Top Gear favourite Richard Hammond talks to us about the brand new Top Gear at the Movies DVD and all his favourite film cars.

Did you have a favourite stunt when you were making the DVD?

Yes! It was probably when I had to demonstrate which cars might be best for escaping from baddies. I had to drive very quickly through a course that we’d laid out, while people fired at me from a selection of paintball weapons, helicopters and motorcycles and things. It was wonderful. A lot of the time when you’re shooting stunts like that, to be honest, there’s a lot of standing around and then you do something and it’s over. But, then, when you watch it, it looks great. In this instance, it was actually as much fun to do as it was to watch.

It sounds a bit scary too!

Yes, we may or may not have one of the motorcyclists fall off midway through! But it was a little bit like when you go out and play on your bicycle. When I was a kid I grew up on a road with a little triangle of green on it, where three roads intersected, and we used to go round it on our bikes. We’d play and play until it reached a certain intensity and then somebody – usually me – would fall off.

What was your favourite car to test?

The BMW1, but then there was the new Noble M600. Ugly little brute, but absolutely magnificent! It’s a race car with a number plate, basically. And that was tremendous. James and I decided that the noise was very important for a Bond-type car. So we worked through a whole load of different vehicles – Lamborghinis, Porsches – until we could find the one that could make the best noise, so that was a lot of fun!

What was the difference between a goodie car and a baddie car?

Well, that’s what we enjoyed discussing. For the baddie car, you could say it should have a big, loud, grumbling V8. But then a V8 is a big, simple engine. And, equally, you could get a V12 and get that smooth, creamy shriek going on, so it could be a hysterical, furious baddie or it could suggest a goodie trying to make a clean getaway. We enjoyed a very long discussion about which ones are the best and why!

Would you take on a Bond villain after doing up the Budget Bond car?

I think James and I have proven that you can build a Bond car on a budget! As long as they attack only from one side, because that’s all we could afford to armour. Or they look at us from the other side, which James managed to make invisible. And it works! We covered the side of it with flatscreen televisions and then put a camera on the other side of the car, filmed what’s on the other side of the car and then put that onto the televisions on the other side of the car, so that it effectively goes invisible. It sort of works, it genuinely does! You can see or not see the invisible car, which we’ll prove when you watch it.

Did anything embarrassing happen while filming?

There were some discussions as to whose fault it was about the biker falling off. Whether it was mine or another car. Somebody span off the track and may, or may not, have caused the bike to fall! I was one of the people who did spin off the track, but I maintain it wasn’t me – we’re all steely-eyed professionals!

How about when you’re filming the TV series of Top Gear? Anything embarrassing then?

There are too many! The good thing about Top Gear is that if one of us suffers an embarrassing moment, that’s not an outtake, that goes in the show!

What’s your favourite car chase scene or car scene from a film?

You know, it probably is Bullitt, which the readers will probably be too young to remember, way back in ancient history. I’ve actually owned both the key cars in it. A Mustang 390 GP, which is the same year and model! But I’ve also previously had the 1968 Dodge Charger, which was the baddies’ car in it. 

If you could race against anyone in the world, who would it be?

It probably would be Steve McQueen (who starred in Bullitt). It would just be great fun. He did other things as well, but he was just a very good driver. I do other things as well and I’m not a very good driver!

So what’s next for you? When’s the new series of Top Gear going to be on?

Well we’ve just got back from filming the Christmas special for Top Gear a couple of days ago which may, or may not, have been filmed in India! So that was wonderful. And then we’re back on air with Top Gear next year. We’re doing another series of Total Wipeout, we’re about to start recording that. So there’ll be more of that to come.

Top Gear At the Movies is out now on Blu-ray and DVD.