Richard Hammond's Workshop season 2 — exclusive interview and all we know about the new series

Richard Hammond: "I had this idea that it was all going to be idyllic, that I'd have a nice little workshop and I'd be able to go in and roll my sleeves up and learn how to paint cars and how to do all the real craftwork just like my grandfather used to do. That's one of the reasons I started it, my grandfather was a coach-builder.

"However, I quickly discovered that the business side of it tends to take over and trying to make it work is really, really hard!"

"I'm not a business person it transpires. I'm a television presenter so it’s been quite a lot of effort and one heck of a big learning curve. I wish I'd known beforehand that it would be one bottomless pit of money! "

"I think she supported the concept but she also knows me well enough to know I probably wouldn't be able to carry it off as smoothly as the idea can be delivered! She steps in throughout the series, which of course means she steps in in reality too because this series is real life, it's what's actually happening in our day-to-day life."  

"Buttermere is my favourite place in the world. I first went there when I was 17 to do a walk on my own with my dog. I stayed in Sykes Farm Campsite and one day I was sitting in the Bridge Hotel beer garden having one pint of beer because that’s all I could afford. A sheep broke into the garden and my sheep dog immediately hid under the bench which made everyone laugh. That's when I got chatting to Les and we’ve been best friends ever since. Buttermere is sort of my spiritual home." 

"Well I mean it’s not The Grand Tour —  I'm not going to be driving down mountains or anything, the adrenaline rush is in trying to make the business work and realizing 'Oh God, I’ve got to find more money to put in it!'. There's lots of  stuff happening though, we do some vintage car trialing and later on in the series I decide to launch a race team because I think it will be a good way of getting attention to the workshop. You’ll see how that goes! It takes the odd unexpected twist and turn along the way." 

"I'm not sure how much I taught her in the end. She’s a perfectly competent driver but I don't know how much I had to add to the experience. Neither of my daughters will listen to me! It's funny, I've done all the driving in the world but as far as they’re concerned I’m just dad and what do I know. And to be fair, with my record, they're probably right. (Richard had more than his fair share of crashes during his Top Gear days). My top tip on teaching a teenager to drive is get a driving instructor."

"No, I failed first time. I learnt in my dad's Astra and took the test in Harrogate, North Yorkshire where I was living. The examiner was very fierce and I was scared of her. We approached a light just as it had gone amber and she said, ‘Proceed as you normally would’ so I thought, ‘Right, I’ll give it a boot-full then’ and she failed me which was fair enough. I passed the second time round."

"My friend Les’s Riley is kind of exciting and the Alva that we've been working for a long time is thrilling. We've got a lovely Porsche in at the moment too but it’s the stories as much as the cars that are special. For example there’s an old Tuk Tuk that somebody brought back from Sri Lanka and we got that going again so that he could take his lad to school in it." 

"No. They don't really like old cars. James certainly doesn't and Jeremy's not keen either. James did come round for a visit and brought his bike to the workshop but that was all off-camera."