Top Gear | Series | MySeries Top Gear Network: BBC One Genres:Special Interest, Talk Show Top Gear is a BAFTA and Emmy award winning British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style. The show is currently presented by Chris Evans (previously by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May), and has featured three different test drivers known as The Stig (the first dressed in a black racing outfit, and the second and third dressed in a white one). Read more Top Gear, 1977 - British Classic Comedy Top Gear, 1977 Entertainment It seemed topical so we thought this post might be interesting. It’s future at this point is not clear, but Top Gear is British television institute about motor vehicles, primarily cars, and is the most widely watched factual television programme in the world. Many people forget that there have been 67 series to date comprising 689 episodes (this includes 11 specials). There have also been many presenters over the years.

Early Years Top Gear started in 1977 as a monthly television series produced by BBC Midlands. The programme took a magazine style format and initially was transmitted to viewers in the Midlands region only. The programme covered motoring related issues such as new car road tests, fuel economy, safety, the police, speeding, insurance, second-hand cars and holiday touring. Presented by Angela Rippon and Tom Coyne, (who was front man of the local evening news programme, Midlands Today), series one ran for nine episodes. In 1978 the BBC launched the show accross it’s entire network. Still running for thity minutes, same presenters, different channel now airing weekly on BBC2 where it still airs. The series ran for ten episodes. In 1979 Noel Edmunds joined testing new cars, he joined Angela Rippon as presenter for two series in 1980. Moving On The show stayed prety much unchanged until 1987, by which time many presenters had come and gone along with the production team.

In 1987, Jon Bentley (more recently a presenter on Channel 5 TV show about technology, The Gadget Show) became one of the show’s producers along with Ken Pollock. In this period new presenters were added including former Formula One driver Tiff Needell, Tom Boswell, Tony Mason and Performance Car Magazine journalist Jeremy Clarkson in late 1988 and the programme saw a massive boost in its audience as it became a more humorous, controversial, and unashamedly more critical show. By 1988 Top Gear was pulling in weekly audiences of over five million each week and had become BBC2’s most popular programme. 1990’s and Demise In 1991, the then Editor Tom Ross and the main presenter William Woollard left the show. Around the same time, Quentin Willson, a former used car salesman, joined the team. The 1990s also saw the addition of a new female presenter, Michele Newman, who appeared on ITV’s Pulling Power.

Other presenters included Steve Berry, whose speciality was motorbikes, and racing driver Vicki Butler-Henderson, who made a one-off appearance in 1994, and started presenting the show full-time from 1997. It seemed the show could do no wrong, as audinces continued to grow. However in 1999/2000 following many well-known presenters’ departure the audience fell from 6 million to under 3 million. In 2001, Clarkson departed and the BBC decided that the show, despite still being BBC2’s most watched, needed refreshing and so it was cancelled. All New Top Gear In 2002 the BBC relaunced the show. The idea for a new format had come from former host Jeremy Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman. The new Top Gear studio is located at the Dunsfold Aerodrome, an airport and business park in Waverley, Surrey. Top Gear uses a temporary racing circuit which was designed for the programme by Lotus and is laid out on parts of Dunsfold’s runways and taxiways. A large aircraft hangar is used for studio recording with a standing audience.

The new format apart from location incorporated a number of changes from the old series. A studio audience, extended runnimng time to one hour, The Stig, an anonymous, helmeted racing driver, was introduced as the test driver. New segments were also added, including “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car”, “The Cool Wall”, “The News”, “Power Laps”, and one-off features such as races, competitions, the regular destruction of caravans, and occasionally Morris Marinas, which cannot appear on the programme without being destroyed (most commonly by a piano landing on the roof). Presented initially by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and Jason Dawe. Dawe was replaced in the second series of the new format by James May. The show continued it’s successful run until in March 2015 the BBC announced the suspension of Clarkson over an altercation with a member of the production team, it also meant that the final two sows of the series were cancelled. On 25th March 2015 it was announced by BBC director general Tony Hall that Jeremy Clarkson’s contract would not be renewed.

Clips Top Gear TV Series - Warrior Nation Warrior Nation All Trucks, Cars & Trains Pages Top Gear TV Series Top Gear is a BAFTA and Emmy award winning British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style. The show is currently presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, and has featured three different test drivers known as The Stig. The programme is estimated to have 350 million viewers worldwide and is heavily downloaded from peer to peer file sharing services, with roughly 300,000 downloads per episode via torrent programs. First run episodes are broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two, and since Series 14, also on BBC HD. Sixteen series have been broadcast, and the seventeenth series started on 26 June 2011. The new series format incorporates a number of major changes from the old show. The running time was extended to one hour and two new presenters were introduced: Richard Hammond and Jason Dawe, with James May replacing Dawe after the first series.

The Stig, an anonymous, helmeted racing driver, was introduced as the test driver. New segments were also added, including "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car", "The Cool Wall", "The News", "Power Laps", and one off features such as races, competitions and the regular destruction of caravans and, more recently, Morris Marinas. Top Gear - 1977 TV series - YouTube ) Top Gear (known as Old Top Gear when mentioned on the present version of the show) was a car-based BBC television series produced by BBC Birmingham, broadcast from 1977 to 2001. It consisted of 30-minute magazine format programmes presented by a number of people, including Jeremy Clarkson, Angela Rippon, Noel Edmonds, and William Woollard. (A Top Gear special, with Jason Barlow being the only remaining presenter, with Vicki Butler-Henderson, Tiff Needell and Adrian Simpson having moved to Fifth Gear, was broadcast in 2002 with coverage of the Birmingham Motorshow.) In 2002, the show was relaunched in a new one-hour-long, studio-based format.

Top Gear (2002 TV series) 15 episodes ) Top Gear is a BBC and Emmy award winning television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style. The show is currently presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, and also features a test driver known as The Stig. The programme is estimated to have 350 million viewers worldwide. less Two versions of a BBC television series about motoring: Top Gear (1977 TV series), the original television series (1977--2001) Top Gear (2002 TV series), the current television series (2002--present) Top Gear (1977 TV series) 45 episod... more Top Gear: Jeremy drives the smallest car in the world (BBC) –[Multimedia-English videos] Top Gear: Jeremy drives the smallest car in the world ( BBC ) Top Gear is a British television show about motor vehicles, primarily cars.

It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunc in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous and sometimes controversial style. The show is currently presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, and has featured at least three different test drivers known as The Stig. The programme is estimated to have around 350 million views per week in 170 different countries and is heavily downloaded from peer-to-peer file-sharing services, with roughly 300,000 downloads per episode via torrent programs. First run episodes are broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two, and since Series 14, also on BBC HD. Eighteen series have been broadcast, the most recent of which finished on 11 March - 2012 will not have a second series, only a Christmas Special, after which series 19 will premiere in January 2013. (Wikipedia) Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear. He also writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun.

His opinionated but humorous tongue-in-cheek writing and presenting style has often generated much public reaction to his viewpoints. His actions both privately and as a Top Gear presenter have also sometimes resulted in criticism from the media, politicians, pressure groups and the public. Despite the criticism levelled against him, he has also generated a significant following from the public at large, being credited as a major factor in the resurgence of Top Gear as one of the most popular shows on the BBC. (Wikipedia) Another funny moment Jeremy is: Kristen Scott Thomas Interview 8:58 Top Gear: Find Out The Show's Origins And More Bringing you the Latest News, Entertainment and More Top Gear: Find Out The Show’s Origins And More Top Gear is an Emmy award winning car-based BBC television series produced by BBC Birmingham. It first started broadcasting on BBC2 back in 1977 and consisted of a 30-minute magazine type program presented by William Woollard, Angela Rippon and Noel Edmonds. In 2002, the show was completely transformed and relaunched in a new one-hour-long, studio-based format made by the BBC in London.

Top Gear is currently presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, and also features a test driver known as The Stig. The program is estimated to have 350 million viewers worldwide. First run episodes were broadcasted in the United Kingdom on BBC Two, and since Series 14, also on BBC HD. Top Gear is also shown on Dave, BBC America, BBC Canada, RTÉ Two in Ireland, Canvas in Belgium, Nine Network, GO! in Australia, Prime TV in New Zealand, and a number of other television channels around the world. The popularity of the show has led to the creation of two international versions, with local production teams and presenters for Australia and Russia. Episodes of the Australian version premiered on 29 September 2008 and NBC was holding the American version for broadcast in February or March 2009, as a possible mid-season replacement, but later dropped it from their schedule before production resumed. The show has received acclaim for its visual style and presentation, as well as considerable criticism for its content and comments made by presenters. History of Top Gear The video below show the opening to the first ever series of Top Gear.

Top Gear started in 1977 as a local program made by BBC Birmingham (Pebble Mill) and was broad casted on BBC2. Presenters included Noel Edmonds and William Woollard, with contributions by Frank Page, Sue Baker, Tony Mason and Chris Goffey. The show’s theme music was “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers, although remixed versions were used after 1999. For much of the original series’ lifespan, Elton John’s instrumental “Out Of The Blue” played over the closing credits. According to its original producer, David Lancaster, the idea for the name came from the unrelated radio series Top Gear. Originally, Top Gear was a magazine show reviewing new car models and other car-related issues such as road safety. Other features included classic car events and motorsport, the latter often rallying with Tony Mason, Roger Clark’s co-driver. Watch a 1981 Top Gear review of the Vauxhaul Cavalier below. In 1987, Jon Bentley (now a presenter on Five’s Gadget Show) became one of the show’s producers.

During this period new presenters were added including former Formula One driver Tiff Needell and in late 1988, Performance Car Magazine journalist Jeremy Clarkson also joined the show making it more humorous, controversial, and more critical. Due to these changes the program saw a massive boost in its audience. Between 1988 and 1991, the program organised a competition each year to find a new rally driver with the prize being entry into that year’s RAC Rally. In 1991, William Woollard left the show. Around the same time, Quentin Willson, a former used car salesman, joined. The 1990s also saw the addition of a new female presenter, Michele Newman, who still appears on ITV’s Pulling Power. Other presenters included Steve Berry, whose specialty was motorbikes, and racing driver Vicki Butler-Henderson, who joined in 1997. Despite the show receiving much criticism as being overly macho, encouraged irresponsible driving behavior and ignored the environment, it managed to pull in huge audiences becoming BBC2’s Top viewed program with audiences over 5 million from 1988.

Top Gear became hugely influential with motor manufacturers, since a critical word from the team could have a severe negative effect on sales. One such example is the original Vauxhall Vectra which Clarkson said: “I know it’s the replacement for the Cavalier. I know. But I’m telling you it’s just a box on wheels.” However, even more critical statements did not affect sales of the Toyota Corolla and extreme praise did not help the Renault Alpine GTA/A610. Demise and relaunch Following many well-known presenters’ departure in 1999/2000 the Top Gear audience fell from a peak of six million to under three million. Initially, James May took over Clarkson’s spot, presenting reviews of vehicles including the Rover 75 and Lexus IS200. Following Clarkson’s departure, the program was jointly presented by Quentin Willson and Kate Humble, who ran an ongoing test throughout the program between reports. Brendan Coogan (who had joined in 1998), left the show a year later after being convicted of drunk driving. In 2000, Jason Barlow left and joined the Channel 4’s driven.

The program ran almost continuously between September 2000 and October 2001, and despite regularly being the most watched show on BBC Two, the channel decided the format needed to be dramatically refreshed. In 2002, Channel 5 launched Fifth Gear, a car show featuring many of the former Top Gear presenters including Tiff Needell, Quentin Willson and Vicki Butler-Henderson. The show was produced by former Top Gear producer, Jon Bentley. While most of the production team moved from the BBC to Five to create Fifth Gear, Jason Barlow was still under contract to the BBC and went on to front the new program “Wrong Car, Right Car”, which ran for two series and 23 episodes. The name change to “Fifth Gear” was required as the BBC would not relinquish the rights to the Top Gear name. After the first series of Fifth Gear was completed, the BBC decided to relaunch Top Gear, but in a new studio-based format as opposed to the magazine format used until the cancellation. The show was again presented by Jeremy Clarkson, joined by Richard Hammond, and Jason Dawe. James May went on to replace Jason Dawe after the second series.

The pre-cancellation show is referred to as “Old Top Gear” when mentioned on the new show due to the differences in style. Re-launched Top Gear Jeremy Clarkson, who helped the original series reach its peak in the 1990s, successfully pitched a new format for Top Gear to the BBC, reversing a previous decision to cancel the show in 2001. The new series was first broadcasted in 2002 at the new Top Gear studio, located at Dunsfold Aerodrome and business park in Waverley, Surrey. Top Gear uses a temporary racing circuit which was designed for the show by Lotus and is laid out on parts of Dunsfold’s runways and taxiways. A large hangar is used for studio recording with a standing audience. The new series format incorporates a number of major changes from the old show. The running time was extended to one hour and two new presenters were introduced: Richard Hammond and Jason Dawe, with James May replacing Dawe after the first series. The Stig, an anonymous, helmeted racing driver, was introduced as the test driver.

New segments were also added, including “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car”, “The Cool Wall”, “The News”, “Power Laps”, and one off features such as races, competitions and the regular destruction of caravans and, more recently, Morris Marinas. In early 2006, the BBC had planned to move the filming site from Dunsfold to Enstone, Oxfordshire for filming of the eighth series of Top Gear, but the move was rejected by West Oxfordshire council due to noise and pollution concerns. Filming of the series went ahead at Dunsfold in May despite not having a permit to do so, with a revamped studio set, a new car for the “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment, and the inclusion of one of Hammond’s dogs, named “Top Gear Dog” (now known as TeeGee), in a few studio and film segments of that series. On 20 September 2006, Richard Hammond was seriously injured while driving a Vampire turbojet drag racing car at up to 314 miles per hour (505 km/h) for a feature in the show.

The BBC indefinitely postponed the broadcast of Best of Top Gear and announced that production of the show would be delayed until Hammond had recovered. Both the BBC and the Health and Safety Executive carried out inquiries into the accident.Filming resumed on 5 October 2006. The ninth series began on 28 January 2007 and included footage of Hammond’s crash. The first show of the ninth series attracted higher ratings than the finale of Celebrity Big Brother and the final episode of the series had 8 million viewers, BBC Two’s highest ratings for a decade. A special program, Top Gear: Polar Special, was broadcast in the UK on 25 July 2007 and was the first episode to be shown in high-definition. It involved a race to the North Magnetic Pole from Resolute, Nunavut, Canada, with James May and Jeremy Clarkson traveling in a ‘polar modified’ Toyota Hilux, and Richard Hammond on a dog drawn sled. All three presenters had experienced explorers with them, and Clarkson and May became the first to reach the 1996 North Magnetic Pole by car, using the vehicle’s satellite navigation.

Since 1996, the North Magnetic Pole had moved approximately 100 miles (160 km). The recorded 1996 location is the target used by Polar Challenge and was used by the Top Gear team as their destination; the Geographic North Pole is approximately 800 miles (1,300 km) further north. On 9 September 2007, Top Gear participated in the 2007 Britcar 24-hour race at Silverstone, where the hosts (including The Stig) drove a race prepared, second hand diesel BMW 330d to come 3rd in its class and 39th overall. The car was fueled using bio-diesel refined from crops shown during a tractor review in the previous series. In 2008, the show was adapted into a live format called Top Gear Live. The tour started on 30 October 2008 in Earls Court, London, moving on to Birmingham in November then at least 15 other countries worldwide.

Produced by former Top Gear producer Rowland French the events were described as an attempt to “bring the tv show format to life… featuring breath-taking stunts, amazing special effects and blockbusting driving sequences featuring some of the world’s best precision drivers”. On 17 June 2008, in an interview on BBC Radio 1’s The Chris Moyles Show, Hammond and May confirmed that in Series 11 there would be a new “occasional regular host”. This was revealed to be Top Gear Stunt Man. The series’ executive producer, Andy Wilman, also revealed that future program will have less time devoted to big challenges: “We’ve looked back at the last two or three runs and noticed that a program can get swallowed up by one monster film — a bit like one of those Yes albums from the 70s where side one is just one track — so we’re trying to calm down the prog-rock side.

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.” Series 14, broadcast in autumn 2009, attracted criticism from some viewers, who perceived that the show was becoming predictable with an over-reliance on stunts and forced humor at the expense of serious content. On the BBC’s Points of View broadcast 13 December 2009, Janice Hadlow, the controller of BBC Two, rejected such comments, observing that she was still pleased with Top Gear’s ratings and audience appreciation figures. However, on 20 December, Andy Wilman admitted that the three presenters were now “playing to their TV cartoon characters a bit too much”. He added, “It’s fair to say this incarnation of Top Gear is nearer the end than the beginning, and our job is to land this plane with its dignity still intact.

But ironically, that does mean trying new things to the last, even if they screw up, because, well, it means you never stopped trying.” As of May 2010, series 15 is currently in production. The first episode of the series was aired on 27 June on BBC2 and BBC HD. Top Gear Races The show regularly features long-distance (or, as Clarkson refers to them, “epic”) races. These typically feature Clarkson (or one of the other presenters) driving a car against other forms of transport. The challenges usually involve Hammond and May taking the same journey by combinations of plane, train or ferry. A number of smaller scale ‘novelty’ races have also taken place that demonstrate various strengths and, more often, weaknesses of cars. These races involve one of the presenters, in a carefully chosen car, racing head-to-head against an athlete in conditions that favor the latter. The program has also featured a variety of small races, typically lasting a couple of minutes, that pit two similar cars against each other, for example, old and very powerful racing cars against new showroom cars.

Top Gear Challenges In the first series, they featured novelty challenges and short stunt films, typically based on absurd premises, such as a bus jumping over motorcycles (as opposed to the more typical scenario of a motorcycle jumping over buses) or a nun driving a monster truck. No stunt films appeared between series seven and ten, but series eleven saw the introduction of segments with an anonymous stunt man (credited as “Top Gear Stunt Man”) performing car jumps. Starting with series five, many of the show’s challenges were introduced with the tag-line “How hard can it be?”. These included challenges where the presenters attempt to build a convertible Renault Espace, being roadies for The Who, and participating in the Britcar 24-hour endurance race at Silverstone Circuit. Starting with series four, one episode of each series has featured a film built around the premise of “Cheap cars”, whereby the presenters are given a budget (typically around £1,500, but it has been between £100 and £10,000 depending on the type of car) to buy a used car conforming to certain criteria. Once purchased, the presenters compete against each other in a series of tests to establish who has bought the best car.

The presenters have no prior knowledge of what the tests will be, although they typically involve long journeys to evaluate the cars’ reliability and fuel economy, and a race track event to determine performance. Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car In each episode, a celebrity is interviewed by Clarkson. Then, they and the studio audience watch footage of the guest’s fastest lap around the Top Gear test track. The times are recorded on a leader board. For the first seven series of Top Gear’s current format, the car driven was a Suzuki Liana. At the beginning of the eighth series, the Liana was replaced by a Chevrolet Lacetti. Consequently, as the Lacetti is more powerful, the leader board was wiped clean, which has allowed several celebrities to return, including Boris Johnson, now Mayor of London. The format for setting a lap time was also changed: each celebrity is allowed five practice laps, then a final timed lap. No allowance is made for any errors on this final timed lap. Clarkson hinted in the final episode of the fourteenth series that the Lacetti may be replaced with a new reasonably-priced car for the fifteenth series, and this has since been confirmed by Top Gear magazine.

The new car was confirmed in the first episode of the fifteenth series to be a Kia Cee’d. Ellen MacArthur set the fastest lap time in the Liana, with a time of 1:46.7. The fastest lap time in the Chevrolet Lacetti was set by Jay Kay with a time of 1:45.83. His performance in the final episode of series 11 replaced Simon Cowell’s at the head of the leader board. Kevin McCloud was second with a time of 1:45.87, Brian Johnson was third, and Simon Cowell fourth, both with a time of 1:45.9 on the board. The current fastest time is that of Tom Cruise in the Kia Cee’d with a lap time of 1:44.2. There have been several mishaps in the past with this feature. Michael Gambon went around the final corner of the track on two wheels, prompting Clarkson to rename the corner in Gambon’s honour. Lionel Richie and Trevor Eve each lost a wheel and David Soul destroyed the clutches of both the main car and the back-up car.

Several celebrities have come off the track in practice, with Clarkson showing the footage to the audience. There is a separate Formula One drivers’ leader board, because of the considerable skill advantage F1 drivers have. Rubens Barrichello is currently top of the time sheet, with a time of 1.44.3, 0.1 seconds ahead of Top Gear’s resident driver The Stig, although the presenters consider Lewis Hamilton’s time to be more impressive; despite being set on a very wet and oily track, Hamilton’s time was only three tenths of a second slower than The Stig’s, which was set in dry conditions. In the past, Clarkson has told drivers that they may deduct three seconds for a wet lap in the Suzuki Liana, making Hamilton’s lap even more impressive. All Formula One times, even those set after the seventh series, are set in the Suzuki Liana. Power Laps In the Power Laps segment, The Stig completes a lap around the Top Gear test track to gauge the performance of various cars. The qualifications for the normal Power Lap Board are that the car being tested must be road-worthy, commercially available, and able to negotiate a speed bump (sometimes referred to as a ‘sleeping policeman’).

There is a separate unofficial board of times for non-production cars, such as the Aston Martin DBR9 Le Mans racer. Cars that have recorded ineligible lap times on the Top Gear track include the Renault F1 car, at fifty nine seconds, and the Caparo T1, at 1:10.6, both disqualified due to the sleeping policeman requirement, as well as the Ferrari FXX, at 1:10.7, which was disqualified for using slick tyres. The fastest road-legal car that met the Power Lap requirements has been the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport with a lap time of 1:16.8. The Cool Wall Introduced in the sixth episode of series one, Clarkson and Hammond decide which cars are cool and which are not by placing photographs of them on to various sections of a large board, known as ‘The Cool Wall’. The categories are, from left to right; “Seriously Uncool”, “Uncool”, “Cool”, and “Sub Zero”. According to Andy Wilman, the show’s producer, any given car’s coolness factor rested on various attributes that are not necessarily related to the quality of the car itself.

For example, Wilman suggests that “fashion cars” such as the Audi TT, PT Cruiser, Jaguar S-Type and Volkswagen Beetle are uncool because they “make a massive impact for five minutes and then look clichéd and vaguely ridiculous.” On the show, Clarkson has stated that cars were deemed cool by the extent to which he believed they would impress actress Kristin Scott Thomas, and later, BBC newsreader Fiona Bruce. Both have since been the celebrity guest for the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car feature; when Scott Thomas appeared on the show in series nine, many of her own judgments on which vehicles were “cool” and “uncool” were the opposite to the show’s verdicts (her own car being a G-Wiz, previously dubbed “uncool”). Later, when Bruce came on in series 11, her preferred choice of transport — a Citroen Picasso visibly horrified Clarkson. In the first episode of series four, a separate fridge section, the “DB9 Super Cool Fridge”, on a table to the right of the board, was introduced after Jeremy declared that the Aston Martin DB9 was too cool even to be classified as “Sub-Zero”.

It initially contained just the DB9, but was eventually joined by the Aston Martin V8 Vantage in the seventh series. At the other end of the scale, James May’s car — the Fiat Panda — was placed several metres to the left of the “uncool” side, on a banner at the back of the hangar. This was partly due to an acknowledged rule by the presenters that cars owned by themselves cannot be considered cool. In series nine, Clarkson was forced to place the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder in the Uncool section because he had just bought one. He then revealed that he had sold his Ford GT, allowing him to move the car back into the Sub-Zero section.

The humor of this section often lies in Clarkson and Hammond disagreeing over which section a car should be placed in, with Clarkson nearly always winning the argument — sometimes by placing the car at the very top of the wall, preventing the much shorter Hammond from being able to reach it (although in the last episode of series 13 Hammond got his own back by using a scissor lift to place a Nissan 370Z in the Sub-Zero section, which was then stopped by Clarkson pressing the emergency stop button, thus he could put the Pagani Zonda Cinque, Hammond’s “favourite car in the world”, and 5 photos of Hammond himself in the Seriously Uncool section). Clarkson sometimes uses more extreme methods such as burning the card depicting the car in question, or once even taking a chainsaw to the wall when Hammond dared to try and place a Ducati 1098 motorbike on the wall. Clarkson has even destroyed Hammond’s microphone to stop him.

Hammond has occasionally had his revenge: after a series of disagreements with Clarkson’s choices, he snatched the card on which a BMW M6 was featured from Clarkson and then ran into the audience, leading to a fight between the two and to Hammond eating the card, preventing it from being used. During series six Clarkson had slipped and had surgery resulting in two intervertebral discs in his back and was unable to bend down; Hammond ended an argument by placing the car in question at the bottom of the board. The Cool Wall was mostly destroyed in the fire that occurred in August 2007 (reported, tongue in cheek, by Jeremy Clarkson as having been started by their Five rivals, Fifth Gear), and was not used during the subsequent tenth series. The burnt wall was present during episode 3 of series 10, when Hammond was testing the auto-parking Lexus LS 600 next to it. A new Cool Wall was introduced in the second episode of series eleven. Unusual reviews A common theme on Top Gear is an approach to reviewing cars which combines standard road tests and opinions with an extremely unusual circumstance, or with a challenge to demonstrate a notable characteristic of the vehicle.

This has included several reviews, including “Toyota Hilux Destruction”, featured in series three, episodes five and six. Various methods were employed by Clarkson and May to try to destroy a fourth generation Toyota Hilux, thereby proving its strength. The ‘trials’ included dropping the Hilux from a crane, setting the vehicle on fire, crashing it into a tree, driving it through a big shed (with a sign which said ‘Top Gear Production Office’), leaving it out in the sea, dropping a caravan on it, slamming it with a wrecking ball, and finally having it hoisted to the roof of a tower-block that was subsequently demolished with explosives. The heavily damaged (but still driveable, without the use of any new parts) Hilux now stands on a plinth in the Top Gear studio. Another such review featured a Ford Fiesta, after Hammond read out a letter from a viewer complaining that “Top Gear cannot review cars properly any more.” Clarkson gave the model a sarcastic, but thorough, appraisal and was then pursued around Festival Place shopping centre in Basingstoke, Hampshire, by a Chevrolet Corvette C6. The Fiesta was then used as a beach landing craft with the Royal Marines.

Occasionally, many cars are featured and reviewed inside one segment. In the “Scooter Road Test Russian Roulette Challenge” of series six, episode nine, Hammond and May worked as ScooterMen in order to road-test as many randomly-selected cars as possible, the catch being that they wouldn’t know what they’d be road-testing and have to review the vehicles in the presence of the owners. Exotic or foreign cars are occasionally also reviewed in unusual ways. In the “VIP Chauffeur” test of series eleven, episode six, May conducted road tests in Japan of the Mitsuoka Orochi and Galue, and used the Galue to chauffeur a Sumo wrestler and his manager to a tournament as a way to test if the car is “Japan’s Rolls-Royce”. Also in series 14 Clarkson tested the Renault Twingo in Belfast following a complaint from one of the city’s residents. Despite catching a cold on the ferry getting there, he admitted he loved the car. However, he did some rather strange things, including driving it “upside down” in the Belfast Sewage System.

In a joke gag, Clarkson ended up driving the car into Belfast Lough after an attempt to land it on the HSC Stena Voyager after missing boarding times. Throughout the review it was revealed Ross Kemp was in the boot. In series 15 episode 3, Clarkson, Hammond and May took turns testing three high performance sports saloons viz. Porsche Panamera Turbo, Maserati Quattroporte and an Aston Martin Rapide. The presenters acted as chauffeurs to a real wedding and the couples were invited to the studio for the filming of the show where they were presented a toilet seat with the pictures of the three presenters on it so that they would remember them whenever they went to the toilet. Car of the Year At the end of each autumn series the hosts present an award to their favorite car of the year. The only criterion for the award is that all three presenters must come to a unanimous choice. Winners have included: Year Car Top Gear (TV Series 1978–2002) - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property.

Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Quentin, Tiff, Vicki and others look at all things car-related. Stars: Famous Directors: From Sundance to Prominence From Christopher Nolan to Quentin Tarantino and every Coen brother in between, many of today's most popular directors got their start at the Sundance Film Festival . Here's a list of some of the biggest names to go from Sundance to Hollywood prominence. a list of 39 titles created 03 Oct 2011 a list of 31 titles created 07 Feb 2013 a list of 26 titles created 12 Jun 2013 a list of 25 titles created 23 Jan 2015 a list of 49 titles created 24 Oct 2015 Search for " Top Gear " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Title: Top Gear (1978–2002) 8.4/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin.

Top Gear (TV Series 2002) Comedy | Talk-Show The hosts talk about everything car-related. From new cars to how they're fueled, this show has it all. Stars: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May Top Gear USA (TV Series 2008) Documentary The hosts Adam Ferrara, Rutledge Wood and Tanner Foust talk about what ever you need to know about cars and in every episode they go through a list of challenges to know who chose the best ... See full summary » Stars: Tanner Foust, Adam Ferrara, Rutledge Wood A weekly documentary in which two Hollywood special effects experts attempt to debunk urban legends by directly testing them. Stars: Jamie Hyneman, Adam Savage, Robert Lee Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond go on a seven-day road trip from Venice, Italy, to Pau, France, in this special episode from the BBC motoring series. Along the way the pair visit the ... See full summary » Director: Phil Churchward How It's Made (TV Series 2001) Documentary Television series that documents how various everyday products are made. Stars: Brooks T.

Moore, Lynne Adams, Lynn Herzeg Cars are the bedrock of the most memorable moments in cinema history, so be prepared for a thrilling selection of races, stunts and awesome feats as Richard Hammond and James May celebrate ... See full summary » Director: Phil Churchward Just what will motoring be like in a post apocalyptic world that's been blown to bits by nuclear bombs or a massive comet? It's a burning question that's on literally nobody's mind, and we ... See full summary » Director: Phil Churchward Bugs Bunny, the famous, Oscar-winning cartoon rabbit, hosts his first weekly television series, along with all his fellow Warner Brothers cartoon stars, including Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, ... See full summary » Stars: Mel Blanc, June Foray, Jim Backus Presented by Richard Hammond and featuring stunts and tomfoolery never before seen on TV, Top Gear Uncovered is the ultimate insight into the Top Gear world, with an exclusive look at the ... See full summary » Directors: Southan Morris, Owen Trevor Stars: Richard Hammond 5th Gear (TV Series 2002) Documentary A motor magazine with the recent driving news, expert opinions, and practical & reliable advices.

Stars: Tiff Needell, Vicki Butler-Henderson, Jason Plato Dirty Jobs (TV Mini-Series 2003) Documentary This show contains the 3 pilot episodes of Dirty Jobs from 2003 including bat cave scavenger, worm dung farmer and roadkill cleaner. Stars: Mike Rowe, Jim Bintliff, Don Brewer 13 July 1978 (UK) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia In 2001 due to falling ratings, the BBC chose to axe the show. Channel 5 then decided to revive the show with the then current presenters ( Quentin Willson , Vicki Butler-Henderson and Tiff Needell ). Because BBC owns the name rights, the show had to be renamed 5th Gear (2002). The show was only revived ( Top Gear (2002)) because Jeremy Clarkson was considered to be the most popular presenter of them all and many people had considered his absence to be the cause of the demise of the show.

See more » Connections The best Motoring Program on television 2 June 2001 | by bwana7 – See all my reviews Top Gear in its current state may not be at its peek, but it is still certainly a cut above the other motoring programs. Driven had a good atempt, but its still no cigar. Top Gear recently celebrated its 21st birthday, and personally i cant wait for its 42nd birthday celbrations. Tiff Needell is possible one of the best drivers ever (just listen to the priase at the beginning of his 'Fast and Furious' video) VBH was drafted in at first just too prvide some eye candy, but has now proven that she can hold her own against the boys. Jeremy, is sadly now absent from the current TV line up, as is the doggy Mr. Wilson, but Jason Barlow does a half decent job of takne his place. Steve Berry, the motorbike guru, has also gone on to pastures new, and his Andy Kershaw style is sadly missed. Great program, keep going. 5 of 18 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Question: Which British TV series about cars that began in 1977 is presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, and features a test driver known as The Stig?
Answer: Top Gear