James May lands new BBC show where he’ll put objects back together again

His superpower? Putting things back together, naturally. The aim of the BBC4 show is to understand exactly how ordinary objects work. May will head into a workshop and be faced with various things that have been taken apart, at which point he’ll put them back together again piece by piece.

“Any idiot can take things to bits, putting them back together again is what counts,” May said. “I recently bought a new house, with a lawn. I even have a lawn mower. Unfortunately, it’s in bits. You can probably see where this is going.”

Over three nightly episodes, May will reassemble everything from (handily) a petrol-powered lawn mower to an electric guitar and an old-style rotary dial telephone.

May is said to have been fuelled by many cups of tea for this timely task, which no doubt needed the patience of a saint. Flat pack furniture must be a doddle in comparison.

BBC4 channel editor Cassian Harrison said: “At BBC4 we love to celebrate passion and expertise, and we also like to take the time to do things properly. What could be better than giving James May the time to really get to grips with three fabulous everyday engineering icons, and to celebrate every rivet and ratchet on the way.”

BBC4 is yet to confirm an air date for James May: The Reassembler