Richard Hammond and James May return to Top Gear with ‘traumatising’ admission

Television presenters and have described the unusual feeling of revisiting the production office a decade after the final episode of the show aired.

The two iconic motoring journalists and TV hosts claim to have never visited the office, a large portacabin located next to the Dunsfold Aerodrome test circuit, since leaving Top Gear following fracas with a producer in March 2015.

In on channel, the two hosts quickly voiced concerns that revisiting the old building would likely be a traumatising experience.

Richard recalled: “The last time I was here, I was leaving after the last studio recording. I was in a bronze Land Rover and set off thinking ‘well, that was that’. Are we going to do this? It’s going to be weird.”

James replied: “We are going to do this. It’s going to be a bit traumatising. It wasn’t in good condition when we had it, and I very much doubt it’s improved.”

Whilst the offices were very rarely seen on the programme, the duo explained that the building played a pivotal role throughout the 13 years they worked on the world-famous motoring show.

During their walk around the building, Richard and James recalled that they would regularly use it to script some of the most famous episodes of the show, often getting inspiration from looking out to the track, which was typically used for power laps in supercars and the ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ segment.

Despite stating that the office was never in particularly good condition, with James admitting it smelled of old mattresses, both had very fond memories of particular moments they remembered working on the show.

Richard noted that revisiting the office felt even more nostalgic than going back to his school, recalling how he would typically feel knowing that the audience was waiting for the trio to enter the studio.

He explained: “Wasn’t there a computer here? We’d rewrite scripts and work on them, and then re-run the news that we’d thought up and change it. And then the time would be getting closer to go out, the audience would be gathering, and we’d go out and have some lunch, just going through the script again, and again, and again.

“And they’d be waiting for us. It’s genuinely strange – I feel both 10 years old and 110 years old. I feel like a little boy, but an old man. I think it’s more nostalgic than going back to your old school because we were adults then, and we remember more.”

Walking into a room typically used for scripting, James highlighted his memories of composing an infamous song for a challenge in which he had to create an advert for the Volkswagen Scirocco TDI.

He added: “Do you know, that room where we used to look out of the window, there should be a blue plaque in there, because that’s where I composed the Volkswagen Scirocco song.

“And there was the trophy cabinet with all the rubbish trophies in it? We never won anything important, it was always stupid little things. And somebody painted a picture of you, if you remember, with a green background and you had like one continuous tooth across the front of your mouth.”