Saturday Movie Night: James May's Top Toys (2005)
As it's nearly Christmas, I thought I'd take a brief break from the Model Town marathon to share something a little more festive.
It's no secret that for all he talks about cars and motorsport, James May has a soft spot for trains, and model railways especially. He first shared this interest with the world in 2005 with James May's Top Toys, a documentary in which he explored some of his favourite childhood toys, and discovered which ones still had a place in the modern world.
Unsurprisingly, the electric train set proved to be the toppest of James' top toys, and the last ten minutes of the programme (shared above) were dedicated to model railways. In this extract, James gives us a quick rundown of the history of the hobby (and the historic battle between Hornby and Triang), stops off at Pete Waterman's Leamington Spa layout, buys himself some trains and tracks at a toy auction, assembles them into a nice little layout, and uses this to liven up a tedious Christmas party.
