The thrill of speed

Description

If speed is a drug, Jeremy Clarkson is in severe danger of an overdose, in this first programme of the series which explores the art and science of travelling very fast indeed. Jeremy looks at how speed affects the body and nearly scares himself to death in the process. "Why do some people risk everything for a cheap thrill?"" he asks. ""Why do some people hate speed while others feel addicted to it?" Jeremy forces his mother to join him on the world's fastest rollercoaster in Blackpool to demonstrate how different people react to speed. Jeremy whoops for joy as the cart travels at speeds of up to 85mph, but it's sheer torture for his mum. 'That was quite the worst moment of my life - absolutely ghastly!' she comments. Professor Ashley Grossman, of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, explains that the feeling of excitement or fear comes from an ancient part of the brain that has helped man survive since the early days of hunting and gathering. As the perceived danger becomes more apparent the brain dumps out adrenaline, preparing the body for fight or flight; endorphins to deal with anticipated pain; and finally dopamine, the 'well done mate' drug. For some people however - such as Jeremy's mum - there is no dopamine reward to make the experience worthwhile, just a terrifying feeling of great anxiety, partly caused by seratonin - usually thought of as the feel-good drug, but also the chemical that makes rabbits freeze in car headlights. Jeremy drives a meat truck through a pack of lions in Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire, so he can feel the chemical rush for himself. The lions are hungry and clamber onto his vehicle. 'I'm scared but I feel good to have a lion two feet away on my pick-up truck,' he says. But, as Jeremy discovers, even he has his limits. He travels to Innsbruck in Austria to meet the British army's four-man bobsleigh team. He hears horrific accounts of fatal accidents and rather reluctantly agrees to give it a go. The normally talkative Clarkson is reduced to silence. After a game of golf with Britain's best-known thrill seeker, Damon Hill, Jeremy seeks out a rare breed who seem to have no fear at all: the drag-boat racers of Chowchilla, California. In five seconds flat they travel from 0-200mph. As high-sensation seekers, they dice with death in the name of sport and accept the risks involved to get their extra dose of dopamine. So are these people risk takers, living life to the full, or foolhardy hedonists risking life and limb for a cheap thrill? Dr. Dean Haymer, a leading expert in human genetics, says the world needs risk takers: 'I suppose some people think extreme thrill seekers are nothing more than juveniles, but to make society work, we need some people who are the leaders ... and some who are the followers. It takes the extreme thrill seekers to do new things that nobody else would do.' Jeremy Clarkson comments: 'Thrill seekers are programmed by nature to be the arrowhead of human progress; they take the risks on our behalf, and they drag the whole of humankind along in their wake. These people are heroes.

Runtime

49 min

Series

Subjects

Genre

Date of Publication

2001

Database

Alexander Street

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