Richard Hammond Meets Evel Knievel
| Richard Hammond Meets Evel Knievel | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Documentary |
| Directed by | Nigel Simpkiss |
| Presented by | Richard Hammond |
| Starring | Evel Knievel |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Ben Gale Tony Moss |
| Producer(s) | Ben Devlin |
| Running time | 59 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Visual Voodoo |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Two |
| Picture format | 576i, anamorphic 16:9 |
| Original release | 23 December 2007 |
Richard Hammond Meets Evel Knievel is a one-off television documentary presented by Richard Hammond and first broadcast on 23 December 2007 on BBC Two. The show was produced by Visual Voodoo and the executive producer was Ben Devlin.
This was filmed 4 months before Evel's death.
The documentary is based around the Evel Knievel Days event in Butte, Montana. The presenter, Richard Hammond, spends four days with former motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel. Knievel, by now 69 years old, had become very ill, requiring an oxygen tank strapped up to him constantly to aid with breathing. 48 hours before the film crew arrived, Knievel had a stroke. At several points during filming, Knievel cuts the interview short and leaves before Hammond has finished asking questions.
During the festival Knievel was meant to lead a bike parade, and invited Hammond to ride alongside him, but he was taken to hospital and was unable to lead the parade. He later showed up at the end of the day. On the last day of the festival fellow daredevil Trigger Gumms completed a jump over double what Evel jumped. The day after in the local newspaper Knievel stated he was not impressed with the jump.
Hammond also conducts interviews with Knievel's former bodyguard Gene Sullivan, former daredevil Debbie Lawler and his former publicist Shelly Saltman, who was assaulted by Knievel in 1977, an attack which destroyed Evel's reputation and eventually caused him to declare himself bankrupt. On the final day of filming, Evel asked Hammond to go and view his tombstone which he had paid for himself.
Archive clips shown during the programme and discussed with Knievel include his jumps at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Snake River Canyon, Idaho and Wembley Stadium, London as well as his conversion in the Crystal Cathedral in California. Evel died four months after the show was filmed but before the programme was first broadcast.
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