Trailer: James May returns to Amazon with cooking show
David Farnor | On 17, Oct 2020
James May is returning to Amazon Prime Video with a new cooking show.
Called “James May: Oh Cook”, in a reference to his The Grand Tour catchphrase, the show will see the former Top Gear presenter enter the kitchen to whip up a host of recipes – despite the fact that he can’t really cook.
From recipes that will transport us to the Far East to the Med and the local pub, the show will be based on James’ first cookbook, Oh Cook!: 60 Easy Recipes That Any Idiot Can Make.
The seven-part series will launch on Amazon Prime Video on Friday 13th November. Here’s the trailer:
James May and Amazon cook up food series
21st June 2020
James May and Amazon are cooking up a new series, with The Grand Tour presenter set to move from the behind the wheel to behind the stove.
The show would mark an expansion of Amazon’s new strategy with the former Top Gear trio of May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond. Executive Producer Andy Wilman inked a new agreement in 2019 for The Grand Tour not to continue the show as is but to instead turn it into a string of semi-regular international specials – while also pursuing individual programmes for each presenter.
May is perhaps the most experienced of the gang at standalone, solo documentaries, from James May on the Moon and James May’s Toy Stories to The Reassembler and Big Ideas. For Amazon, he has presented travel docuseries Our Man in Japan.
Now, he’s whipping up another programme with a cookery show that builds on some of his YouTube kitchen videos for FoodTribe. Made by Plum Pictures, his long-time collaborators, the show is reportedly in development with the potential of an accompanying cook book containing recipes from the show.
Work has taken place on what is expected to be a six-episode series, with “Oh Cook!” potentially set to be the title – a play on May’s catchphrase on The Great Tour, which varies by one letter.
The news comes as the coronavirus pandemic has impacted plans for The Grand Tour’s next special in North Russia, as well as a mooted follow-up to Our Man in Japan. A Madagascar special of The Grand Tour, however, has finished post-production, so that will likely be released later this year.