Top Gear (2002 TV series)
| Top Gear | |
|---|---|
| File:TopGearLogo.jpg The Top Gear logo | |
| Starring | Jeremy Clarkson Richard Hammond James May The Stig Top Gear Dog |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two |
| Release | 2002 – present |
| Related | |
| Fifth Gear (television show) | |
The current format of Top Gear is a BAFTA and Emmy Award winning BBC television series about motor vehicles, mainly cars. The programme is estimated to have over 350 million viewers worldwide, 5 million of whom watch the programme each week in the UK on BBC Two.[1]
Top Gear is presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, and features The Stig, an anonymous test driver. It is provocative, humorous, and light-hearted in tone.
The ninth series of Top Gear premiered on 28 January 2007, after having been delayed since October 2006 due to Richard Hammond's car accident in September 2006.[2] The last episode of series nine was broadcast on 4 March 2007. The show is expected to return later this year.
The original Top Gear was a half-hour show produced by BBC Birmingham that ran from 1977 to 2001. Top Gear magazine is a separate publication produced by BBC Magazines which shares some contributors, editors and features with the TV show including contributions by the presenters themselves.
History
1977 to 2001
Top Gear started in 1977 as a 30 minute regional programme in the Midlands which was offered to BBC 2, with William Woollard the main presenter until 1991. Through the years Noel Edmonds, BBC newsreader Angela Rippon, Tony Mason, and Chris Goffey all made contributions.
Originally, Top Gear was a conventional magazine show aimed at a general audience. It reviewed new car models and focussed on car-related issues such as road safety, but it saw a massive boost in its audience in the late 1980s when it became a more humorous, controversial, and unashamedly more critical programme with the involvement of Clarkson. It reached 5 to 6 million viewers in the early 1990s and was number one in the BBC2 viewing figures.[citation needed] Among Clarkson's contemporary presenters were Quentin Willson, a former used car salesman, Vicki Butler-Henderson and Tiff Needell.
Despite enduring criticism that the show was overly macho, encouraged irresponsible driving behaviour, and ignored the environment, it became hugely influential with motor manufacturers, since a critical word from the Top Gear team could have a severe negative effect on sales.[citation needed]
After Top Gear's success in the mid-1990s, a number of similar programmes were produced including Channel 4's Driven, ITV's Pulling Power and BBC World India's Wheels.[3]
Following Clarkson's departure in 1999, the Top Gear audience fell from a peak of six million to under three million[citation needed]. James May was brought in to present following Clarkson's departure, and, despite various changes of the presenting team, the slide in viewers was not reversed, leading the BBC to cancel the programme in 2001.
Later that year, Channel 5 started a similarly-themed programme called Fifth Gear. Some of the original production and presenting team moved to the new programme, and it still runs to this day.
In 2002, the decision to cancel the programme was reversed by BBC2 and the production was moved to London from Birmingham.
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 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, with James May replacing Dawe after the first series. The Stig, an anonymous masked racing driver, was introduced as test driver. Series 8 introduced a female Labradoodle named "Top Gear Dog" who is susceptible to motion sickness. 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. The programme is filmed at Dunsfold Park, a former airfield in Surrey, where a custom race circuit was built and a large hangar is used for inside filming. A standing studio audience of about 400 people, who apply to the BBC for free tickets, was also included.
Series 9 was scheduled to air on BBC Two from 8 October 2006 and end "sometime in November". However, on 20 September 2006 Hammond was seriously injured while driving a jet-propelled drag-racing car at up to 314 mph (502 km/h) for a feature for the show. On 24 September the BBC said: "It also confirmed the final part of the Best of Top Gear had been postponed indefinitely and the new series, due to begin on 8 October, will be delayed". Both the BBC and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out their own inquiries into the accident.[4] On 5 October, filming resumed on features for the new series that Richard was not involved with.[5] The ninth series began airing on 28 January 2007, and footage of Hammond's crash was shown with Hammond's commentary and reaction from the presenters.[6] The first show of the ninth series attracted higher ratings than the finale of Celebrity Big Brother[7]
Repeats of earlier series are currently shown on UKTV G2 and UKTV People. Top Gear has been broadcast in other countries either in its original format, in a re-edited version, or (as in the case of the North American version) with specially shot segments in front of the UK audience.
The BBC also broadcasts edited versions of Top Gear on its international BBC World TV channel. Episodes are edited from their original length of one hour to 30 minutes, often leaving dangling references and inconsistencies in the episodes. Additionally, the original order of the episodes is sometimes not kept, so references to un-aired events are even more common. The only footage specially shot for the international version is the episodes' end, where Clarkson bids his goodbye to BBC World viewers, instead of BBC viewers.
Recently, BBC World has not shown cut versions of the current series, but has resorted to best of collections of the previous series. In both cases the BBC World edition mainly features the challenges and races from the normal episodes, with Clarkson's "stronger" remarks removed. Interviews and Car of the Year are generally not shown.
Theme music
Top Gear has always used The Allman Brothers Band's instrumental hit "Jessica" as its theme tune. Initially the show used part of the original Allmans' recording of the song, but later series of Top Gear use updated cover versions. For the original series run, the end credits music was "Out of the Blue", an instrumental from the 1976 Elton John album Blue Moves.
Nominations and awards
In November 2005, Top Gear won an International Emmy in the Non-Scripted Entertainment category.[8] In the episode where the presenters showed the award to the studio audience, Clarkson joked that he was unable to go to New York to receive the award since he was too busy writing the script for the show.
Top Gear has also been nominated three consecutive years, 2004-2006, for the British Academy Television Awards in the Best Feature category. Clarkson was also nominated in the best "Entertainment Performance" category in 2006.[9] In 2004 and 2005, Top Gear was also nominated for a National Television Award in the Most Popular Factual Programme category; they won the award in 2006.[10]
Criticism
Top Gear has come under fire on many occasions for promoting irresponsible driving,[11] causing ecological damage, and favouring performance over fuel efficiency and conservation.
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 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 ultimately started World War II, "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[12] 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 until the item was aired, believing that it had been an accident or the work of vandals.
Top Gear was in negotiations to move to Enstone in Northwest Oxfordshire, close to the home of the Renault F1 team's British base and to Clarkson's home in Chipping Norton, but has so far been unable to negotiate a deal after their initial application blocked due to opposition by local citizens because of fears that Top Gear would create pollution and noise.[13]
Clarkson has been critical of the BBC. In the February 2006 issue of Top Gear Magazine, Clarkson voiced his opinion that the BBC did 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.[14]
In July 2006 the BBC rejected a variety of complaints about issues Top Gear chooses and the way they are covered by Clarkson, Hammond and May. The BBC argued that their "provocative comments are an integral part of the programme and are not intended to be taken seriously." Regarding offensive remarks traded between presenters and members of the audience, the BBC said "this is part of the appeal of the show [and] we trust most viewers are familiar enough with the style and tone of the show not to take offence." The BBC pointed out that they would act if such statements and actions were carried out with any degree of seriousness or if the programme breached legal and safety requirements.[15]
In December 2006, the BBC upheld four complaints that comments Clarkson made about a car were derogatory references to homosexuality, and they had the potential to offend and should not have been broadcast. Clarkson had agreed with an audience member that a car was "a bit gay", on a programme screened in the UK in July, and also described the vehicle as "very ginger beer", taken to be rhyming slang for the term "queer". The BBC complaints unit said there was "no editorial purpose" for the remarks, and the "Top Gear team had been reminded of the importance of avoiding such comments about sexual orientation."[16]
Top Gear has also come under some criticism for their negative views and depiction of caravans; once claiming to have received 150 complaints after they destroyed a caravan on a 'camping trip' during one of many caravan destruction segments. [17]
Both the BBC and the UK media regulator OFCOM [18] have received complaints about the dead cow incident in the third programme of the current series (series 9) for the sequence in which a dead cow is seen tied to the roof of Jeremy Clarkson's car. The cow is dumped to the ground by reversing and turning the vehicle.
The most recent point of controversy regards the airing of a staged train crash in Series 9 Episode 5. The accident in which a train collides with a car positioned across a level crossing is being criticised by some due to the Cumbria train crash only 2 days earlier. The piece, which was organised by Network Rail as part of their Don't Run The Risk campaign, has been condemned by several people, including Anthony Smith, chief executive of the rail watchdog Passenger Focus who said: "We need to raise awareness of the issue, but now is not the right time."[19]. However, this item had already been delayed several weeks because of an earlier fatal level crossing crash, and with only one programme remaining in the series and the frequency of level crossing accidents it may have been considered that there was no "appropriate" time to show the piece without offending somebody. A repeat of this episode due to be aired on the 1st March 2007 was pulled after someone was killed on a level crossing earlier that morning [1]. The episode was replaced with a "Best of Top Gear" episode.
Segments
As well as car reviews and time trials around the Top Gear track by The Stig, Top Gear features a number of recurring segments:
Races
The show has featured a number of races where Clarkson drives a car against other forms of transport, typically involving Hammond and May taking the same journey by combinations of plane, train, ferry or bus; the most recent example of this was Clarkson driving a Bugatti Veyron against a Cessna 182 light aircraft flown by May. The race was held between Alba in northern Italy and Tower 42 in London. In all such races Clarkson has won; defeating May and Hammond.
Top Gear regularly reaffirms that the races do take place for real, and that many of the shots used in the film are then recorded over a few days by retracing the journey. In the case of the Bugatti Veyron race, the Stig drove the car back to Italy, although these shots are filmed so that it is not apparent that Clarkson is not driving.[15]
Another common feature of Top Gear is a race between a presenter and an athlete; for example a race was held Fiat Nuova Panda with Clarkson driving against a runner AC Muir on a modified London Marathon route on a weekday morning rush hour, or Clarkson attempting to reach the top of a gorge in an Audi RS4 faster than two rock climbers.
How Hard Can It Be?
One of the newest features is a segment entitled "How hard can it be?", here, the presenters are set a challenge to complete a task which is either very difficult, or nearly impossible to complete properly, or, safely.
Examples of the challenges:
- Convertible people carrier - the presenters were set the task of building a convertible people carrier.
- Build a car - the presenters were set the task of building a Chaterham seven Kit car from scratch faster that the stig could reach the track from a showroom in London, using a prebuilt Caterham Seven Kit car
- Amphibious vehicles - the presenters were set the challange of building amphibious cars, and using them to get to, and across a resevoir, the only presenter to even come close to completeing the task was James May, however, he was unable to get up the slipway as he damaged his clutch, Richard hammond sunk his vehicle, and Jeremy Clarkson capsized.
Cheap Car Challenges
Another recurring feature are the Cheap Car Challenges, in which the presenters are given a budget (typically around £1,500) and must buy a used car conforming to certain guidelines. 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 generally involve a long motorway journey to determine reliability, and a race track event to determine performance. There is also the recurring element of the presenters having to spend their change from the initial budget on improving the cars.
Greatest Driving Song
During Series 7, James hosted a segment showing nominations for the Greatest Song to Drive to, the final list of ten was voted for by write-in nominations on the Top Gear website, the top five were then submitted for phone vote by viewers of the show. Songs in the top 10 were:
- AC/DC - Back in Black
- The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love
- Deep Purple - Highway Star*
- Golden Earring - Radar Love*
- Led Zepplin - Immigrant Song
- Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone
- Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell*
- Motörhead - Ace of Spades
- Queen - Don't Stop Me Now*
- Steppenwolf - Born to Be Wild*
Songs with * next to them indicate they were in the top five, after the six-week-long phone vote the final results were:
5 - Deep Purple - Highway Star
4 - Steppenwolf - Born to Be Wild
3 - Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
2 - Golden Earring - Radar Love
1 (WINNER) - Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
It included continual complaining from the presenters about the presecnce of Bat Out of Hell on the list (which was leading as of the selection of the top five) and its' promotional segment included such visuals as cars being towed away and gridlocked streets. On the other hand, the equivalent "Don't Stop Me Now" segment was the exact opposite, featuring open roads and being described as "a joy" and "a song for life" in the voiceover.
Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car
During most programmes, a celebrity – usually of British fame – is interviewed by Clarkson. The light-hearted discussion 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 around the Top Gear test track, filmed earlier.
For the first seven series of its current incarnation, the car driven was a Suzuki Liana. Starting with the eighth series, this was replaced by a Chevrolet Lacetti, with a new blank scoreboard. The format was also changed so that instead of the best lap of several attempts being recorded, each star would have five practice laps, and then a final timed lap, with no allowance being given for mishaps.
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 is that the car being tested must be a road-worthy car.[20] There is a separate unofficial board of times for non-production car times.
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 Hammond, this is because Bugatti has not given Top Gear permission to run the car through a power lap.[21] This was confirmed on the Veyron's second appearance in February 2007, when Clarkson made an appeal to Veyron owners to let Top Gear borrow their car and allow The Stig to take it around the track, offering up to £30 to do so.[22]
The Cool Wall
Clarkson and Hammond decide which cars are cool, and which aren't, by placing photographs of them onto various sections of a large board. The categories are Sub Zero, Cool, Uncool, and Seriously Uncool, and a vehicle's placement has nothing to do with how good or bad a car it is. Initially, part of that coolness factor rested on the extent to which the presenters believed each car would impress English actress Kristin Scott Thomas, although more recently, BBC newsreader Fiona Bruce has replaced Scott Thomas as their notional judge. They have also added a separate super cool 'DB9 Section' (which is a mini fridge) right after the subzero section of the board, which signifies that it is even cooler than a 'subzero' car. It contains the DB9, which was added right at the start of this section, and since then the "Baby Aston", the V8 Vantage, has been added to the "fridge" in the 7th series of the show.
Car of the Year
Each year, the show presents a "Car of the Year" for the best new car in that year. Winners have included:
- 1997 – Ford Puma 1.7
- 2002 – Land Rover Range Rover
- 2003 – Rolls-Royce Phantom
- 2004 – Volkswagen Golf GTI
- 2005 – Bugatti Veyron
- 2006 – Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder
Top Gear Survey
Every year, Top Gear conducts a survey which consults thousands of UK residents on their car-ownership satisfaction. While for legal reasons, the survey is now conducted via the magazine, the results are still used on the show. The survey which used to be done in conjunction with J.D. Power, is now conducted by Experian. The survey asks respondents to score cars on build quality, craftsmanship, driving experience, ownership costs, and customer care. Based on these weighted criteria, the best and worst ranked cars from the survey are:
| Year | Best Ranked | Worst ranked |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Jaguar XJ | Volkswagen Sharan |
| 2004 | Honda S2000 | Mercedes M-Class |
| 2005 | Honda S2000 | Peugeot 807 |
| 2006 | Honda S2000 | Peugeot 807 |
See also
- List of Top Gear broadcasters and video releases
- List of Top Gear episodes
- Top Gear caravan destruction
References
- ^
"Ellen on BBC TWO's Top Gear". Team Ellen. 2005-12-02. Retrieved 2005-12-28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "BBC indefinitely postpones Top Gear". Reuters. 2006-09-24. Retrieved 2006-09-25.
- ^
Deans, Jason (2004-11-24). "Road Shows". Special Report: Britain's car industry. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2006-01-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^
Savage, Mark (2006-09-21). "Top Gear's Chequered Past". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-02-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^
"Filming resumes on Top Gear show". BBC News. 2006-10-05. Retrieved 2007-02-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Hamster Attends TG Awards." 13 December 2006. Retrieved on 13 January 2007.
- ^ "Top Gear crash wins ratings clash." 29 January2007. Retrieved on 31 January 2007.
- ^ "BBC picks up two International Emmy Awards." BBC. 23 November 2005. Retrieved on 28 December 2005.
- ^ "This year's nominations." BAFTA. Retrieved on 18 April 2006.
- ^ "Awards for "Top Gear"." IMDb. Retrieved on 1 January 2006.
- ^ "'Petrolheads' under attack." BBC. 12 April 2005. Retrieved on 28 December 2005.
- ^ "BBC stumps up for tree stunt." BBC. 21 February 2004. Retrieved on 9 January 2006.
- ^ "Villagers put the brake on Top Gear." Telegraph. 20 February 2006. Retrieved on 20 February 2006.
- ^ "Clarkson's right on cue." Top Gear Magazine. 1 February 2006. Retrieved on 6 March 2006.
- ^ BBC. ""Top Gear - General approach taken by the programme"". Retrieved 2006-08-11.
- ^ BBC. ""BBC condemns Clarkson 'gay' jibe"". Retrieved 2006-12-16.
- ^ Top Gear - Series 8 Episode 7 2006.07.23 News Segment Clarkson:...we were slightly rude about caravans... Hammond: Yeah, we sorta set one on fire abit. Clarkson:...150 complaints.
- ^ "Top Gear dead cow stunt garners 91 public complaints".
- ^ BBC. ""Top Gear to screen train stunt"". Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ Top Gear Power Laps Top Gear Website Retrieved on 2006.11.13 In order to qualify for the power laps board, a car must be road legal, and be a car. For this reason the F1 car (0.59.0), Aston Martin DBR9 (1.08.6) and Sea Harrier (0.31.2) do not appear.
- ^ Top Gear Season 8, Episode 2 2006.05.14 Richard Hammond: You know, I think the only time that the Zonda F is gonna get knocked off the board is when Bugatti finally let us put a Veyron on our track.
- ^ Top Gear Season 9, Episode 2 2007.02.04
External links
- Official BBC Top Gear website
- Official BBC "Watch Now" Top Gear clips website
- Top Gear magazine website
- FinalGear.com Top Gear Fansite
- unknownserv.net Top Gear RSS Feed Top Gear RSS Feed
- Craig Armstrong Online Resource Music used on Top Gear
- BBC News article on Top Gear's history (21 September 2006)
- Top Gear on UKTV
- Top Gear merchandise The official site for the new Top Gear merchandise range
- Top Gear's ICON entry
- Top Gear Studio (Dunsfold Park) at Google Maps