(static music)
(upbeat music)
(crowd Cheering)
- [PM] (laughs) Yes, yes, yes.
Hello, and welcome to Top Gear.
We are back!
(crowd cheering)
- [PM] Love it, and we are still here at BBC Television Centre,
and I've gotta say boys, it's good to be here.
The history of this place,
the shows that have been made here,
and there's a lovely Greggs
on the corner down there, fantastic!
- Oh, love a steak bake, Paddy .
- Love one, love one.
- And we've got a cracking series coming up,
so much good stuff, super cars, paint bombs, spicy chillies.
- And his face when he saw that sheep brains pate,
and when you ran him over with the big ball.
- Yeah, no, listen this is all well and good,
but no one's got a clue what we're talking about.
Do you wanna see a sizzle?
(crowd cheering)
- Roll the VT.
(static music)
(engine revving)
- Huh, right, I'm-
(beep)
(laughing)
(engine revving)
- [PM] Woo hoo hoo.
- Are you gonna go for a habanero?
- [PM] Get it in you, Flintoff.
- I'm in trouble.
- Come on.
Ahhh, ahhh.
- I think I've pulled summat.
(engine revving)
- Go on, Jeff.
- Oh, that's a good shot, Jeff.
- Go on, Jeff, hit it.
(engine revving)
- Oh, now we're moving.
(engine revving)
(laughs)
- Shot it.
(all laughing)
- I've seen the end (laughs).
(laughs)
- Ohhh!
- That's Fairy liquid!
(laughing)
(engine revving)
- Now this is my kind of day.
(engine revving)
- (laughs) You're milking it now Pad.
You're milking it!
(all laughing)
(crowd applauding)
- Woo, hoo hoo!
- Exciting, that's all to come.
But what are we kicking things off with tonight with, Fred?
- It's a good one, Pad.
Track specials, sports cars made even faster, even sharper,
to make you feel like a hero around a race circuit.
- And since pretty much well, forever,
the best of the bunch has been this, the Porsche 911 GT3.
Here's the new one.
And surprise, surprise, it is brilliant.
- It really is, it's a beauty.
But there's some serious opposition out there,
who are gonna give this little rascal, a run for its money.
So, the three of us went to try some of them out.
(static music)
- [ Freddie] First onto the grid,
is the Aston Martin Vantage, F1 edition.
It's based on the latest Formula 1 safety car,
which for a road-going track special,
is a pretty good place to start.
But beneath the fancy paint job and big wing,
what this is really,
is the car the Vantage should always have been.
(engine revving)
- Now the V8 Vantage has been around a while.
I drove one on the show a couple of years ago,
and it was good,
but it wasn't this good.
(engine revving)
Everything possible to turn a decent sports car
into a track monster.
More downforce, more power, more everything.
(engine revving)
The twin turbo V8 has been upgraded
to produce 527 horsepower,
so it'll now get to 60 in just three and a half seconds.
And to make sure you can use that extra shove,
they've gone to town on the chassis too.
It's got stiffer bump stops, more negative camber,
and increased compression damping.
Now I don't know what all that means,
but what I will tell you, it helps me do this.
(engine revving)
(car screeching)
Oh yeah, this is a day out.
(car screeching)
Yeah, ha haaa! (laughs)
Never mind the old Vantage.
Thing of the past,
you want the F1 edition.
(car screeching)
All right, the satnav's still rubbish,
but a good thing about this car is you're having so much fun
you don't even notice.
(engine revving)
And you're basically driving the only car
Lewis Hamilton can't overtake.
Who knew safety could so much fun?
(car screeching)
- [Paddy] Very nice, but for my money, not quite nice as this.
The Alpha Romeo Giulia GTAm,
based on the already brilliant top
of the range Giulia Quadrifogolio,
thanks to a whole load of performance-enhancing upgrades,
this is now a completely different animal.
(engine revving)
- Ha ha ha!
0-60 this thing in less than four seconds
and it's a four-door saloon.
(engine revving)
There we go-hoho!
Alfa's F1 team even had a hand
in making sure it goes round a track like it should
and it definitely does.
(engine revving)
- And that's because they didn't stop
at the upgraded twin turbo V6
that now makes over 530 horsepower.
They also went to town
stripping out every bit of weight they could find.
(engine revving)
It's got a titanium exhaust, polycarbonate windows,
and inside there's aluminium and carbon fibre
as far as the eye can see.
They've even taken the rear seats out of the back.
It's proper geeky Chris Harris stuff.
(engine revving)
The point is, this four-door saloon is now quite simply
the most extreme Alfa road car in decades.
Whoa, there we go, we've got it back!
Get on that.
(engine revving)
It really does feel special, this.
The steering, the brakes.
You just think it, it does it!
And all that aside, just look at it.
It's the Giulia but beefed up.
(engine revving)
It takes your breath away this car!
(engine revving)
- Oh, Paddy (claps).
Wow, I'm clapping the car, not the driving.
- Ooh, I don't mind.
- Think I've got a bit of car envy there.
- I'm seriously thinking of proposing to this car,
I love it!
- I'll tell you, it's crass, it's in your face,
but it's brilliant, look at it!
- It's absolutely amazing.
155 grand, how much?
- 155 grand?
- [PM] Yeah.
- Maybe I've not got car envy.
- Go on.
- 155 grand?
- Yeah. - For an Alfa?
- What's yours?
- 150.
- Not much difference.
- The Atson's cheaper than the Alfa.
- Well, you've gotta remember, Fred, these are rare cars.
You turn up to a track day in these,
people come out of the woodwork, they wanna talk to you.
- Yeah, but you know what, Paddy, you don't want them to.
They come out of the woodwork.
It'll be tyre compound, it's about the springs.
Mate, you don't wanna talk to them.
Just wanna drive it, enjoy it.
- Speaking of tire compounds, where is Chris Harris?
- Skidding around somewhere, you know how he's like.
- Now that is completely, and utterly correct.
(car skidding)
Have some of that!
(engine revving)
Come on!
Oh, look, put simply, for the money,
you can't beat a Porsche 911 GT3 as a track special.
If you wanna better it, you've gotta go up a price bracket,
or two, or three.
(engine revving)
(static music)
Meet the reassuringly expensive,
reassuringly outrageous, McLaren 765LT.
With over 750 horsepower,
and a top speed north of 200 miles an hour,
this isn't just one of the very fastest cars
McLaren has ever made, it's also one of the most intense.
(engine revving)
- This isn't some friendly,
let me help you with that skid, sir super car.
This thing is spiky, you really are on your own.
But that just adds to the sense of...
(car skidding)
Whoa ho ho, excitement!
What a monster.
(engine revving)
Track day specials are not meant to be relaxing and kind.
They're supposed to keep you right on your toes,
and this thing, boy, does it do that.
(car skidding)
And that's because the 765LT sees
all of McLaren's racing pedigree
distilled into one very potent cocktail.
Apart from the uprated ceramic brakes, titanium exhaust,
active rear wing and acres of carbon fibre,
the 765 is now lighter and more powerful
than the already lightning-quick 720S it's based on.
(engine revving)
- And what this all adds up to,
is a car that is shockingly first.
(engine revving)
Too fast for the road?
I'd say so.
To really get close to what it's capable of,
you've got to be on a circuit.
(car skidding)
And you'd better bring your A-game,
and probably a spare pair of boxer shorts.
Good lord!
- Oh.
(car skidding)
- Yes, boys.
- Don't tell him, that was pretty good.
- All right, lads, now this is my kind of day.
Proper geeky track day specials, look at that!
(laughs)
- It's a bit of you, innit, this.
- Ahh.
- How much?
- 280 grand, because to beat a GT3 Porsche,
you've gotta spend 280 grand.
- Yeah, but with you
there's always a few extras, isn't there?
- 400.
- 400 thousand pounds?
- So, more than a few extras, that, 400 grand?
- 400?
- It looks like a 400-thousand-pound car, look at it.
- For 400 grand you could buy both of these
and still have enough over to get some decent T-shirts.
Right, 400 thousand pounds.
Let's see what that'll buy you.
Time for a drag race.
- A drag race?
Totally irrelevant.
- I know, but bit of fun innit?
Bit of fun!
(suspense music)
- So gentlemen, basic drag race, and Chris,
if by the time and Fred get up there,
you have not pulled up,
got out and had a cup of tea, there's something wrong.
- This will do 0-120 miles an hour in seven seconds.
- Come on, Harris, let's see what you've got.
(suspenseful music)
(engine revving)
- [Crew] Three, two, one, go!
(engine revving)
- Oh, he's off!
(laughs)
- Ohh, that McLaren is gone!
- Come on, the Aston.
I can't even see them!
- Oh, coming back on the Aston!
- Come on.
- Here we go.
- Look at the McLaren.
- 160, 170,180, dearie me, the speed is outrageous.
(engine revving)
- Pretty much 200 over the line, wow!
- First loser, baby!
- Jeez!
- [Paddy] In surprise order then,
the Alfa had beaten the Aston to second place.
- [FF] Magnifico!
- [FF] Do you know what, Pad?
I can't even be unhappy for you.
- [Paddy] Harris's McLaren had smashed the both of us.
- Sometimes straight-line speed is boring,
but not when it's that fast.
- [Paddy] And the producers had decided a drag race
was not the best way to test our three track specialists.
- Challenge, Pad.
- Can we just confirm who won?
- Yeah, but it was obvious that was gonna happen.
Shall I read this?
- Can we just say as well, he won by about three seconds,
but if you put that into pounds and pence,
so he's paid 245 thousand pounds more than my car
and it gave him three seconds back.
Value for money, that.
- Here we go.
Since the best track special
should make you feel like a hero around the circuit,
you will now find out what yours can do, at a track day.
- Yes, very nice.
That is more like it.
None of this drag race nonsense.
- Well, he's got an advantage on the track,
'cause everyone will be behind him going,
oh, it's the safety car, let's go slow.
So he can hold everyone back
while me and you have a good razz around, Christopher.
- [Chris] Well, yes and no,
because it turned out the track day we'd been sent to,
was the Formula 1 British Grand Prix.
(engine revving)
Every year, Silverstone circuit plays host
to the fastest cars on the planet,
all racing for glory
in front of hundreds of thousands of fans.
The jewel in the crown of the British Motorsport calendar.
As track days go, this is a big one.
- F1 weekend at Silverstone boys.
This is serious stuff.
- I feel like we've signed up for a game of five aside
and somehow ended up in an FA Cup final at Wembley.
- [FF] How excited are you, Chris?
You love the F1.
- Any driver that can handle one of those machines,
surrounded by 20 similar nutcases is a hero in my book.
They're all heroes, even the ones at the back.
(engine revving)
The question was though,
what on earth were we even doing there.
- [PM] Oh lads, we're only rolling onto the track!
- Are you sure we should be on here, Paddy?
- I'm not, Fred, I'm really not.
- [Fred] I feel like I'm trespassing.
- There's a crowd on for our track day.
- Formula 1 drivers, three of them.
So, because our track specials were all made by companies
that also happen to run F1 teams,
we'd been told we'd be taking on their drivers
in a relay race.
From Aston Martin, Sebastian Vettel.
From Alfa Romeo, Antonio Giovinazzi.
And from McLaren, Lando Norris.
Three of the finest racing drivers in the world,
against us lot.
- [PM] Ahh.
(crowd cheering)
- [FF] Wow.
- [PM] Lads.
- Gents, thank you so much for taking time
out of your busy weekend to presumably humiliate us.
- No worries.
- Are you looking forward to driving these cars?
- Yes, of course, if you warm them up.
- Very, very simple, lads.
It's a relay race.
Sebastian, you'll start us off in the Aston.
One lap of the track, you'll come back in here,
and you'll touch the bonnet of the Alfa.
This is the important part.
- Don't get run over.
Antonio, you'll then set off, you'll do your lap,
you'll come back in,
come over to your McLaren touch the bonnet.
Lando, you will then setoff my friend,
do your lap come in here,
and that's when we stop the clock, simple enough?
- Think so.
- Right lads, you're gonna lay down the benchmark,
and us three are gonna see how close we can get to you.
- All right, Sebastian, get yourself in Cocker.
- I've gotta start. All right.
- Here we go, come on.
- Have you seen how thin they are?
- Very thin. - Yeah.
- Seen how thin they...
Seen how thin they are?
- Very thin.
- I think this old men have no chance.
- [PM] Sebastian, are you ready?
- I'm ready.
- Three, two, one, go!
(engine revving)
- Oh, he's off, he's off.
- Good start.
- Oh my word.
- Follow that line.
- Have you been round here before?
- Never, have you?
- Never.
(engine revving)
- Get yourself ready, Antonio.
- Lando, what would you go round in an F1 car?
- 1.26.
- Oh dear God.
- Oh Jesus Christ.
- Here we go, Cobbs Corner, my favourite round here.
(engine revving)
- God, he's not messing about is he?
- We won't be going round quite as quick as that.
- He's not messing about.
- Now is the best section ever.
Maggots (indistinct) Becketts, and Chapel.
- High-speed corners.
What G do you pull?
- Er five.
- Five, five Gs?
- Five and a half?
- Here he comes.
Don't forget, he's gotta tap the bonnet.
- Oh, it's the change over.
This is where we get our time back.
- That's not the bonnet!
That's not the bonnet! (indistinct).
- 10 seconds!
- He thought it was rear-engined.
- Whoa.
(engine revving)
Look at the Alpha.
How beautiful is that?
- Good car, ain't it?
Go on, Lando.
- Get yourself ready, Lando.
Go on, son.
- Those tyres are suitably warmed up now.
- It's a good lap.
- Here he comes.
- [All] Ohh!
- It's all about the change over.
- It's all about the baton, all about the baton.
- He's done it again!
- Oh my word.
- He's gone.
- Oh my god, I've never driven this car before.
It's quicker than I thought.
- How was that, pal?
- How was it?
- It's hard, but...
- It's hard, huh?
- Yeah. - It's heavy?
You drive like this.
- Oh what a beast.
(engine revving)
- That does look quick.
- 'Cause he is quick.
Oh, he's using it all.
- Right over there.
- Holy moley.
- Oh, here he comes.
- Let's cheer him on.
- Whoa, whoa, bloody hell! (indistinct).
- Ohh!
- See how fast that was going?
- Ohh, that looked lively.
(car screeching)
- What's he doing?
- Oh, you see.
- I've gotta drive that.
(crowd cheering)
- Ah.
- Ah, well done.
- Easy.
- Lando, what is it with young lads and donuts?
You can't resist, can you?
- No man, I couldn't.
- Ok, got the times lads.
- Come on then, what have you got?
- What have we got?
- Team F1, your combined time was 7.31.62.
- To be honest, for three laps that's not too bad, yeah.
- Not so bad. - Yeah.
- Obviously we are not going to beat that.
We are two middle-aged men
from Lancashire and one from Bristol.
- Yeah exactly.
- How we doing that?
- We are gonna need five or 10 seconds or something.
What will you give us?
- What are we going to give them?
10 seconds each?
- How much older are they?
- A lot, a lot, a lot.
- A lot, and fatter.
- 30 seconds is embarrassing.
- Shut it, we'll take it.
- We wanted 40.
- 31.
(all cheering)
- Let's see what they think, 31?
(crowd cheering)
- Yeah, there you go.
31, that's a good one.
- Right, we know what we've gotta do.
Fred, you're up first, son.
Go on, knock them dead, knock them dead.
- I'm nervous.
(crowd cheering)
- Just to be clear in a sport where every hundredth counts,
a 31-second handicap is a shamefully long time.
But while eight minutes and two seconds,
was now the target to beat,
with two of our team having never driven the track before,
there was also the very real question
of whether we'd even finish.
- Okay, Freddy, are you ready, son?
- I think so, Pad.
- (laughs) All right, do it for the middle-aged men.
Here we go.
- Three, two, one, go.
First corner's and right-hander, it's a right-hander.
- [FF] I've no idea where I'm going.
- [CH] The next corner's a left-hander.
- I'm gonna get in already.
- After the right, there's a left.
- Come on keep going.
I'm only up against Sebastian Vettel.
- I think he's doing really well.
- Do you?
- Yeah.
- Come on!
Get on, get on, get on.
Get some speed up.
- All of a sudden, the suit feels a lot tighter,
and the car feels a lot heavier.
- Get round.
- Come on, Fred.
Come on, Fred.
- Brake, brake, brake.
- Oh, he's not going in the back of me, that's alright.
- What's the (bleep) going on?
- Go! Go!
- The breaks!
- Oh my god, He can't get the handbrake off.
- What's going on?
- Ho, ho, ho!
- What's going on?
(laughs)
- He is a clown. - Absolute muppet, that lad.
- What was going on with that parking brake?
Oh, that nearly caught me out.
- Come on Chris.
- 140, I'm in the wrong gear.
Oh god, oh, come on Alfa.
Right let's get flat out here.
Get some time back, for god's sake.
Harris needs to be absolutely mustard now.
- Come on, Pad.
Where is he now?
- Chris will be good.
- Oh my god.
- Oi, oi, oi.
- It wouldn't go!
Not the parking brake, I'm like, what's going on?
- Handbrake, handbrake.
You just embarrassed yourself
in front of three world-class drivers.
- Sorry about that, lads.
- [FF] McGuinness's issues on the start line
had cost a whole heap of time.
- I couldn't believe that (indistinct).
- Really high-pitched voice.
It wouldn't go mate.
- Why won't it go?
- I took my foot off the brakes, it wouldn't go.
(all laughing)
- Antonio stitched me up!
(audience laughing)
- [FF] It was now all on Harris to wring everything he could
out of his McLaren to keep us in the running.
- I think he's made up for some of your lost I'm here.
- Yeah, thank God.
- Right, here he comes.
- Get back everyone.
Fast uh?
- Yeah.
- That was close to you.
- We'd all made it round, which was a result in itself.
- Go on, Chrissie Harris.
(crowd applauding)
- [FF] But that did of course leave the small matter
of our time.
- Oh, come on, Pad, here we go.
- Here we go.
- Come on, Pad. - Right now.
- Yeah.
- So lads, you did it in 7.31.62.
You give us 31, that takes you to 8.02.62.
We did it in 8.24.34, ahh!
- Miles off!
- I feel as though that 10 seconds,
I were trying to get the handbrake off.
- 10, that was like at least 30 seconds.
- But what a pleasure to be beat by these guys.
(crowd applauding)
- Yeah, thanks so much.
- Cheers, boys. - Thank you very much.
- Thank you so much, lads.
(crowd cheering)
- I was dying for you there, Pad, dying.
- I was until I thought, if that had been me,
McGuinness would have just dined out on it forever.
- (laughs) I still think Antonio stiffed me.
(all laughing)
(crowd cheering)
- Oh, we got hammered, boys.
- We did, but what a day, come on.
- Unbelievable.
- F1 weekend.
- We got to drive F1 weekend at Silverstone.
People would give their right hand for that.
It was an amazing day.
- It was a treat.
- It was spectacular.
- Although I was packed into that suit, I've gotta say.
- No one noticed, Pad.
Now, we might have lost to the F1 guys,
but I've been drilling into the data.
- Ooh. - Really?
- You know I love a bit of data.
You know what caught my eye?
- Go on.
- The two lap times of the McLaren.
Lando Norris, F1 ace, future world champion,
against our very own Chrissie Harris,
sturdy lad from Bristol,
oh look at that.
(all laughing)
- Who wants to know how close the lap times were?
- Yeah.
- [Audience] Yeah.
- Yes.
- Not sure Chris does. - No.
- But Lando's lap, two minutes 17 seconds.
- Wow.
- [Audience] Ohh.
- Now, Chris' lap, two minutes 18 seconds.
He only beat him by one second.
- Wow, one second, one second.
(crowd cheering)
- Pound for pound you're faster.
- Wow.
- Adjusted for weight, it's panto season.
(crowd cheering)
- He's milking it.
- Let's hear it for fat lads everywhere.
- Never hear end of it.
- Let's hear it for fat lads (laughs).
- Never hear end of it.
- Adjusted for weight, I'm claiming that as a draw.
- Oh, I say one second, that my friend is proper impressive.
Which baffles me why he doesn't win many challenges.
(laughs)
- Handbrake.
- Yeah, yeah, bit of a technical, I'm gutted.
- Really?
- But it's not as though it was at Silverstone
in front of three F1 drivers and thousands of people,
so it was all right.
I got away with that one.
- We should finally put the Diablo to bed.
- Yes, every cloud has a-
- That is a burn!
- See the one thing I will give you tough,
Pad, is your choice of car.
The Aston, it's all right.
- Yeah.
- But the Alfa, I love it, absolutely love it.
- This is what I mean.
You're saying the Aston it's kind of...
It's all right, you're dismissing it because of this.
- Come on, don't forget this, it's a monster.
- That is unbelievably fast.
- A weapon.
- Absolute weapon.
Right, it's time to move on
to something a little bit more personal.
They say never meet your heroes.
Well I did and it was one of the best things I've ever done.
Take a look at this.
(television buzzing)
- [Kid] It's an Evel Knievel rally, far out. Wow!
(kids cheering)
- (chuckles) Now, back in the day when I was a little lad,
this was the toy to have.
The Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle.
And I know it doesn't look much now,
but this could turn any living room or any pavement
into your very own stunt show.
(upbeat music)
Evel Knievel, was the world's
most famous motorcycle daredevil.
(upbeat music)
Known for his huge death-defying jumps,
every time he got on a bike,
he would either break a new world record,
or break himself trying.
But the truth was growing up here in Bolton,
Evel Knievel wasn't really real.
He wasn't on British TV.
There was no YouTube.
And he lived in America,
which to me and my mates was a completely different world.
What we needed in this country
was a true blue daredevil superstar
that we could call our own.
- [Announcer] Here comes Eddie Kidd.
(kids cheering)
He's done it, incredible!
- [Announcer 2] Daredevil champion of the world,
Britain's Eddie Kidd!
- [Paddy] How are you doing?
- [Man] Good mate, how are you?
- I'm good, my name is Stephen Flaherty.
I'm from London.
And I grew up with Eddie Kidd.
- I'm Christine Morris, Eddie's sister.
- I'm Marjorie Kidd and I'm Eddie Kidd's mum
for the last 61 years (laughs).
(suspenseful music)
He always had a little bike, he used to cycle everywhere.
He was always sort of climbing and running and jumping.
- We used to go to the cinema quite a lot,
used to go late night cinema.
We went to see a film on Evel Knievel.
- [Christine] And that was it,
they were absolutely hooked on it.
- That's just something that we both wanted to be.
We just both wanted to be Evel Knievel.
- So this young lad, Eddie Kidd,
he's riding around North London on his BMX
with all his mates,
doing jumps and pretending to be a daredevil.
And then one day, he gets on a motorcycle.
And then everything changes.
(suspenseful music)
- [Christine] He was never frightened, Eddie.
He never, ever showed fear at all, never.
- We used to go to a place in East London called Eton Manor,
we used to practice there.
We'd had a couple of guys come from the Royal Artillery,
the manager at the time, the owner,
he had some T-shirts made up
of somebody jumping a bus long ways.
Us being kids we always said no no one can do that,
only Evel Knievel, he's the only one.
The guy that was doing it at the time,
he came up short a couple of times.
- So, Eddie was sitting there on his little bike.
And he said, "I'll do that."
Oh, shut up, don't be silly.
But he kept saying, can I do it?
Can I do it?
- And he said yeah, go on then,
as a joke.
And Eddie did it.
He'd done it. It was amazing, we couldn't believe it.
- And from then,
he became the star of the show from then on.
- [Paddy] Eddie was unleashed.
In 1975, still just 16 years old,
he jumped 13 double decker buses, a new world record.
(engine revving)
Three years later, he cleared 14 buses.
(upbeat music)
Eddie was quickly proving himself
to be one of the most skilful riders ever to wield a bike.
- He just had hand-to-eye coordination that was phenomenal.
He could have been a top golfer, tennis player,
anything else he'd set his mind to.
(upbeat music)
- So here, we have this super talented lad
doing things on a bike the world had never seen before.
But that wasn't the end of the story for Eddie,
this was a bloke, who had it all.
(upbeat music)
- He was a pinup of such proportions.
I mean, he was over all the girls' bedrooms
and he was on every magazine.
He was as big as the pop stars.
- If I say hordes of girls, I'm not exaggerating.
Everywhere you went it was,
"Eddie Kidd, Eddie Kidd, Eddie Kidd."
- Eddie Kidd. - Eddie Kidd.
- [Paddy] His rise was meteoric.
- I don't really think I'm sexy.
- Oh, come on.
- [Paddy] Eddie became the face,
or rather the rear, of Levi jeans.
Vivienne Westwood designed his bike leathers.
And of course, those looks and a talent like none other,
meant Hollywood wanted a piece of the Kidd too.
- Double for James Bond, Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas.
Doubled for Richard Gere in "First Knight" on the horse.
- [Paddy] Eddie even starred in 1981's "Riding High",
where naturally, his first full silver screen debut
called for another incredible stunt.
(upbeat music)
- From motorcycle stuntman, to model, to actor,
and I dare say it,
even had a go at the singing as well (laughs).
- Throughout the eighties and early nineties,
Eddie was everywhere.
He had the looks,
he had the style, and me and all my mates wanted to be him.
And then in 1993, he did a stunt that blew us all away.
(suspenseful music)
- I think to be a motorcycle jumper, you have to be brave.
You have to be confident.
The drop off the side was hundreds of feet.
- [Paddy] By Eddie's standards,
the Great Wall wasn't an especially long jump,
but it was insanely dangerous.
- You're setting yourself off
knowing that this could be
the last time you're gonna be able to walk,
and breathe, and run.
(engine revving)
Off he goes down the ramp.
He takes off, disappears from my view.
I can't see him.
- Yeah?
- Yeah, yeah.
- You alright?
- All right, yeah.
(crowd cheering)
- To have that straight bottle to do that,
to get on the bike and kill that stunt,
and nail it, is a phenomenal talent
that you don't come across very often.
(crowd cheering)
- It was impressive to a guy like me.
'Cause I never did it.
But when you walk into a brand new jump
and there's this much room for error,
which is none, it's like be real spot on,
or you're in trouble.
And he did it spot-on.
- For years, Eddie had tried to lure his old rival,
Evel Knievel into a jump-off,
but he didn't take that bait.
And by '93, he'd long since retired.
But Evel's son Robbie was now also a daredevil rider.
In fact, he was even better than his dad.
- I was like, this is only worthy challenger
that I've seen that looks like me,
focused on that jump that I wanna jump against.
- I was like, what?
You're gonna have a Knievel versus Kidd at last?
This thing is a dream come true.
- They called it the Daredevil Duel.
Robbie in the trademark Knievel white suit,
versus Eddie all in black.
(engine revving)
- What I remember is just total competition.
- [Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, Robbie Knievel.
- I thought I was the best, and he thought he was the best.
- [Announcer] From London, England , Eddie Kidd!
- [Paddy] Each rider had three jumps.
Furthest combined distance,
would be crowned daredevil champion of the world.
(engine revving)
- It's the craziest thing every time,
because you're risking your life.
(engine revving)
- [Announcer] He's got it lined up.
- My first jump was small, like 192 feet.
- [Announcer] I believe Eddie Kidd is ready to go.
(engine revving)
- Then Eddie comes out and does 214.
- [Announcer] Eddie Kidd is letting it rip,
nearing 90 miles an hour.
(crowd cheering)
214 ft.
- Yeah!
- I'm like oh, man, I'm in trouble.
My next jump, I just said this is it, I'm going to risk it all.
(engine revving)
- I watched that thing with bated breath.
Because these were world record,
everyone was a world record jump.
- [Announcer] That's Robbie airborne.
This was a big one.
Oh it's a huge jump!
- I was like, yeah.
- That could well be the biggest jump of the night.
- That whole jump competition went on the last jump.
Knievel had done his three jumps.
Eddie was doing this last jump.
- [Announcer] The biggest jump of Eddie Kidd's career.
(breathing)
(engine revving)
He needs 210 feet.
Kidd is coming, and he's off the launch ramp.
- Eddie comes right back like that,
and you think no, no, no, no, no.
Bang, somehow he brings it back.
- Yes! - [Announcer] 215 feet for Eddie Kidd.
- That was a massive achievement for Eddie.
The son of Evel Knievel and he beats him.
- When I saw him grab that belt,
I go, he deserves it.
- At last he's gotten that recognition,
where he surpassed the Knievel legend.
- The best jumper for sure that I ever seen in my life.
- I never worried about Eddie.
Why?
Why did I not worry about it?
Because he had so much confidence in himself.
- Eddie never had any bad accidents.
Never broke a bone in his body.
- He was almost...
Teflon Eddie, he just bounced back.
He was indestructible.
- Three years after the Daredevil Duel,
Eddie was back in Britain performing here,
at a motorcycle festival called The Bulldog Bash.
Now the jump was pretty standard
for someone as skilled as Eddie.
50 odd feet over the drag strip.
But the landing,
that was going to be a little bit more tricky.
- He got there and I said,
you're jumping into a hill,
and there's no way you can do that.
All my ears of experience following Motocross
and being involved in it, you will injure yourself.
- When you have a landing ramp,
you come down,
the landing ramp brings you down nice and slowly to gravity.
You know, it's a smooth transition down.
You cannot land uphill.
- I did really try and talk him out of it,
but he said he'd committed himself and he was gonna do it.
(engine revving)
- He lands and he's straight into an uphill,
so bike does that, literally, bang,
and his head hit the petrol tank.
- His body went limp.
Straight away you could see,
that he was knocked unconscious,
didn't make any attempt to put any breaks on.
- You think he's got control of the bike
even though he's unconscious,
'cause he seems to slow as he goes to the top.
And you're thinking, he's got it, he's got it, he's got it.
And then almost in slow motion, if you watch it back,
almost in slow motion, he drops of the edge.
And that's when I knew, it wasn't a simple accident.
- When I managed to get around there,
he was at the bottom of this bank
laid there with two Hell's Angels close to him,
and they were calling the ambulance.
I thought he was dead.
- We got a phone call saying that Eddie was in the hospital.
When we got there, he was in a coma.
They told us that he was in a coma.
I couldn't believe it, that he'd had this accident.
- I remember going in and the doctor saying,
the next 72 hours or whatever it was,
dunno know what it was.
Well, I thought, and then I walked out.
In fact it's making me emotional now.
Because I thought they were telling me he was gonna die.
- Eddie survived, but it was a close-run thing.
He spent three months in a coma.
And when he finally awoke,
he was left with life-changing brain injuries.
That was 25 years ago but here's the thing.
When I set out to make this film,
I didn't just wanna tell you the story of my childhood hero,
I wanted to meet him.
To pay my respects to a great British legend,
and show him just what a trail he blazed.
(birds chirping)
- Eddie now lives on the south coast.
He has a carer, Glenn.
- [Paddy] Hello, pal, how are you?
- [Glen] Hey, Pally how are ya?
- [Paddy] Good to see you.
- [Glen] Glad to see ya.
- And they were good enough to let me stop by for a chat.
The governor, the absolute governor.
Eddie, pleased to meet you, sir.
Pleased to meet you.
- I know he said "Paddy".
- (laughs) Eddie I cannot believe I'm here with you.
My mates will be so jealous.
Honestly, when I was a kid, I had your posters
up in my bedroom,
until my mum took them for her own bedroom.
But I don't wanna talk about that on camera.
But it's an absolute thrill.
I'm so glad you've let me come and see you down here.
Would you mind if I just get rid of my nervous energy,
and just have a little bit of a look
at some of your items around?
- Go, go, go.
- Right, I'm on it, I'm on it.
I've gotta come over here first.
Oh, wow, these the Vivienne Westwood ones?
- [Glen] Some weight on them.
- Look at the weight!
Am I okay-
I was gonna say, am I okay to touch your helmet, Eddie?
So that's-
- Look on the back.
- The back?
It ain't easy being this good (laughs).
- Can you spell it? - Fear no Evel.
Look at that.
So this is the actual bike then?
- [Glen] Look at the tank, Paddy.
That's from the crash.
- Oh, this here.
I mean, this is for me a real surprise
at seeing the damage caused.
Because it's just as quick as that.
- So this bike you nicknamed Sid.
Because they say it was so vicious.
- Yeah.
- That is mad.
So this is the Great Wall of China jump, oh.
- It was the hardest jump he's done.
And the mayor, he was down the bottom speaking to people.
He missed it.
He asked Eddie to do it again (laughs).
- No way.
- I don't think-
- I don't think so.
(all laughing)
- So, I noticed Sid out in the hall there, Eddie.
Who else drove that bike apart from you?
Was anyone-
(Eddie gasps)
- [Glen] What's he done, what's he done?
- What have I done?
What?
Ride, ride!
Oh no, no!
- [Glen] He drove a bike!
- No, how have I done it?
How have I done that in front of the gaffer?
- That is the worst thing
you can ever say, ever (laughs).
- I've upset myself. I've upset my family name.
I won't be allowed back up in Bolton after this, Eddie.
Oh, god, you want to be doing-
(laughing)
Pack it in, Eddie!
(upbeat music)
Now, it's probably just as well for me,
the story doesn't end there.
Because it was time to show Eddie that trail he blazed.
And that meant taking a little drive.
The Black Knights ride again!
(laughs)
What a way to travel, lads.
Check this boys out now, Eddie.
(engine revving)
Go on boys!
Yeah, all for you, Eddie!
Yes, wow.
(engine revving)
That little trike at the back.
Wow, wow.
(melancholic music)
I've got a little surprise for you up here, Eddie.
(crowd cheering)
Eddie, while you get yourself acquainted
with your friends and family,
I'm gonna get out 'cause I've got a bit of something special
lined up for you, pal.
Here we go.
(upbeat music)
You all right, Eddie?
Paddy Kidd at your service.
And this is a bit of something I've done just for you, pal.
(crowd cheering)
(engine revving)
(crowd cheering) - Come on, Paddy!
Just for you, that, pal.
(all laughing)
Oh, what are you laughing at?
It took me a month to practice that.
(all laughing)
Let me get this off, here.
- Where is the fire?
(all laughing)
- Well, listen, that was just the appetiser.
Now it's time for the main course.
Hit it!
(upbeat music)
Yes, for Britain's best, we brought together the best.
- This is for you, Eddie.
- Some of this great nation's
most talented performers on wheels.
- This is for you, Eddie.
- Everyone dedicating their lives
to pure daredevil showmanship.
- This is for you.
(engine revving)
- Oh, oh, here we go!
(crowd cheering)
Here he is.
Oh (laughs).
(engine revving)
(cheers)
Oh, bloody hell, I were convinced he were off then!
Oh, yeah! Oh, here we go!
- Eddie was the pioneer.
He paved the way and inspired a generation of kids
that are doing it now.
- He was the king of jumps.
He would push it to the extreme,
every time he would get on his motorcycle.
- The fact that he started doing this when he was just 14,
and jumping over buses in just a helmet,
and a leather jacket, is insane.
It takes that one person to do it
and then everyone else thinks, oh yeah, we could do that.
- Everything that he did was gnarly and without Eddie,
I, you know, God knows where we'd be.
- You pioneered for all of us to have a fantastic career
in this industry.
Thanks, Eddie.
Keep smiling, buddy.
(crowd cheering)
- Don't make him cry, he'll make me cry.
- Bloody hell, we're all at it.
(all laughing)
I think it were the petrol fumes.
(audience applauding)
- That was a special film.
- For sure.
- What are hero he is.
And what a privilege to meet,
the man is an absolute legend.
- Yep. - Fair play, Paddy,
that was different class.
Proper tribute to a proper British hero.
Well played. - Correct, correct.
- One of the all-time greats.
Look how many people wanted to come out
and say thank you to Eddie.
He was an inspiration to so many people.
- He definitely was and God bless you, Eddie.
That's it for tonight.
We'll be back next week, when we fast forward to the future
with some brand new, state-of-the-art electric cars.
- And some tiny caravans.
- Very tiny, very small. perfect for you, Chris.
- Harsh.
- Thanks so much for watching, goodnight.