Baby Hamster

Richard Hammond was born in 1970 and grew up in the Yorkshire town of Ripon, where he attended the incredibly old and prestigious Ripon Grammar School – a place so bloated with history that it was actually founded twice (once in Saxon times, and all over again in 1555). Which probably explains why Hammond speaks so well and stuff.

The young Hamster then took a course in Visual Communications, which naturally left him fit for little more than occasional bar work and a stint as a "chicken chaser" at a local farm.

Richard on the radio

After his glamorous period running around after yelping chickens, Hammond decided it was time to actually make something of himself. So he employed all his charm and wit to break into the world of radio, presenting programmes on Radio York and Radio Cumbria.

Still, he couldn't shake of his actual dream, which was to somehow work in motoring. And so Hammond decided to learn the dark arts of public relations, and help organise car-related corporate events for clients like the Ferrari Owners' Club. It was during this period that he met his beloved wife ("She loves cars more than I do, she's bonkers") and, in 1998, Hammond was finally picked up to present his first car programme on TV.

It was on the Men And Motors cable channel, so the only people who saw it were the cameramen. And maybe their mums. But it was the first important step on the road to Top Gear...

The nice petrol-head

Hammond may be a car-crazed, road-ripping, demon dog of the superhighways, but he's actually a bit of a goody goody at heart. Compared to Clarkson, anyway.

For example, he really loves animals, and keeps lots of sheep, horses and dogs. And it's not all cars, cars, cars with Hammond – he also has a lot of time for his good old push bike, and has in fact slated the idea of driving big Range Rovers in urban areas (perhaps a dig at Clarkson, who does just that?). He's even suggested that there should be a system of occasional driving lessons in place for people who've got their license, to ensure they remain vigilant on the road. What a nice boy he is.

"Lego saved my life"

Hammond's lived out his greatest dream when he was selected to present the revamped Top Gear, but of course it almost ended tragically when, in September 2006, he was involved in a terrible crash while piloting the jet-powered Vampire dragster. The cause was a tire blowout, and he was travelling at almost 300mph when the car flipped over. As he later put it, "There was a sense of, 'oh bugger'."

Still, he has his Hamster-like qualities to thank for his survival – if he he'd been any taller, his head would have connected with the ground and the crash would have been fatal. Instead, Hammond recovered with startling swiftness, and credits a certain children's toy with his quick comeback. "Lego saved my life," he said. "I was a Lego fiend when I was eight and suddenly it was all I wanted to do again. It's really good therapy." So there you go: in the event of a near death experience, reach for some Lego.

Hammond's top motors

Hammond is very definitely a Porsche man. He's very proud of his Porsche 997 Carrera S, and also has a couple of 911s too. But, being far too well paid, he also has a Land Rover which has been smugly "pimped" with a massive sound system, chrome wheels and lots of random and quite unnecessary blue lights everywhere.

On top of that, he's also a big fan of motorbikes, including his beloved Harley Davidson (if you can imagine his delicate form perched on such a beast). In fact, the Hammond has so many cars and bikes that he admits to almost losing track of them. We feel your pain, Richard.