The show also contained images of the crash, which had made international headlines, with Hammond talking through the events of the day after which the audience broke into spontaneous applause. His nickname was further reinforced when on three occasions in series 7, he ate cardboard, mimicking hamster-like behaviour.įollowing a high-speed dragster crash while filming in September 2006 near York, Hammond returned in the first episode of series 9 (broadcast on 28 January 2007) to a hero's welcome, complete with dancing girls, aeroplane-style stairs and fireworks. He is sometimes referred to as 'The Hamster' by fans and his co-presenters on Top Gear due to his name and relatively small stature compared to May and Clarkson. Hammond became a presenter on Top Gear in 2002, when the show began in its revamped format. After starting out on satellite TV, he auditioned for Top Gear.

The two became good friends, and it was Zieglar who encouraged Hammond to enter into motoring reviews on television. Presenting the afternoon programme at Radio Lancashire, his regular guests included motoring journalist Zogg Zieglar, who would review a car of the week by being interviewed by Hammond over the phone. According to an episode of Top Gear (Season 16, Episode 5), Richard's first job was shoveling grit into a water filtration plant.Īfter graduation, Hammond worked for several BBC radio stations, including Radio Cleveland, Radio York, Radio Cumbria, Radio Leeds and Radio Newcastle. Originally a pupil of Solihull School, a fee-paying boys' independent school, he moved to Ripon Grammar School, and from 1986 to 1988 attended Harrogate College of Art and Technology. He attended Blossomfield Infant School in Solihull's Sharmans Cross district from the age of 3–7.

In the mid-1980s Hammond moved with his family (mother Eileen (née Dunsby), father Alan, and younger brothers Andrew, writer of the 'Crypt' series, and Nicholas) to the North Yorkshire cathedral city of Ripon located 10 miles south of the market town of Bedale, and 8 miles south of the historic village of Thornton Watlass where his father ran a probate business in the market square. Richard Mark Hammond was born the oldest of three boys on 19 December 1969 in Solihull, England, and is the grandson of workers in the Birmingham car industry.

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