Top gear biography

The show became more edgy, and Mr Clarkson's outspoken, irreverent style helped propel viewing figures , external from several hundred thousand to more than six million. However, after more than a decade of controversy, Mr Clarkson left Top Gear. His departure from the show in heralded a slump in viewing figures, and it was put on ice in after presenter Brendan Coogan left under the cloud of a drink-driving conviction , external.

What was to become the Top Gear monster was bolted back together in after all of the Top Gear production team and presenters had jumped ship to Channel 5 to launch a programme called Fifth Gear , external. Jeremy Clarkson successfully pitched to the BBC with co-producer Andrew Wilman, and helped relaunch the programme that year. He was joined as a presenter by Richard Hammond, and later by James May.

The programme went from strength to strength after starting to use Dunsfold Aerodrome as a test track , helped by features including the regular destruction of caravans, and a mystery test-driver called "the Stig" - who has since been unmasked twice. The programme also became known for spectacular stunts including a race to the magnetic North Pole and slots such as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car.

In Guinness World Records proclaimed that the show was the most widely watched factual TV programme in the world , external. That year its audience covered territories "from Ghana to Guatemala, Moldova to Myanmar", the records organisation said. The BBC has traditionally been quite coy about revealing commercial details of its arrangements with Mr Clarkson, but it seems fairly safe to say he is a multi-millionaire.

By , viewing figures in Top Gear had declined after the departure of notable presenters, leading to the BBC cancelling the programme in While a number of presenters and production staff moved over to Channel 5 to produce Fifth Gear , Clarkson and fellow presenter Andy Wilman convinced the BBC to revive the programme under a revamped format , relaunching it in October Top Gear functioned under a magazine format focusing on key topics that could be covered within each episode's minute timeslot.

Presenters focused on various motoring-related subjects, the most common being road tests of new cars, consumer advice, road safety, and motorsport. The original programme and its title were conceived by producer Derek Smith , who proposed the concept to BBC Midlands as a monthly television series with a magazine format aimed at looking at various subjects such as new cars, road safety and other topics, and involving presenters supported by reporters.

The format had already been proven by Thames Television 's well established Drive-In later Wheels , which had been running since , and featured future Top Gear presenters Chris Goffey and Sue Baker. BBC Midlands commissioned a series of nine episodes of Top Gear for , [ 1 ] with the production staff operating out of Pebble Mill Studios , Birmingham , [ 1 ] with Smith assigned as its executive producer, while Angela Rippon and Tom Coyne , the front man of the local evening news programme Midlands Today , were hired to present the new programme alongside local reporters.

As it was designed mainly as a regional programme, Top Gear was made available only to BBC Midlands viewers during its broadcast. In , the BBC took interest in Top Gear , [ 4 ] [ 5 ] and decided upon it being broadcast nationally across the United Kingdom , commissioning ten episodes for the first series. Both Smith and Rippon remained within their respective roles, with Barrie Gill replacing Coyne as co-presenter, with topics covered during its first series including holiday driving, the MOT test , a search for a female rally driver , traffic jams, rust and corrosion, and tachographs in lorries.

Alongside the standard motoring topics, the production staff also included films focused on motoring events, such as the Le Mans 24 Hour race and the British International Motor Show. A year later, the BBC commissioned a second series, with Rippon and Gill retaining their roles and joined by a new team of reporters. By , the growing popularity of the programme led to the BBC making Top Gear a staple part of its schedules for BBC2 , commissioning two series per year - one for the late Winter-Early Spring schedule, and the other for the Autumn-Early Winter schedule.

However, as Rippon and Gill had left the programme after its second series, the responsibility of presenting Top Gear was assigned to Noel Edmonds , who maintained the role of the main presenter for two series before being replaced by William Woollard , formerly of BBC1's science series Tomorrow's World , in The role of executive producer was maintained by Smith for a further three years before it was handed over to Dennis Adams in Between and , the programme's broadcast included specials that focused on coverage of motoring events, including the bi-annual British International Motor Show , and the London Motorfair , though Top Gear achieved sole dominance of rallying events, a sport that the BBC's sport division could not control.

In , Dennis Adams resigned as executive producer, leading to Tom Ross being hired as his replacement, going on to become editor in , [ 6 ] leaving his former role to Jon Bentley and Ken Pollock. By this time, the programme underwent a number of subtle changes in its presentation, despite reported threats within the BBC for its cancellation, which were aimed at raising its profile and increasing it audience through a wider range of motoring topics - these included consumer issues, classic cars, motorbikes, and a wide range of motorsport events.

Around this time, Top Gear began to see the involvement of new presenters, several of whom became prominent figures within television, with these new additions including former Formula One driver Tiff Needell , and journalist Jeremy Clarkson , whom Bentley recruited after coming across his work in Performance Car Magazine. Despite enduring criticism regarding the presentation of the programme, including concerns it encouraged irresponsible driving behaviour, [ 9 ] and ignored issues surrounding the impact of driving on the environment, Top Gear was pulling in high viewing figures, regularly becoming BBC2's most viewed programme after with an average of five million viewers.

Part of this increased popularity was attributed to the involvement of Clarkson, as his style of presentation and reviewing of cars proved to be well-received with viewers - in a review of the original Vauxhall Vectra , Clarkson was bluntly honest about his opinion of the car when he declared that "I know it's the replacement for the Cavalier.

I know. But I'm telling you it's just a box on wheels. Retrieved 31 March Archived from the original on 20 October Retrieved 31 October Chris Harris. Archived from the original on 2 October Archived from the original on 5 September Retrieved 22 December BBC News. Retrieved 6 June RS6 is the ultimate all-rounder, says Chris Harris". Archived from the original on 12 November This Is A Good Thing".

Small Blog V8. Retrieved 24 April Retrieved 21 December Retrieved 12 November Retrieved 26 September External links [ edit ]. Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Use dmy dates from June Articles with hCards. Toggle the table of contents. Chris Harris journalist. The programme expanded upon its earlier incarnation which focused on reviewing cars to incorporate films featuring motoring-based challenges, races, timed laps of notable cars, and celebrity timed laps on a specially-designed track.

The programme drew acclaim for its visual and presentation style, as well as criticism over the controversial nature of some content. The programme's first series in was presented by Clarkson, Richard Hammond , and Jason Dawe , with an anonymous test driver " The Stig " also being featured. Wilman was the show's executive producer. Following the first series, Dawe was replaced by James May , with the line-up unchanged until the end of the twenty-second series, when the BBC chose to not renew Clarkson's contract in March , following an incident during filming.

As a result, Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc were appointed as hosts of Top Gear and they were joined by four co-presenters for the twenty-third series. From the twenty-seventh series onwards , the presenting line-up was changed following the departure of LeBlanc and Reid, with Harris joined by Andrew Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness. This series proved more popular with viewers.

Top Gear has been one of the BBC's most commercially successful programmes since its relaunch. It has become a significant part of British popular culture , [ 14 ] [ 15 ] with episodes also broadcast in many countries in Europe, North America, Southeast Asia and more, making it the most widely-broadcast factual television programme in the world.

This led to them eventually meeting the broadcaster to pitch the idea of changing it from a motoring magazine format to one that was studio-based. Amongst the ideas that were pitched included: the involvement of a fixed location for car reviews and other films, alongside locations across Britain and abroad; putting notable cars through a timed lap of a circuit; the involvement of test driver with veteran racing experience, who handles driving some of the cars for the programme; and the participation of celebrity guests who would be invited to take part in an episode, undertake an interview over motoring matters, such as their car history, and take part in a special challenge to do a timed lap in a designated car.

Following the pitch, the BBC decided to green-light the new format, in order to create a programme to compete with Channel 5 's new motoring show Fifth Gear , to which several original Top Gear presenters including Tiff Needell , Vicki Butler-Henderson and producer Jon Bentley went. Production began in mid, with the broadcaster securing the right to use Dunsfold Aerodrome , an airport and business park in Waverley, Surrey , as the programme's fixed location — while its runways and taxiways were allocated for reviews and other films, one of the site's large aircraft hangars was transformed into Top Gear ' s new studio.

To match the proposed ideas for the new format, the BBC gained assistance from Lotus to design a race circuit for use on the programme that would be situated at the fixed location, while editing of films that were recorded for each episode, focused on extending the runtime of the programme to one hour.

Top gear biography

Wilman took on the role of the show's executive producer, while Clarkson became part of the hosting line-up. Because most of those who had worked with Clarkson on the original programme had left the BBC to work on Fifth Gear , the production team arranged for him to be joined by Richard Hammond and Jason Dawe. A difficulty found during production revolved around the show's test driver — neither Clarkson nor Wilman could find a racing driver with experience at speaking on-camera.

In discussions over this, the pair opted to make the driver silent, and later having their identity concealed. When they recruited Perry McCarthy amongst their possible candidates for the role, his input led to Wilman choosing to nickname the test driver " the Stig ". The first series of the new format of Top Gear premiered on 20 October In its early state, the programme's segments were based on elements of the previous format, such as interviews and viewers' letters, but also featured some new humorous elements, such as the presenters regularly destroying a caravan during the early series.

After the first series, Dawe was replaced by James May. Having previously been a presenter on Channel 4 's motoring programme Driven and the series of Top Gear , May initially declined to be a part of the new format, until its growing popularity later changed his mind. At the beginning of the third series, McCarthy was replaced by Ben Collins for contractual reasons — the change in drivers was notable in the fact that for Collins' version, the Stig's outfit was changed from a black outfit to a white one.

As the programme progressed, the format slowly began to transform, with a focus towards creating a unique presentation style for the programme, which included the addition of new segments, a more unusual approach to reviewing cars, road trips, and more specialised films involving races — either between cars or between a car and another form of transportation — and completing a variety of challenges, mostly with cheap, second-hand cars.

In early , the BBC made plans to move the programme's film site from Dunsfold to Enstone, Oxfordshire , in preparation for its eighth series. These were later cancelled, after West Oxfordshire District Council strongly objected to the planned move, on the basis of noise and pollution concerns. In addition, the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment was modified with new rules along with a new car, while Hammond included one of his dogs for the series throughout its studio segments, along with a number of films made for this series and the next.

Both the BBC and the Health and Safety Executive carried out inquiries into the accident, [ 19 ] with filming later resuming on 5 October. It was one of the first episodes of the programme to be shown in high-definition , and the third special to be produced, focusing on a race to the North Magnetic Pole , at its recorded location in , between a "polar modified" Toyota Hilux and a dog sled.

Considerable planning and co-ordination for the filming of the episode was conducted by both Top Gear ' s production team and Toyota , with both Clarkson and May, driving the Hilux, being the first people to reach the recorded location of the North Magnetic Pole by car. It was one of a number of challenges in which the presenters had to be focused and serious, despite the comedic scenes shown, with another being on 9 September, when the presenters, including The Stig, participated in the Britcar hour race at Silverstone , using a race-prepared, second-hand diesel BMW d , fuelled by biodiesel refined from crops they had sown as part of an earlier feature.

With popularity for the show rising to considerable levels, the waiting list to get a ticket for a recording became extensive — an individual seeking a ticket, found that they would be required to wait for 21 years before securing a place. From the twelfth series, feature-length specials were created for the show, each visiting a different part of the world for a road trip using second-hand cars, with a number produced to be aired as a Christmas special.

Despite growing popularity, an interview made with the Radio Times by Wilman revealed that future programmes would have less time devoted to big challenges, stating the following: [ 25 ]. We'll inevitably still have big films, because it's the only way you can enjoy the three of them cocking about together, but they'll be shorter overall, and alongside we'll be inserting two- or three-minute punk songs.

The success of the programme soon led to a live-version format being created called Top Gear Live ; produced by a former producer of the programme, Rowland French, [ 26 ] the touring show aimed to attempt to "bring the TV show format to life As the 14th series was being broadcast in late , the programme began to attract criticism from some viewers, over its predictability through the over-reliance on stunts and forced humour at the expense of serious content.

His statement included referring to "this incarnation of Top Gear " being close to its end, and that the production team would be working towards keeping its "dignity still intact", while experimenting with new ideas for the programme. Towards the end of , the BBC became concerned over Clarkson's behaviour on the programme, including its production.

Their concerns were raised by two incidents that year. The first involved an un-aired take from the 19th series emerging on national news media, featuring the presenter attempting to choose between two cars using the traditional rhyme " Eeny, meeny, miny, moe " but failing to censor the original version's use of the word nigger. The programme then suffered another incident, when production of its next special in Argentina was dogged by major issues that placed the team at serious risk of harm, as one of the car licence plates had read "H FKL" in an alleged reference to the Falklands War of The controversial incident it created was covered by international news media, but despite the issues faced, the special was later aired as part of the BBC's Christmas schedule for , [ 33 ] though with amendments to its ending and the inclusion of an introduction for it.

On 10 March , the 22nd series of the programme was abruptly put into hiatus by the BBC. The broadcaster's actions were the result of them suspending Clarkson in order to investigate allegations made against him, over verbal and physical abuse he had committed against one of the show's producers, Oisin Tymon. Following the departure of Clarkson, and the subsequent departure of May, Hammond and Wilman, the BBC began searching for their replacements.

On 16 June , Chris Evans was confirmed as one of the new hosts, [ 10 ] with it later suggested he would be hosting the show alone as part of a new format, [ 42 ] despite a previous announcement that the broadcaster was holding open audition for his co-presenters; [ 43 ] this claim was later dismissed as untrue. Although former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard had been widely reported to be joining the programme as a host, this was dismissed as speculation when he was revealed, on 11 January , to be the new host of Channel 4 's coverage for the F1 season.

Filming for the twenty-third series soon began in early While the show still retained the use of the show's presentation style and its test driver The Stig, the format received a number of changes — a small number of segments were dropped, the studio received a revamp to its layout, the celebrity segment was redesigned to feature a rallycross-styled challenge, while Evans and LeBlanc would front the show with the other co-presenters appearing "when required".

Designed to be aired after each episode of the new series was aired, its format focused on providing exclusive new content online — hosted by both Reid and Harris, the spin-off would consist of new footage, interviews, specially recorded films and behind-the-scenes access to the main programme. A combination of delays with production and conflicts with scheduling, led to the premiere date of the 23rd series being pushed back to 29 May In addition, the new series aired with only six of the ten episodes that it promised to show.

The new look of the show received mixed feedback from critics and viewers alike — although praise was given for the inclusion of LeBlanc, Harris and Reid, the new format was panned for its sluggish pace, the lack of humour in the studio segments, and the length of time spent on the revamped celebrity segment, "Star in a Rally-Cross Car".

The most negative feedback received for the 23rd series was towards Evans' involvement — his presentation style was largely criticised, along with the lack of chemistry he had with LeBlanc. In addition to feedback, several newspaper articles highlighted the fact that the new series struggled to make reasonable viewing figures, with this partly blamed on its broadcast schedule putting it up against live broadcasts of the UEFA Euro championships.

On 4 July, following the series finale, Evans announced his resignation from Top Gear , based on feedback. To make amends for its dismal performance, Top Gear underwent a more thorough revamp, which included redesigning the show's studio and opening titles. The show's format was refocused on elements developed in early series, a deeper work on chemistry between the presenters, while also revising the celebrity segment — as the arrangement for the 23rd series had proven to be a failure, [ 51 ] the segment returned to its original format.

On 31 May , LeBlanc announced he would be leaving the show after the twenty-sixth series in The new presenting line-up received a positive reception compared to the mixed reviews of the previous few series. During the broadcast of the twenty-eighth series in early , it was announced that, from the twenty-ninth series , the show would move channels to BBC One following the positive reception of the new presenting lineup.

Car segment to maintain social distancing. The revamped show fronted by the new trio helped Top Gear increase viewership to numbers not seen since the departure of Clarkson, Hammond and May. The twenty-seventh series has also been one of the most popular shows for British 16 to 34 year olds. On 4 August , it was announced that production of the show would transfer to BBC Studios Bristol from the thirty-third series onwards; however, Dunsfold Aerodrome will still be used for filming.

On 13 December , whilst filming at Dunsfold Park Aerodome for the planned 34th series, Flintoff was involved in a second accident and had to be airlifted to hospital. Each episode of Top Gear focus a series of segments, switching between those filmed within the programme's main studio before a studio audience, and pre-recorded films conducted before the broadcast of an episode — these films primarily cover major segments of the episodes, with studio segments often used as links or breaks between them.

The most common forms of segments used in the show's history are "Car Reviews", "Power Laps", "Star in a Car", "Cool Wall", "Challenges" and "Races". A major segment of the programme, happening at least once in most episodes, it focuses on the presenters conducting a road-test of a car, looking at such factors as ride quality, speed, handling, practicality, and reliability.

These reviews are conducted either on and around Top Gear ' s test track , or on the roads of Britain and abroad, and often focus on one car, primarily from well known car manufacturers. Although the programme operated in a standard manner in the early series to the original format of car reviews in the show, it soon began to adopt an unusual approach of reviewing cars, by conducting an unusual test s to either put a vehicle through its paces in an arranged scenario, or to demonstrate and showcase an exceptional quality that it exhibited.

An example of this comes from the "Toyota Hilux Destruction" film, divided between two episodes of the third series — to prove the strength of a Toyota Hilux pick-up truck, presenters Clarkson and May set about subjecting it to various, mainly destructive tests to see if it could survive against them and still run, allowing the use of tools for repair but prohibiting the replacement of any components with the exception of the windscreen.

Other notable uses of this unusual approach have included:. Another unusual approach with car reviews was to conduct them in the form of a challenge. Examples of such "review" challenges have included:. This segment focuses on a featured car undergoing a timed lap of the programme's test track, with the car driven by The Stig. Often used after the main review of an episode, it mainly involved the car or cars from the review, though it sometimes featured vehicles that either had been reviewed in a previous episode but couldn't be put on the track due to problems or unfavourable conditions on the track, or were special models such as racing versions of the car.

On occasions when multiple cars did a timed lap, the episode either shows the film of each car one after the other, or alongside each other. After the film is shown, the presenter reveals the time to the studio audience and the viewer — abbreviations next to lap times, such as "W" for "wet", highlight if they were conducted under certain track conditions.

In order to qualify for a place on the Power Lap Board, cars that undergo a Power Lap must fulfil certain requirements: [ 65 ]. As such, vehicles that do not qualify have their times mentioned, but do not get included on the Lapboard. Examples of this include the Renault F1 car Another major segment in the programme, featured in the majority of episodes broadcast, the format for this involves a celebrity being invited to take part in a timed lap around Top Gear ' s test track in a car provided for the segment.

They then join the presenters in the studio for an interview, mainly about their car history, their performance in the car and a look back to the highlights from their practice laps. After viewing footage of their timed lap, their time is stated and recorded onto a leaderboard, much in a similar fashion to lap times for Power Laps, including the use of abbreviations to denote track conditions the celebrity faced.

Although only one celebrity is involved in this segment, in a number of episodes, including the majority of the eleventh and twenty-third series, it sometimes featured two celebrities taking part, with footage of each timed lap shown one after the other. From the first series to the twenty-second series, when the show was presented by Clarkson, Hammond and May, the segment was entitled as "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" — its name was derived from the fact that the celebrities drove around the test track in an affordable car available on the market.

The segment was often shown during the middle of an episode, and had the celebrities interviewed by Clarkson. The affordable car used in the segment was changed several times, each being replaced after a number of series — because the new car was often different, in terms of engine specifications, power, speed, handling, and other factors, a new leaderboard would be created a direct result.

In addition, the introduction of a new car would be reserved for the opening episode, with the celebrity segment pre-recorded before the series began — it featured no interview, and involved a group of celebrities taking part to set a lap time in the new car. Up until the eighth series, the rules of the segment were that celebrities were given a set number of laps to do, with the fastest amongst these being recorded, but from the ninth series onwards, the rules were changed so that they were now given a few practice laps to get to grips with both the car and the track, before conducting a timed lap.

In some episodes, the invited celebrity was a F1 driver, with the segment referred to as "F1 Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" — while it stuck to the standard format, the only difference was that the F1 drivers were restricted to the use of the first car used in the segment, which was retained to maintain fairness with those invited.

During Evans' short-lived tenure as the show's host, the twenty-third series saw the segment renamed "Star in a Rally-Cross Car". The first change was that the interview, conducted with Evans, was much longer, with the celebrities involved discussing what was their favourite car in a certain field and the studio audience voting on which one they preferred.

The second change, which was the primary reason for the change in name, was that celebrities drove around a specially modified, rally-cross version of the Top Gear test track — while it used the majority of the circuit, it featured two off-road sections and a small jump — in a rally-spec Mini Cooper. After the series ended, the segment received negative feedback and criticism from viewers and critics, and was dropped from the programme as a result.