The Speedshop

Original version

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Series 1

Documentaries

Factual

Factual: Cars & Motors

Titch Cormack and team turn broken bikes into beautiful bespoke machines.

Built for adventure. Titch Cormack and team turn broken bikes into beautiful bespoke machines to take on incredible life-affirming challenges, from Saharan sands to Icelandic snow.

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Grant Wardrop

Cassie Bennett

Grant Wardrop Productions Limited

Christiaan Bailey

Anna Collins

Jon Richards

The Speedshop: Pilot

Pilot

BBC Two - The Speedshop, Pilot

Titch Cormack builds an adapted motorcycle for an amputee soldier.

Custom vehicle builder Titch Cormack builds an adapted motorcycle for an amputee soldier and takes him on a tough off-road ride across the Alps.

Following custom bike builder Titch Cormack and his team as they take on a range of mechanical challenges to convert broken and battered vehicles into beautiful, bespoke machines – ready for an epic test drive.

Titch left a 10-year career in UK special forces (Special Boat Service) to follow his dream - designing, building and selling custom vintage motorcycles. 
 
In 2016, Titch converted a waterfront derelict former shellfish processing plant into his vintage workshop, using reclaimed and upcycled materials to create what he describes as a 'souped-up man-cave', where he now builds his unique creations. 
 
Titch is joined by his team - Billy, a mechanic and ex-tank regiment commander, who suffered life changing injuries following an IED explosion in Afghanistan, and Martin, a heavily tattooed-hippy – and paint and fibreglass specialist. 
 
This film follows Titch as he receives a visit from a customer that needs his help. Parachute regiment soldier Chris, who just a few weeks earlier had his right leg amputated, wants Titch to build him a specially adapted motorcycle, but there is a twist - he wants to take it on a challenging off-road ride, in an attempt to prove to himself that 'he can still be the man he used to be' and that his new amputation won’t hold him back.
 
In his special forces unit, one of Titch’s specialities was mobility, which is getting almost any type of vehicle through almost any type of environment. Always happy to help out a fellow soldier, Titch agrees to take Chris on his challenging ride, following in the footsteps of one of history’s greatest generals, Hannibal, across the Alps.
 
Titch and the team have to pull out all the stops in order to get the motorcycle built in time for the ride, before the Alpine winter snows arrive.  
 
Time is further squeezed by the need to finish another project the team have on the go - their first ever car build, a 1965 Hillman Super Minx Estate that they are converting into a surf wagon. However, things don’t go smoothly and both projects push Titch and the team to the limit. The car, when stripped down, reveals even more rust than Titch had expected, which requires extensive and costly repairs. However, Titch digs deep both mentally and financially to turn the rusty wreck into a gleaming, fully restored and customised surf wagon, complete with colour-coded surfboard on the roof.
 
With the car completed and ready to go up for sale, Titch and Billy head to the Alps with Chris, where the embark on a tricky off-road journey that follows the route thought to have been taken by the legendary military general Hannibal and his war elephants in 218AD.

The ride is tough and not without incident, but over two days Chris and the boys successfully complete their arduous journey. Chris feels a huge sense of achievement at the end of this rehab boosting trip.  


BBC Two

BBC Two is a TV channel that started broadcasting on the 20th April 1964.

BBC 2

BBC2

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Speedshop

Pilot

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Two Wales HD

About BBC Two