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Richard Hammond (born December 19 1969 in Birmingham) is a British television presenter best known for co-presenting Top Gear along with James May and Jeremy Clarkson from 2002 onwards. He also writes a weekly column, which can be read in the motoring section of The Daily Mirror each Friday.

On 20 September 2006. Richard was critically injured in a crash while testing a car for the BBC television programme.

Biography

Originally from the West Midlands, in the mid 1980's Hammond moved with his family (mother Eileen, father Alan, and brothers Andrew and Nicholas) to the Yorkshire market town of Ripon where his father ran a probate business in the market square. A pupil of Rippon Grammar School, from 1987 to 1989 he attended Harrogate College of Art and Technology and was friends with author and academic Jonathan Baldwin. He then went onto gain a degree in photography and television production.

He lives near Cheltenham with his wife Amanda, whom he married in 2002, and their two young daughters, Isabella and Willow. He also has three horses, four dogs, two cats, a rabbit and a handful of chickens and sheep.

In July 2005, Hammond won the dubious accolade of being voted number one in a heat magazine poll of the top "weird celebrity crushes." Also in 2005, he was voted one of the top 10 British TV talents.

On September 20 2006, Hammond was involved in an accident at Elvington Airfield near York while attempting to break the England land speed record in a jet-powered car. He was travelling at 280mph at the time of the accident.

Radio and television career

Early in his career, Hammond worked at Radio York and Radio Cumbria, before going on to present a number of daytime lifestyle shows and motoring programmes on Men & Motors.

He presented the Crufts dog show in 2005, the 2004 and 2005 British Parking Awards, and has appeared on School's Out, a quiz show on BBC One where celebrities answer questions about things they learnt at school when they were younger. He has also presented The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding The Legend. Along with his work on Top Gear, he currently presents Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky One, Should I Worry About...? on BBC One and Time Commanders on BBC Two. He is also a team captain on the BBC Two quiz show, Petrolheads.

From Tuesday 3 January 2006 until Friday 10 February, Hammond was the eponymous star of Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show with his co-star Mel Giedroyc of Light Lunch fame. The programme, which discussed a wide range of random and amusing subjects, was shown every weekday on ITV1 between 5:00 and 6:00.

Top Gear

Hammond became a presenter on Top Gear in 2002, when the show began its present format. Due to his short stature of 5' 7", he is referred to as "Hamster" by fans and his co-presenters on Top Gear. His nickname was further re-enforced when on two separate occasions in Series 7, Hammond ate cardboard, mimicking hamster-like behaviour. Another running gag by co-host Jeremy Clarkson is Hammond's supposed use of teeth whitener, after he was caught looking at a website on Teeth whiteners on Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show. Hammond has continually denied this, and once quipped to Clarkson: "Mine have gone whiter, naturally, in the same way that yours have gone green."

On the 20th of September 2006, Richard was admitted to Leeds General Infirmary after being seriously injured while driving a jet powered car for the show. The hospital have described him as "Critical".

He has been rushed by hellicopter to the Leeds General Infermary. He was apparently un-consious when paramedics arrived, but was coming round by the time he arrived at the L.G.I. although his condition is still described as critical

Cars

He is known to be a Porsche enthusiast, and particularly the Porsche 911. His left-hand drive Porsche 911 has appeared on Top Gear in the studio once. He has stated that an original Dodge Charger is his dream car, mostly because "it's the car the bad guys drove...It's the James Dean of cars: was great, but unlike the Ford Mustang, died young, and therefore embedded itself as nothing but greatness." Hammond also owns two Land Rovers, a Suzuki GSXR1000, a BMW 1150 GS, a second Porsche 911, a Morgan V6 Roadster, a 1967 Ford Mustang and several kit cars.

Car Crash

He was severely injured in a car crash while filming for Top Gear on 20 September 2006 at a former RAF airfield near York. He was driving a jet powered car capable of travelling at 280mph in an attempt to break the land speed record for England. He is being treated at Leeds General Infirmary and is currently in a critical condition. BBC reports suggest that he was taken from the crash scene unconscious and taken to the specialist neurological unit at Leeds General Infirmary. The ambulance service is reported to have said Richard began to regain conciousness upon arrival at the hospital. This has conflicted with witness statements given to the BBC from Top Gear production crew, which stated that Hammond walked away from the crash and was helped into an awaiting helicopter. It is probable that he was driving the same car mentioned in this article.

Works

TV Shows

• Top Gear (2002- Present Day)
• Brainiac: Science Abuse (2003- 2006)
• Time Commanders (2003)
• Crufts (2004)
• Should I Worry About...? (2004)
• The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding The Legend (2005)
• Inside Britains Fattest Man (2005)
• Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show (2006)
• Petrolheads (2006)
• School's Out (2006)
• Richard Hammond's Would you believe it? (2006)
• Richard Hammond and The Holy Grail (2006)
• Richard Hammond Explores the Da Vinci Code (Due in 2007 - May be postponed}

External links

• IMDB: Richard Hammond
• Richard Hammond Interview 2006
• BBC News Story - Top Gear presenter hurt in crash

• Current events
• 1969 births
• English television presenters