Top Gear Top Gear is a British motoring show that airs on the BBC . Like " Doctor Who " , it became a hit in its second incarnation with its the new format , introduced in 2002 , co - hosted / co - presented by Jeremy Clarkson , Richard Hammond and James May until March 2015 . It was viewed by over 300 million people worldwide . This new format became of particular interest to Whovians for a variety of reasons . The Master of the Universe . There was a segment on " Top Gear " in which they tried to find the fastest " Master of the Universe " around the track . There were three " Doctor Who " characters - a Dalek , Cyberman and Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor - as well as Darth Vader from " Star Wars " , a Klingon from " Star Trek " and Ming the Merciless from " Flash Gordon " . During the sketch , the Cyberman struggled to get its helmet on and so Darth Vader had to help . During the Cyberman ' s lap , the Doctor ' s TARDIS appeared and the Cyberman skidded the car off course to avoid crashing into it . When it was the Dalek ' s turn , the Dalek couldn ' t get in the car and was disqualified , leading it to exterminate the Cyberman , Darth Vader and a fleeing Ming with the help of another Dalek . The Cyberman went on to win with the fastest time but did not answer any questions about how it felt afterwards because it had no emotions . " Max Warp " . In February 2008 , Big Finish Productions released the Eighth Doctor audio story " Max Warp " , written by Jonathan Morris , which parodied several elements of " Top Gear " . The titular show , " Max Warp " , is a show about spaceship s presented by Geoffrey Vantage ( voiced by Graeme Garden ) , O ' Reilley ( James Fleet ) and Timbo ( Duncan James ) , each a parody of the then - " Top Gear " hosts . Geoffrey Vantage is an unflattering parody of Clarkson , portrayed as a rude , sexist , racist , politically incorrect and anti - environmental media personality and columnist who is disrespectful towards his co - hosts . He plays the villain of the story , and is sacked and arrested for attempted murder and trying to start a second war against the Kith , having served as a test pilot in the previous war . O ' Reilley , a spaceship expert , parodying May , is portrayed as old fashioned , timid , boring and prone to rambling on about details of little interest to other spaceship enthusiasts . He ultimately loses his patience with how he is treated by Vantage and snaps , stands up to him and orders his arrest . Timbo , a parody of Hammond , is nicknamed " the Ferret " in reference to Hammond ' s nickname , Hamster . Timbo , the daredevil pilot , loses control of a spaceship and crashes at the beginning of the story , which is also a reference to a crash Hammond was involved in in 2006 . The story concludes with an acknowledgement of how " Top Gear " became popular for its unusual yet entertaining approach for a car show . With Vantage sacked , O ' Reilley changes the direction of " Max Warp " to a show more focused on straightforward spacecraft reviews and other transport - related histories and overviews , akin to more traditional car shows including " Top Gear " ' s pre - 2002 incarnation . Lucie Miller opines " He ' s gonna get it axed . " The Eighth Doctor initially tries to be more optimistic and suggests " people might like the show if it ' s actually about spaceships " before backing down agreeing with Lucie that it will be axed . He is upset about the removal of his favourite part of the show , the Funky Board , a reference to " Top Gear " ' s Cool Wall . Star in a Reasonably Priced Car . Introduction . " Top Gear " also hosts a challenge almost every episode in which celebrity guests race around the Top Gear test track , designed by Lotus on the Dunsfold Aerodrome runways outside the hangar that houses the studio , in , as the name suggests , a " reasonably priced car " such as a Suzuki Liana , Chevrolet Lacetti , Kia Cee ' d or Vauxhall Astra Tech Line in a bid to post the fastest possible lap , with each lap being preceded and accompanied by an interview with Clarkson . This has given " Doctor Who " stars the chance to race not only other famous faces but also each other . Currently Doctors - Christopher Eccleston , David Tennant and Matt Smith - plus companion Billie Piper have taken part , along with a number of " Doctor Who " television and voice actors : Hijinks With The Major Stars . As it has turned out , Eccleston using a Liana with an automatic transmission during his 2005 lap ( a 1 : 52 . 4 , the slowest of any " Doctor Who " star ) since he wasn ' t licensed to drive the regular manual - transmission Liana was the least of the hijinks that ensued when " Doctor Who " major stars took to the track . During her 2007 lap , Piper , who was in a Lacetti , cut across Hammerhead ( a challenging left turn into a right - hand hairpin - like turn ) and was also on the wrong side of Chicago ' s line , prompting the Stig ( the show ' s mute and stoic " tame racing driver " ) to recommend a 3 - second penalty - but Clarkson couldn ' t bring himself to enforce it when he saw that Piper had arrived for the interview in a see - through top , and her time of 1 : 48 . 3 stood . Tennant , who appeared that December , was not pleased at Clarkson being lenient , claiming she had " drove a track that she made up " , only for Clarkson to explain that the see - through - top had stayed his hand and later joking that had he worn a see - through top himself , he would have been " faster than Simon Cowell ( who had posted a record lap ) . " As it turned out , Tennant had so much trouble with third gear that he wrecked the first Lacetti he was driving and ended up posting a time of 1 : 48 . 8 - which would have beaten Piper ' s time had the penalty been enforced ! Piper ' s time , however , stood as the best time by a " Doctor Who " major star until Smith ' s appearance in 2012 . Armed with the knowledge of what his predecessors had posted ( he mentioned their times before his was revealed ) , he dropped Piper ' s time by 4 . 6 seconds to 1 : 43 . 7 in the Cee ' d . " Star In A Reasonably Priced " TARDIS " " . In 2008 , the BBC ' s Simon Catt inspired Matt Taylor of the network ' s Repeats and Reversioning team to combine Tennant ' s " Top Gear " lap with TARDIS clips from " Doctor Who " . The end product was a video that used the audio and studio clips of Tennant ' s lap with commentary from both Tennant and Clarkson and the " Doctor Who " opening theme in the background , but instead of showing the Lacetti and Tennant at the wheel , it featured clips of the TARDIS in flight and Tennant as the Tenth Doctor at the controls , with the footage including the highway chase in TV : " The Runaway Bride " and the bumpy landing " across the line " in the Powell Estate street in TV : " The Christmas Invasion " . It was dubbed " Star in a Reasonably Priced TARDIS " or " " Doctor Who " Meets " Top Gear " . " Catt and Taylor ' s boss Gill Holmes not only liked it , but was so impressed that he forwarded it to Mark Harrison , Head of the BBC ' s Multiplatform Studio . From there , it went even further to Peter Salmon , Chief Creative Officer of the BBC Vision Studio - who was due to visit the " Top Gear " team soon . He showed the clip to Clarkson and " Top Gear " Executive Producer Andy Wilman - and they loved it and gave it their blessing to post online . A fan later did much the same thing with Eccleston ' s lap and uploaded it to YouTube .