.
There is, of course, the compulsory challenge in which each of them must
make their own typical British beer. As an Australian, I thought they could
have set their sights a bit higher than that. We won’t go into it, except to
say that James cheats and imports a German micro-brewing machine, but gets his
come-uppance when the instructions turn out to be written, not surprisingly, in
German.
Unfortunately Oz, being a wine buff, can’t help tracking down vineyards
and whisky, gin, cider, and vodka producers along the way. In fact, producers
of anything alcoholic. James is pretty
good at jumping in for samples, so Oz usually finishes up having to drive the
Rolls.
The series shows a side of James May that I never suspected from Top
Gear. It’s fun, it’s slightly
educational, and it’s a lesson in just how hard it is to make a good beer.
This review will appear in Volume 2 No.2
(2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.
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