While talking to the hosts of motorcycling podcast, Full Chat, Henry discussed his frustration with the industry that has become his bread and butter.
“All the really good ideas you have as a TV producer, right, never get commissions,” he explained.
“The ones that you think are just fantastic, people just go ‘No, you’re alright Henry. Not really up for that’. Things that you think are utter crap, right, get away.”
Back in the 90s, Henry would prove his own point.
“I used to do a series called Stars and Cars,” the 61-year-old began. “So, as a laugh, I rang up Travel Channel years ago. I said what about doing a show - Stars and Spas?”
“They go, ‘We love it. That’s great, yeah.”
“The same happened with ITV. I rang them, I said I want to do this series called Grime Fighters, about clearing up rubbish.”
“They went, ‘oh, I love that, we’ll have that’.”
“And you know what? It ran for five years. We made 170 of them - it replaced Coronation Street for a while.”
When asked how he comes up with some of his more outlandish ideas, he responded; “the concern is with ease.”
“TV is very risk averse.”
“So consequently, you know, they won’t commission something that has never been seen before but then again they say they’re looking for something that has never been seen before.”
“But they don’t know what that is.”
As a TV and motorcycling lover, he remained determined to change things.
“So you have to try and educate as well as sell some of the time,” he continued.
“The way to get across that, like with motorcycling, you know, I did Stars and Cars et cetera, and then I went to Travel Channel, they called me in.”
“Richard, the boss there went, ‘Oh Henry, now what do you want to do?’ and I said look, I want to do Great Drives of the World.”
“I thought of that as I was walking up the stairs.”
Despite the fact the idea was last minute, he was enthusiastic about his pitch and floated the idea of doing similar on a motorbike.
“He goes, ‘No, no, motorcycles won’t rate,” Henry revealed. “I said alright, well I’ll go around the world for you in a car.”
“This is like 25 years ago and I come back and I go, what you reckon?”
“He goes, ‘Oh they rated really well’.”
“I said, well can I ride Route 66 now? And he goes ‘No, can you do another around the world? With the cars, second series?’ And I go I look, I’ll only do that if I can ride Route 66.”
This time, Henry would finally get his way.
“Nine months later, I come back. I mean, we’d run out of ideas, you know, the last show was a Mondeo, right, driving around Tenerife.”
Full Chat hosts, David Prutton and Iwan Thomas would laugh at this.
“I was like god, let’s just get this last show out the way,” he added.
“So I come back, right? And I go, I’m going now, he goes ‘Right, okay, go on then, go to Route 66.”
“So I go to Chicago, buy a Harley, ride to LA, come back, cut seven shows, out it goes.”
“He just seemed to be amazed. He went, ‘This rates better than great drives’, and I went, well I think it would do because there’s nothing on TV about it, about motorcycling.”
Even though he had to fight for his motorcycling show, Henry always knew it would end up being popular.
“It’s all about authenticity, right?”
“If you are not passionate about motorcycles, people will see through that.”
“It’s not about my stunning good looks and lack of teeth, yeah, it is about authenticity and a passion for it.”
“Broadcasters didn’t believe it would work.”
“23 series later of World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides, of which we’re going to do a Great British Motorcycle Rides next year, you know, it shows it works.”
This wouldn’t be the last time that the famous biker would have to advocate for one of his shows.
“I go to ITV, I say to dear Katie at ITV - I say, should we do the motorbike show? She goes, ‘It won’t rate’,” he recalled.
“I say, oh please, I’ve just proved on the Travel Channel, you know?”
“She goes, ‘Oh god, all right, give me two but it won’t rate’.”
“Anyway, I think last week, it was their three times higher than anything else that was going out that week.”
“Because, man, c‘mon, bikes work - it does work.”
Henry will continue backing the projects he knows his fans and biking lovers will want to watch.
“We’re obviously bringing a lot of joy to people and to me, that gives me the same satisfaction as passing my bike test,” he said.
“Yeah sure we earn good money doing it, of course we bloody do.”
“But at the end of the day, it’s not about that. It is about making people happy.”