The Return of Top Gear: What to Expect

Top Gear returns to our screens on Sunday with a whole new line-up of presenters, almost a year after series 22 aired. In its previous incarnation, Top Gear became the most widely watched factual television show in the whole world, broadcast in a whopping 212 territories. But without Jezzer, the Hamster and Captain Slow at the wheel, can the BBC steer the new Top Gear towards success?

The Fans

Beginning life in 1977 as an actual car review show, Top Gear built up a huge fan base since its 2002 reboot. Estimates for viewers worldwide range up to 350 million. The banter, stunts and races seemed to work, largely because of the chemistry between the three presenters. Fans will be quick to judge whether the format can survive the shake-up – and with a total of six new presenters, the Beeb could have bitten off more than they can chew.

The Old Team

Plenty of fans will be staying loyal to the old team – a million of them signed a petition calling for Jeremy Clarkson to be reinstated after his infamous ‘fracas’. Clarkson, Hammond and May are working on a project called The Grand Tour (after much debate, apparently) to be released by Amazon later in the year. The BBC own not only the Top Gear brand and also the rights to various segments of the show (Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, the Stig, the Cool Wall, and so on) so when The Grand Tour debuts this autumn the familiar faces will be presenting a new format.

The New Team

Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc face the problem of making an established format look fresh. A report in the Independent claimed that bored audience members were walking out of filming for the show and that Evans resorted to swearing at the crowd when they didn’t react to his jokes.

The Controversies

Top Gear has always been entrenched in controversy, and the new season is no different. Chris Evans has been accused of bullying, Matt LeBlanc may have revealed the Stig’s identity on Twitter, and of course, there was that business with the Cenotaph. Maybe that’s just how Top Gear is meant to be!

We’ll be tuning in and hoping for a good show on Sunday. We meet a lot of motoring enthusiasts in our line of work and we wouldn’t want them to be disappointed by the relaunch of the BBC’s flagship motoring show. If you are looking to upgrade your garage door, drop by our showroom in the week.  

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