''Richard Hammond's Crash Course'' is an original series made for

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ...

, presented by '' Top Gear'' presenter

Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, mechanic, and writer. He is best known for co-hosting the BBC Two motoring programme '' Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and ...

. The show's first season premiered on April 16, 2012. Each episode of Season 1 follows Hammond as he is given three days to learn how to operate various pieces of heavy equipment across the United States. In Season 2, Hammond must now learn how to perform several odd jobs. A trailer for the series was posted on BBC America's official website on March 19, 2012. The series' first season began airing on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2012.

Background

The first episode of ''Crash Course'' aired on April 16, 2012, on

, following the premiere of season 18 of ''Top Gear''. The show's first episode features Hammond learning how to operate an American Army M1A2 Abrams tank at

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, Ft. Bliss h ...

. A total of six episodes were filmed. A trailer for the show's second season was released on September 25, 2012. The second season premiered on October 22, 2012. Writing for MotorAuthority.com, Nelson Ireson described the series as being like "''

Dirty Jobs ''Dirty Jobs'' is an American television series that originally aired on the Discovery Channel in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the job's current employees. The sh ...

'' but centered around vehicles". Ireson also commented that the BBC appears to be capitalizing on Hammond's "notoriety" as a ''Top Gear'' presenter due to the show being the top "unscripted" show on BBC America.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2012)

Season 2 (2012)

International broadcast

The first series began airing in the United Kingdom on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

on Sunday, September 2, 2012 at 19:15 BST, followed by a repeat showing of the second episode from series 18 of ''Top Gear''. Episodes two and three followed on September 9 and 16, again at 19:15 on Sundays, respectively. After poor viewing figures for the Sunday night broadcast, episodes four, five and six were moved to an early morning slot on Tuesday mornings, at 00:50 GMT. The series will be broadcast in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

from September 30, 2012, on

BBC Knowledge BBC Knowledge was a British television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 1 June 1999, broadcasting documentary, cultural and educational programmes. It was shut down on 2 March 2002, and was replaced by BBC Four. History L ...

, on

DStv Digital Satellite Television, commonly abbreviated to DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based in Randburg, South Africa. Launched on 6 October 1995, the service provides multiple aud ...

. In

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, the first series began airing on August 16, 2012 on

, exactly four months after the original premiere.

References

;General references * * * *

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.bbcamerica.com/crash-course/ 2012 American television series debuts BBC America original programming English-language television shows British reality television series 2010s American reality television series