It will come as no surprise to you that I was involved pretty heavily with the James May Lego House project. I met with the show's producers Plum Pictures early on and discussed the ways in which a life sized Lego house could be constructed. I'm glad that the team took my advice to ask for volunteers to construct large standardised brick shapes and also to use rubber tipped hammers to ensure tight fitting pieces. It wasn't made clear in the programme if the architect working on the house also came up with the idea for making the house from standardised blocks, or if he was working from someone else's (i.e, my) idea.

 

Denbies Wine Estate was chosen for the site to build the Lego house. I was employed with fellow Lego head Simon Burfield and a group of talented young people to construct a large number of the brick shapes and use them to create several several seven foot high Lego walls for use in testing. Sadly Simon had to leave the project at this stage to go on holiday. The rest of us in the "Test Team" then received the plans from the architect for the Lego joists which would also be used for testing. It was obvious that the design could be improved on but the only variation that I could slip by the attention of the television people was to use 2 x 8 bricks instead of 2 x 4. A vital change in design!

A few days later I received a slightly panicked phone call from the Chief Researcher telling me that James May was free the following day and that they'd like to send him around to my studio with a camera crew. The plan was to interview me about my Lego work and sit down with James and build something from Lego. As most of my large models were undergoing a re-build, I asked if I could have some more notice but it was told it was tomorrow or nothing. As soon as I put the phone down I launched myself into a virtual non-stop building session, where I repaired the Millennium Falcon, Imperial Shuttle and the Captain Jack sculpture.

I was actually just putting the finishing touches to the Millennium Falcon the following evening when James May and crew turned up. The main man seemed very tired after a long day's filming already but there was no rest as a very hurried filming session ensued almost immediately. We were rushing from scene to scene so quickly that I really doubted that anything usable could be rescued from what was being shot. Then, as quickly as they had arrived James May and crew left, with my wondering if it had all been a figment of my imagination.

It soon became time for the public to turn up at Denbies Wine Estate to assist with building the Lego blocks. Several members of the Brickish Fan Club turned up to help supervise the public, so with the 'Test Team' and several other bods from Plum Pictures, we had plenty of people to get this show on the road. It became clear though that we could have done with double the help, what with keeping the volunteer builders supplied with bricks, assisting them with the building, acting as quality control and generally keeping spirits up as the rain fell ever harder. There was a section of the building area set aside to create life sized objects for the house and people were very inventive in coming up with clocks, radios, plant pots and even a huge burger in a bun. I was there to provide some coaching and to also save some of the best creations in case they could be used for the house. James May with the camera crew patrolled the site, megaphone in hand, barking the odd order.

Later in the day the test walls and beams were to be put through thier paces on camera with James but the 'Test Team' and I were not included, or even allowed to watch. James May, supported by a harness walked on the beams and walls and I'm glad to say that they didn't break. I spoke to James May after this segment had been filmed and he was surprised that I hadn't been given something more meaty to do, such as actually build something for the house. I spoke also to Christina Fallah, who had been asked to construct the furniture and looked through her designs. At the end of the day, I was told by the Chief Researcher that he would call upon me if the aspects of the house, such as the toilet, or furniture ended up being a disaster and they needed extra help. In the end though it transpired that they didn't need any further help and my subsequent visits to the site were purely as an observer. I was kept informed of all of the developments with the Lego house ane remained a member of the team thoughout.

As is the case with many a television programme, certain cuts have to be made and the 'cast' of people working on the house was cut down to a bare minimum. This was a shame because to my mind, if everyone involved had been given only a few seconds of screen time, it would have shown what a gargantuan task it was to complete to house. In the spirit of positive criticism, at the very least I would have included the 'Testing Team', the staff at Denbies, the behind the scenes people at Plum Pictures and the people who did the actual construction on the house. Even the scenes filmed at my studio were cut but as they say "That's showbiz". I remain philosophical about my non-appearance in the programme (Although I'm seen walking past the camera in one scene) and also that the close up of me in the James May Toy Stories book cuts my head off. It was a pleasure to have been able to make a contribution to the James May Lego house and it was great to have met the man behind the whole shebang.

My thanks to James May and Plum Pictures!

Craig.