JAMES MAY’S MAN LAB

BBC1

As an unashamed purveyor of all things blokey, Top Gear’s James May is the perfect host for Man Lab, a show that aims to reclaim lost masculine skills for the modern male.

The barber-shy May clearly longs for a return of the pre-metrosexual days, when men didn’t moisturise or have clean fingernails, because they were far too busy building things without using an instruction manual, or honing their navigational skills.

The first test of mettle was for May and wine buff Oz Clarke to escape from Dartmoor Prison and tackle some truly unforgiving terrain.

May was handcuffed to Clarke, both wearing ill-fitting overalls and carrying a basic map.

“We look like two guests fleeing an S&M party,” said May as they scoured the moors for a survival kit that would help them find their getaway driver. However, the escape was not going to be without difficulty, as a team of professional trackers was hot on their heels.

In another testosterone-fuelled challenge, May and his chums built a pool table, using chestnut logs and a piece of slate. It took them seven days to create and the end result, complete with blue baize and makeshift pockets, was surprisingly good.

Ironically, the part that caused the most anxiety was the simple task of marking the baize with a felt pen. You had to wonder though whether they could actually be bothered to play a full game of pool after all that work.

The show’s next challenge saw May try his hand at drawing portraits with genuinely amusing results as he was forced to admit he was an “art buffoon”. He improved with minimal tuition though and was soon drawing portraits for complete strangers.

“Try not to show your teeth because I can’t do those,” he told one woman, who later remarked that she looked cross on the picture. Eventually, after a day of practice, May’s artwork was not half bad, and he even got paid. But since when was art seen as a lost man skill?

In the most entertaining part of the show, May sent his assistant Rory to an Army Rugby League charity dinner. Rory was told to memorise guests’ names using different techniques while May watched on a screen and egged him on via an earpiece.

The tactics included drawing people’s names in the air, repeating them several times to their faces (which was truly toe-curling) and using word association. For example, the clue to remembering a big, strapping man called Ben Hughes was to think of him as Ben Huge. This proved to be remarkably effective. Rory came unstuck though when chatting to a woman.

“I think she quite likes you, Rory,” said May.

“Well, she’s only human,” Rory replied, in front of the woman, prompting fits of laughter from May.

There was little format to last night’s show – for the most part it was just an excuse for May to muck around with his pals. Not dissimilar to Top Gear in that respect, then. However, May is rather more sensitive and likeable than his brash Top Gear co-hosts. He has a certain crumpled dignity and intelligence that makes him compelling to watch, even though he could do with a bit of a haircut.