Top Gear
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Top Gear is a BBC television series about cars. The eighth series (under current format) began airing on Sundays at 20:00 on BBC2 on 7 May 2006 with each episode available to view via the [BBC website] any time after its first broadcast. Only residents of the UK are permitted to access these internet broadcasts due to international broadcast restrictions and the cost of streaming the videos. Top Gear is estimated to have over 350 million viewers worldwide, 5 million of whom watch the programme each week in the UK. "[Ellen on BBC TWO’S Top Gear]." Team Ellen. 2 December 2005. Accessed 28 December 2005. Top Gear is currently hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, The Stig and Top Gear Dog, a labradoodle (which is a crossbreed of a Labrador and a Poodle). It is provocative, humorous and light-hearted in tone.
Top Gear magazine is a publication produced by BBC Magazines which shares some contributors, editors and features with the TV show. It is available monthly at a price of £3.90.
History
1977 to 2001
Top Gear started in 1977 and was hosted by BBC anchorwoman Angela Rippon, although the show was initially not networked throughout Britain. Early presenters included Noel Edmonds, William Woollard and Chris Goffey, father of Supergrass drummer, Danny Goffey. The programme was 30 minutes long.Originally, Top Gear was a fairly conventional magazine show reviewing new car models and other car-related issues such as road safety, but it saw a massive boost in its audience in the early 1990s when it became a more humorous, controversial, and unashamedly petrolhead-oriented programme, fronted by Jeremy Clarkson. Among Clarkson's contemporary presenters were Quentin Willson, a former used car salesman, and racing drivers Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson.
Despite enduring criticism that the show was overly macho, encouraged irresponsible driving behaviour, and ignored the environment, the show under Clarkson's presentation pulled in huge audiences. It became hugely influential with the motor manufacturers, since a critical word from the Top Gear team could have a severe negative effect on sales. One such example is the original Vauxhall Vectra about 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 have not affected sales of the Toyota Corolla, and extreme praise did not help the Renault Alpine GTA/A610.
Since the early 1990s, the annual Top Gear J. D. Power Top 100 survey consulted thousands of UK residents on their car-ownership satisfaction. For legal reasons concerning the non-commercial nature of the BBC, the actual consultation is now restricted to the magazine format, although results are still used on the show. The survey is now conducted by Experian.
Following Jeremy Clarkson's departure in 1999 the Top Gear audience fell from six million to under three million, resulting in the BBC's cancellation of the programme in 2001. One of the presenters brought in following Clarkson's departure was James May who would later become one of the three presenters of the present format. The remaining presenters moved to Five to launch a similar show, Fifth Gear, which continues today. After Top Gear's huge success in the mid-1990s, a number of similar programmes were also produced including Channel 4's Driven, ITV's Pulling Power and BBC World India's Wheels. "[Road shows]." Jason Deans. 24 November 2004. Accessed 1 January 2006
2002 to present
After a period of recording other programmes, Clarkson, along with producer Andy Wilman successfully pitched a new format for Top Gear to the BBC, and a new series began airing in 2002.
The new format incorporated a number of major changes. The show was lengthened to one hour and two new presenters were introduced: Richard Hammond and Jason Dawe. James May replaced Dawe after the first series. The Stig, an anonymous masked racing driver, was introduced as test driver. New segments were also added, including "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car", the "Cool Wall", "Car News", "Power Laps" as well as numerous one-off features such as races, competitions and the frequent destruction of caravans in imaginative ways. The programme is filmed at Dunsfold Park, an active airfield in Surrey, where a custom-built race circuit was built and a large hangar is used for inside filming. A standing studio audience with whom the presenters interact was also included. With the start of the eighth series in 2006 a new 'presenter' joined the cast, a labradoodle dog named "Top Gear Dog".
Production
The programme is filmed at the Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey. The studio is inside a hangar where a standing audience is brought in each week. For the eighth series, the studio was remodelled. Dunsfold Park also includes a test track custom designed by Lotus, built on the airfield.Theme music
Top Gear has used the Allman Brothers Band instrumental hit Jessica as its theme song for many years. Initially the show used part of the original artist's recording of the song, but later seasons of Top Gear use updated cover versions. As part of a segment in the August 7, 2005 episode, James May recorded a version of Jessica using engine sounds from cars including a classic Bugatti, Mazda RX-8, Honda S2000, Fiat Nuova Panda and a Ferrari Enzo. Richard and Jeremy ridiculed the effort, with Clarkson telling May "You've taken a car and made it sound like a fat, talentless shop assistant farting." According to James May in his defence, the Bugatti was running flat that day.For much of the original series' lifespan, Elton John's instrumental Out Of The Blue (from the Blue Moves album) played over the closing credits.
Nominations and awards
In November 2005, Top Gear won an International Emmy in the Non-Scripted Entertainment category. "[BBC picks up two International Emmy Awards]." BBC. 23 November 2005. Accessed 28 December 2005. In the episode where the presenters showed the award to the studio audience, Clarkson explained that he was unable to go to New York to receive the award since he was too busy writing the script for that episode.Top Gear has also been nominated three consecutive years, 2004-2006, for the British Academy Television Awards in the Best Feature category. Host Jeremy Clarkson was also nominated in the best "Entertainment Performance" category in 2006. "[This year's nominations]." BAFTA. Accessed 18 April 2006. In 2004 and 2005, Top Gear was also nominated for a National Television Award in the Most Popular Factual Programme category. "[Awards for "Top Gear"]." IMDb. Accessed 1 January 2006.
Criticism
Top Gear has come under fire on more than one occasion for promoting irresponsible driving "['Petrolheads' under attack]." BBC. 12 April 2005. Accessed 28 December 2005., causing ecological damage, and favouring performance over fuel efficiency and conservation.Jeremy Clarkson has spurred several controversies in his capacity as a presenter for Top Gear. During the November 13, 2005 episode a news segment featuring BMW's MINI Concept from the Tokyo Motor Show showcased what Richard Hammond quoted as a "quintessentially British" integrated tea set. Clarkson responded by mocking that they should build a car that is "quintessentially German." He suggested turn signals that displayed Hitler salutes, "a sat-nav that only goes to Poland" in reference to the Nazi invasion of Poland that started WWII, " und ein fanbelt that will last a thousand years," a reference to Adolf Hitler's propaganda slogan of "the thousand-year Reich". These statements gained negative attention in the British and German news media, such as the UK Daily Mail [article] which noted that the BBC would follow a formal investigation of any complaints made on the matter.
The BBC compensated a Bristol local parish in 2004 after Clarkson rammed a Toyota Hilux into a landmark tree"[BBC stumps up for tree stunt]." BBC. 21 February 2004. Accessed 9 January 2006. during a segment on proving the sturdiness and reliability of the truck through a series of "torture tests". The parish had no idea the damage had been caused by a BBC television show, believing that it had been the work of vandals.
Clarkson noted on the American broadcast of Top Gear that a segment he filmed using the Land Rover Discovery where he drove up a mountain in Scotland was the most criticised segment on Top Gear, with some environmental groups claiming that Clarkson was "hurting the earth."
The road safety group Transport 2000 have asked the BBC to replace Top Gear"[Campaigners say scrap Top Gear and replace it with ‘Third Gear’ version promoting sensible driving]." Transport 2000. 11 April2005. Accessed 9 January2006. with a tamer, more environmentally-friendly "Third Gear." The group's reasons for this demand include claims of "substantial ecological damage" to a peat bog during an off-roading segment and disregard for speed limits in another segment where Clarkson was cited by police.
Top Gear was in negotiations to move to Enstone but has so far been unable to negotiate a deal and has had their initial application blocked after much opposition by local citizens because of fears that Top Gear would create pollution and noise. "[Villagers put the brake on Top Gear]." Telegraph. 20 February 2006. Accessed 20 February 2006.
Clarkson has been critical of the BBC. In the February issue of Top Gear Magazine, Clarkson voices his opinion that the BBC does not take Top Gear seriously. He also appears to be annoyed with BBC bosses for often replacing the show with snooker, despite Top Gear having considerably higher viewer ratings, and the show's shortening series runs."[Clarkson's right on cue]." Top Gear Magazine. 1 February 2006. Accessed 6 March 2006.
The show, and Jeremy Clarkson in particular, has also been criticised for unfairly judging or dismissing vehicles from manufacturers based on the brands themselves rather than evaluating the car in question on its own merit. The most cited example of this is BMW vehicles. [Jeremy Clarkson reviews the BMW 1-Series and acknowledges his perceived anti-BMW attitude]
Segments
Races
The show has featured a number of races where Clarkson pilots a car against other forms of transport, typically involving Hammond and May taking the same journey by combinations of plane, train, ferry or bus:- Aston Martin DB9 against the TGV and Eurostar trains from Surrey to Monte Carlo
- Ferrari 612 Scaglietti against a plane from Surrey to Verbier
- Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren against a plane, ferry and speedboat from Heathrow Airport to Oslo
- Bugatti Veyron against a Cessna 182 light aircraft, between Alba in northern Italy and Tower 42, London.
Other races have involved one of the presenters in a more modest car against an athlete:
- Fiat Nuova Panda with Clarkson driving against a runner on a modified London Marathon route on a weekday morning rush hour.
- Audi RS4 with Clarkson driving up a mountain road against a rock climber climbing the same distance vertically, then racing back down.
- Renault Clio III with May driving down the narrow streets of Castle of São Jorge's district in Lisbon against Gee Atherton, a downhill bike racer.
- Porsche Cayenne Turbo S with Hammond racing down a 2-mile long rally track in Cyprus against an army parachutist starting and finishing at the exact same location in the air as Hammond was on the ground.
- Bowler Tomcat, a very powerful Land Rover based 4x4, driven by Hammond, against a [Jet Powered Kayak] 'driven' by Shaun Baker along an icy stretch of water in Iceland.
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driven by Norwegian rally champion Henning Solberg with May co-piloting, against Hammond and the Norwegian Olympic Bobsled team, each taking similar routes down a mountain in Lillehammer, Norway. Hammond and the bobsled team won with a time of 59.68 seconds beating 1.02.24 minutes by the rally car.
Presenter mocking
As well as amusing banter, argument and mockery with the studio audience, there is much between the presenters themselves. Each host's persona is paid almost as much attention as the cars they review. Hammond is ribbed for being short and supposedly having had his teeth whitened, and was dubbed by Clarkson as Top Gear's "resident hamster". His work on daytime television following the launch of "Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show" on ITV1 has brought on allegations of an interest in "oddly-shaped vegetables" along with subtle ribbing from Clarkson by dubbing him "Phillip Schofield" during the Top Gear Olympic Special, and referring to a Hammond versus May competition as "daytime versus primetime". May earned the nickname "Captain Slow" because of a lighter foot as compared to his colleagues, his refusal to run on camera, and a tendency to lose any competition where speed is the measure of victory. Clarkson is noted for his inconsistent yet strong opinions and ego, as well as his terrible dress sense. The other presenters also made fun of his Ford GT, which he bought for £126,000 and which has continuously broken down. He has since returned the car to Ford Motor Company for a refund[Clarkson asks for money back] The Times Online. He later repurchased the car, and it appeared in the 27 November, 2005 episode of the show, although in May 2006, Clarkson admitted he had never completed a single round-trip journey in the car without breaking down.Reviews
Top Gear normally reviews one new car, or group of cars, each week. They often take place in dramatic or interesting locations. Group tests normally involve the three presenters debating the merits and weaknesses of each car.Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car
In each programme, a celebrity – usually of British fame – is interviewed by Clarkson. Discussion is normally amusing, and focuses on car-related matters, such as the celebrity's car history. Then Clarkson, the guest and the studio audience watch the guest's fastest lap on the Top Gear test track. Up to the eighth series of its current incarnation, the car driven was a Suzuki Liana. It was then replaced by a Chevrolet Lacetti (first aired Sunday 7th May 2006), with a new blank scoreboard. The car used is stock, except a roll cage and racing seats have been added as safety measures. Each guest first practices with The Stig and is then allowed a number of attempts to make his or her way around the test track in the fastest time. However, the star doesn't learn of his or her lap time until they are interviewed, and guests are often visibly anxious awaiting their results while in the studio. Practice laps, crashes and the drivers' facial expressions are also shown for amusement. For the eighth series, the format was changed so that each star would have 5 practice laps, and then a final timed lap, no allowance being given for mishaps. As a starter for the new car and format, an open day was held to which Clarkson claimed he had invited "everyone in here", whilst wielding the inches-thick "who's who" book. Seven stars recorded times that day: James Hewitt (whom Jeremy and Richard failed to identify and referred to as the Well Spoken Man), comedians Alan Davies and Jimmy Carr, rock stars Rick Wakeman and Justin Hawkins, the footballer Les Ferdinand and actor Trevor Eve who topped the time a 1 minute 47.0 seconds. Jimmy Carr, who had held the record in the Liana, spun out while doing his timed lap and got the slowest time ever around the track (so far).
The two slowest laps on the Liana celebrity list are held by Terry Wogan and the late Richard Whiteley, both of whom were beaten by a completely blind man, Bosnia war veteran Billy Baxter, who wrenched the Liana through the track under nervous directions from Clarkson in the passenger seat.
The Liana endured considerable abuse from the stars when undertaking their laps, often to the delight and amusement of the hosts and the audience. In one famous incident, actor Michael Gambon clipped the final corner in such a spectacular fashion that the corner was henceforth named Gambon Corner. The week Lionel Richie drove the car, someone forgot to tighten up the wheel nuts, and the front wheel fell off. Trevor Eve also lost a wheel, invoking Clarkson to coin the term pulling a Lionel. British transport minister Stephen Ladyman added further injury to the Liana by denting the boot when he lost control during practice and slid backwards into a tyre wall. David Soul managed to destroy the clutch of two Lianas during his time on the show due to his unfamiliarity with manual cars. Christopher Eccleston was the only celebrity to use a Liana with an automatic transmission, because a hesitant Eccleston admitted he was "only qualified to drive an automatic". To accommodate his needs, Top Gear succeeded in borrowing an automatic Liana, of which only 40 existed in the UK. As a joke, with reference to his role in Doctor Who, the automatic Liana was shown materialising onto the racing track, with a TARDIS materialisation sound effect played over it.
The Liana has also been modified on several occasions. David Soul's Lianas featured a red police light and a white stripe in reference to his Starsky and Hutch days. Johnny Vegas was provided with 'L' plates as he hadn't passed his driving test at the time. When Justin Hawkins came on the show, the Liana he drove had flame decals pasted on it.
In its service, the Liana covered 1600 laps of the circuit, and its tyres and brakes were changed 400 times.
In July 2005, a Formula One driver appeared on the show for the first time as the star. All Formula One drivers are put into their own list with regard to lap times because of their exceptional skill level. The drivers (and their lap times) in order of appearance are Damon Hill (1:46.3), Mark Webber (1:47.52) (in very wet conditions), and Nigel Mansell (1:44.6).
Both Stigs, the original Black Stig and the current white Stig had done laps around the track in the Suzuki Liana. Topping the list for the Liana was the white Stig (1:44.4) who took the car out on a final run during the 2nd episode of series 8.
Liana leader board:
For the new series (first aired 7 May 2006) the Liana has been replaced by a Chevrolet Lacetti, which has of course necessitated a brand-new board, and more importantly, new rules. Instead of being tutored by The Stig for most of the day, the racer takes the Lacetti out round the track for six individual laps. Lap six is the only timed lap
Lacetti leader board:
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Note: Aside from driver ability, the Top Gear hosts estimate a wet track as yielding an average time four seconds slower than a dry track surface. "Moist" and "very wet" can be estimated accordingly. Most drivers drive the car alone. However, Clarkson carried his co-hosts, Hammond and Dawe during his timed run. Trinny and Susannah were both present in the car for the other's lap, as were Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen. Clarkson also rode along with Billy Baxter, navigating for him.
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 Stig is the mystery-shrouded, masked driver who never says a word. Over the course of the show, there have only been two Stigs, who can be differentiated by the color of their racing overalls, black (for series 1-2) or white (from series 3 onward).
The car raced by The Stig is usually a car that was reviewed by one of the presenters that episode, but sometimes it is a car reviewed from a previous programme. There are two separate lists, one for production cars and one for non-production cars. For comparison, it is interesting to note that the current record lap time for the Suzuki Liana is 1:44.4 by The Stig.
There is a separate board of times for non-production car times. The four times include Sea Harrier (0:31.2), Renault R24 Formula 1 Car (0:59.0), Aston Martin DBR9 (1:08.6) and the Radical (1:19.0).
Note: The following laps were clocked with the tested vehicle configured for maximum performance. That is to say, all adjustable suspensions were set at their most efficient, all gear shift maps were at their most aggressive, and driving aids such as traction control were deactivated. These lap times do not offer entirely reliable comparisons between the cars - the conditions are far from controlled.
Note: The most powerful production car ever featured on Top Gear, the 1001 bhp (746 kW) Bugatti Veyron, has not yet been taken around the track by The Stig. According to Clarkson in the 2nd episode of the 8th series, this is because Bugatti has not given Top Gear permission to run the car through a power lap (yet).
The presenters joke about Koenigsegg being too difficult to spell and pronounce, so they used extra long magnetic strips to write the times for these cars on. Koenigsegg was intentionally misspelt in an exaggerated fashion as Koenignogseggseggseggggabbaseggviking. Both Koenigseggs on the power board have long strips, with slightly different spelling on each.
The Cool Wall
The Cool Wall is a board where Clarkson and Hammond decide which cars are cool, and which aren't, and has nothing to do with how good or bad a car is. The categories are Sub Zero, Cool, Uncool, and Seriously Uncool. Initially, part of that "coolness" factor rested on the extent to which the presenters believed each car would impress English actress Kristin Scott Thomas. More recently, BBC newsreader Fiona Bruce has replaced Scott Thomas as their national judge, after Kristin Scott Thomas said in a conversation with Clarkson that she owned a Honda Civic, which was deemed "uncool", and preferered a red Bentley Continental GT over the Aston Martin DB9.The Aston Martin DB9 was judged too cool for the whole wall: it was put in a little fridge called the "DB9 Section". Since then, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage joined the DB9. Another unusual judgment was the 2005 BMW 3 Series (E90): the presenters considered it was so ugly and just a "lump of car" they decided they couldn't be bothered to put it on the wall.
There are some rules to the cool wall.
- Supercars are seriously uncool or uncool.
- Diesel-powered cars are never cool.
- Cars owned by any of the Top Gear presenter aren't cool. It applies too for uncool celebrities.
- Small European cars, particularly French cars, are cool.
- People carriers are never cool, because it's not a car people want to have; it's a car people need to have.
After Clarkson placed an order for a new Ford GT, the Ford vehicle gradually progressed up the board as Clarkson got closer to obtaining his dream vehicle. The Ford GT eventually ended up as Uncool.
Clarkson also has a hankering after Alfa Romeos, and in consequence no matter what other presenters think, any Alfa Romeo is either on the Cool wall, or the Sub Zero Wall. In 2005, the Brera made it despite protestations from May and Hammond, and was favourably compared with Cameron Diaz.
| Top Gear | ||
| Presenters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Clarkson - Richard Hammond - James May - The Stig | ||
| Episodes and Broadcasters | ||
| Top Gear Episodes - Top Gear Broadcasters and Video Releases | ||
| Related articles | ||
| Top Gear Magazine - Toybota - Dampervan | ||
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