Top Gear (2002 TV series)

This article is about the current format of the BBC television programme, for the original format see Top Gear (original format), for other uses of "Top Gear" see Top Gear (disambiguation).

Top Gear
File:TopGearLogo.png The Top Gear logo
Presented by	Jeremy Clarkson Richard Hammond James May The Stig
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	91 including Specials (92 when series 10 is over) (list of episodes)
Production
Producer	Andy Wilman
Running time	60 min. (approx.)
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	2002 – present
Related
Stars in Fast Cars; Top Gear of the Pops

Top Gear is a BAFTA, Multi-NTA and Emmy Award-winning BBC television series about motor vehicles, mainly 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 programme is estimated to have 350 million viewers worldwide and 8 million viewers each week in the UK on BBC Two. The show is presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig, an anonymous test driver. It is one of the most pirated television shows in the world.

Top Gear is broadcast in many countries; for a list of these, and of the releases the programme has produced over the years, please see the List of Top Gear broadcasters and video releases.

History

File:TopGearNews.jpg

James May, Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson during a news segment

For more information see Top Gear (original format)

Clarkson, who helped the original series reach its peak in the 1980s, along with producer Andy Wilman, successfully pitched a new format for Top Gear to the BBC, reversing a previous decision to cancel the show in 2001. The new series began airing in 2002. Top Gear's filming headquarters is located at Dunsfold Park in Surrey, a private aerodrome and business park. Top Gear uses a temporary racing circuit, which was designed for the show by Lotus, that is laid out on parts of the runways and taxiways. A large hangar is used for studio filming with a standing audience of about 400 people, who apply to the BBC for free tickets.

The new series format incorporates a number of major changes from the old show. The broadcast was lengthened to an 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 the test driver. New segments were also added, including "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car", "The Cool Wall", "Car News", "Power Laps", and one-off features such as races, competitions and the frequent destruction of caravans.

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 inquiries into the accident. On 5 October, filming resumed on features for the new series that Hammond was not involved with. 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. 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 — BBC2's biggest ratings for a decade.

A special edition of Top Gear — filmed for Red Nose Day 2007 — called Top Gear of the Pops mixed the show's typical format with music and appearances from artists Lethal Bizzle, Travis, Supergrass, and McFly with a challenge to write a song including the words "sofa", "administration" and "Hyundai" and a performance by Clarkson, Hammond and May with Justin Hawkins of "Red Light Spells Danger" by Billy Ocean.

Repeats of earlier series are currently shown on Dave and UKTV People, cut to 45 minutes to allow it to fit in an hour-long slot while leaving room for adverts. Since mid-October 2007 the channel Dave has begun showing new episodes of Top Gear, only three weeks behind BBC Two. The new episodes are also shown in an edited 45-minute version. 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 edition) with specially shot segments in front of the UK audience.

The BBC also broadcasts edited Top Gear programmes on its international BBC World TV channel. Episodes are shortened from their original length of one hour to 30 minutes, often leaving dangling references and inconsistencies. Additionally, the original transmission order is sometimes not adhered to, so references to un-aired events are common. The only footage specially shot for the international version is for the end of each episode, when 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.

In April 2007, the BBC reported on a Sun story that Top Gear had been in talks about creating an American version. The current presenters would remain as hosts, but the show would focus on American cars and include American celebrities. The Sun reported in July, however, that plans for an American version had been shelved, partly over Clarkson's misgivings about spending several months in the U.S., away from his family. Besides, Clarkson is not known for his love of American cars, or Americans themselves.

A special programme, Top Gear: Polar Special, was broadcast in the UK on July 25 2007, and again on July 29. This episode involved a race to the Magnetic North Pole from Resolute, Canada, with James May and Jeremy Clarkson travelling in a 'polar modified' Toyota Hilux, and Richard Hammond on a dog-drawn sled. All three presenters had experienced explorers with them, but Clarkson and May became the first people to reach the magnetic North Pole by car, using the vehicle's Satellite Navigation to pinpoint their co-ordinates with the known coordinates of the pole. It was the first episode of the programme to be shown in high-definition.

On September 9 2007, Top Gear participated in the 2007 Britcar 24 hours at Silverstone, where the hosts (including the Stig) drove a race-prepared, diesel BMW 330d to win 3rd in class and 39th overall.

On 19 November 2007, the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), an Australian Broadcaster, secured the rights to franchise Top Gear and produce an Australian version of the show. Australia is the first country in the world to secure the rights to make a local version of the show, which mixes performance cars with comedy and celebrities. Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson added, "I'm delighted that Top Gear is going to Australia. Maybe the first guest could be Jonny Wilkinson."

Segments

As well as car reviews and time trials around the Top Gear track, the programme features a number of recurring segments:

Races

Main article: Top Gear 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 a race across London, with Hammond biking, May driving, Clarkson going by boat, and The Stig taking public transport. In most races Clarkson has won, defeating May and Hammond.

Top Gear affirms that the races do actually take place as broadcast, but 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 and extra footage was shot in such a way that the driver was not identifiable.

Challenges

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James May's Limousine - The 'Salfa Romeaab'

A recurring feature on Top Gear involves the hosts undertaking a number of bizarre challenges involving cars. The segments involving the challenges are usually preceded by Clarkson, Hammond or May asking the audience and viewers: "How hard can it be?"

• Convertible People Carrier: the presenters were set the task of building a convertible people carrier. They succeeded in removing the roof from a Renault Espace and replaced it with a canvas fold-down top. The convertible people carrier was able to travel at 100 mph without losing its roof, and was driven though an animal park without an incident. However, a trip through a car wash resulted in the brand-new million-pound wash facility catching fire.
• Build a Car: the presenters, based at Knockhill Racing Circuit in Scotland, were set the task of building a Caterham Seven Kit car from scratch, faster than the Stig could reach the track from the Caterham showroom in south London using a pre-built Caterham Seven Kit car. The presenters won the challenge because the Stig was arrested for speeding.
• Car Interior Design: Clarkson bought an old Mercedes-Benz S-Class and designed his perfect interior based upon his house. The car, dubbed "Anne Hathaway's Cottage", features a wood-burning stove, kitchen chairs, a flagstone floor and wood with a cement base (weighing approximately two tonnes), even plastered insides of the doors. James May and Richard Hammond then tested the car. No seat belts and unsecured seats meant they tumbled around inside the car. Eventually, with May holding Hammond's seat, a 0-60 time of 35.4 seconds was established.
• Amphibious Vehicles: the presenters were set the challenge of building amphibious cars, and using them to get to, and across a reservoir. May, using the rig of a Mirror dinghy, turned a classic Triumph Herald sports car into a sailing boat, Hammond transformed a VW camper van into a narrowboat style "damper van", and Clarkson attached an outboard motor to a modified Toyota Hilux pickup truck, which he dubbed the "Toybota." In the subsequent challenge, Hammond's "damper van" sank due to massive leaks after losing its prop, May made it to the far end of the reservoir with everything working aside from a wet clutch, and Clarkson capsized after a high-speed turn just before reaching the slipway. May was declared the winner by audience vote. A second attempt of such was repeated in Series 10 (see below).
• Present a drive time radio show: the presenters tried to host a drive time radio show on BBC Southern Counties Radio in Brighton, but ended up with many complaints from the listeners. This was mainly because Clarkson's travel bulletins focused on hounding motorists he could see dawdling on CCTV, rather than issuing the more normal information on the location of problem areas and how to avoid them.
• Reliant Space Shuttle: Hammond and May, with considerable assistance from the British Amateur Rocket Society, set out to design, build and launch a reusable rocket. The rocket, built from a Reliant Robin, was designed in the style of the Space Shuttle. It was intended to be reusable, separating from the fuel tank and rocket boosters and gliding back to Earth. The launch was initially successful, but a failure of one of the explosive bolts linking the main fuel tank to the 'shuttle' caused it to crash spectacularly.
• Stretch Limos: the presenters were sent out to buy normal cars that are available in Britain, then turn them into stretch limousines. Once the presenters built their limos, they had to chauffeur three celebrities across London to the Brit Awards. Hammond chauffeured Jamelia in the MG F "Sports Limo", arriving with a stuck throttle. Clarkson chauffeured Chris Moyles using a greatly lengthened, dual rear axle Fiat Panda, arriving with only half a car after it split in two before reaching its destination. James May attempted to chauffeur Lemar in the "Salfa Romeaab" (a cross between an Alfa Romeo 164 and a Saab 9000), who ultimately gave up and left after May got repeatedly lost. Clarkson claimed victory as he got one photograph of his celebrity published in a newspaper. However, as his co-presenters pointed out, the image appeared in Clarkson's own newspaper column in The Sun (to which he responded that they both also have newspaper columns that they could have used).
• Road Works: the presenters decided to speed up the road works on the D5481 near Bidford in Warwickshire. According to the County Council it would take an entire week but the Top Gear team achieved it in just one day (although they did have 38 work men working with them). According to the film Clarkson prevented them from having proper lunch breaks and instead fed them on the fruit berries growing on the bushes by the side of the road. However for tea, Hammond fetched fish and chips for all the work men. The film shows that the team worked through the entire day and night to get the job done.
• Grow your own petrol: the presenters decided to grow their own "petrol" by planting rapeseed in a field. For this challenge, each presenter needed to research and acquire a tractor. Each presenter then took part in a series of challenges at the airfield, including a 'drag race', in which they raced each other while dragging something found around the airfield. James dragged all of the custom-cars made on the show, Hammond drove a mobile room with a sheet of paper reading "Top Gear Production Office" taped to a window and Clarkson dragged the Jumbo Jet that appeared on the runway, although he was unsuccessful. Subsequently they travelled to a field where they attempted to prepare and plough the field for planting. After several setbacks, James May incorrectly operated the planter, causing all the seed to be dumped in one spot. Clarkson forced him to spend the night re-sowing the seed until "[his] seed was evenly distributed in every furrow [he] could find." The biodiesel obtained from the rapeseed was used to fuel Top Gear's entry in the Britcar 24hr endurance race which they finished 33rd overall and 3rd in their class using a BMW 3 series.
• Amphibious Cars Redux: the presenters make a second attempt to use amphibious cars — this time to cross the English Channel. Clarkson swapped his Toyota Hilux for a Nissan (dubbed the Nissank); Hammond built a new Volkswagen Transporter-based 'Dampervan', although he opted for a 'sporting' cabin cruiser-type vessel (complete with a flying bridge) instead of his previous narrowboat version. May used the same Triumph Herald he had used in the original challenge. On this occasion, he added a collapsible mast. As a result, May's vehicle proved unmanageable as he could not install the keel. Hammond's Dampervan floated well enough, and proved to be capable of motoring within the confines of Dover harbour. However, on their second attempt it was found to lack the power to tackle heavy seas and eventually suffered engine failure. On its third voyage the Dampervan was powered by an outboard motor but began shipping water and promptly sank. Clarkson's Nissan was eventually crewed by all three presenters and made its way across the Channel (including close encounters with Channel traffic), missing Calais, but landing at Sangatte.
• Top Gear Winter Olympics: the presenters attempt to make a 1970s Leyland Mini Cooper go further off a jump than an skier at the Lillehammer Lysgårdsbakken ski jump. Problems arose with the issue of propulsion, and the car was fitted with skis and rockets by Clarkson, while May figured out that the car needed grooves on the track to stay in line. Hammond attempted twice to make a snow bank to keep the car from going all the way into town. According to Clarkson, his first attempt at it failed partly because the bank was not substantial, but mostly because he had built it in front of the wrong slope. Despite the car being fitted with rockets, it failed to go as far as the jumper, making only a fraction of the jump. However, the presenters were thoroughly amused by the results, and Hammond declared himself satisfied.

Cheap Car Challenges

Main article: Top Gear Cheap Car Challenges

The presenters are given a budget (typically around £1,500, but 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 generally involve a long journey to determine reliability, fuel economy (not always however), and a race track event to determine performance. There is also the recurring element of the presenters spending their change from the initial budget on improving the cars and selling the cars at the end of the challenge. All three are highly competitive and any presenter whose car breaks down during a challenge will typically be abandoned to make their own way to the designated destination.

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car

Main article: Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car

In each episode, a celebrity is interviewed by Clarkson. Then, Clarkson, the guest 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. 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.

Ellen MacArthur set the fastest lap time of any celebrity in the Liana. However, before it was retired, the Stig was given the chance to do a lap in the car and set a faster time than MacArthur.

As of December 2007, Simon Cowell (former fastest lap time holder in the Liana) has set the fastest lap time of any celebrity in the Chevrolet Lacetti.

There have been several mishaps in the past with this feature. Sir Michael Gambon went around the final corner of the track on two wheels, prompting Jeremy to rename the corner in Gambon's honour. Lionel Richie and Trevor Eve 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. The Stig is top of this board, but the presenters consider Lewis Hamilton's time to be more impressive: it is only a few tenths behind, despite being set on a very wet and oily track.

Power Laps

Main article: Power Laps

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The Stig driving a Pagani Zonda F

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. There is a separate unofficial board of times for non-production car times.

The most powerful production car ever featured on Top Gear, the Template:Auto PS Bugatti Veyron, has not yet been driven 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. 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 drive it around the track, offering up to £30 to do so.

The car that has recorded the fastest lap time on the Top Gear track is the Ascari A10, with one minute and seventeen point three seconds (1:17.3).

The Cool Wall

Main article: 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. 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 is. Initially, part of the 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. When Scott Thomas appeared on the show in series nine, she turned out to dislike all the 'cool' cars and like all the 'uncool' cars. They have also added a separate 'DB9 Section', a mini fridge on a table to the right of the board, for those cars considered "super cool". It initially contained just the DB9, with the V8 Vantage, nicknamed the "Baby Aston", joining it in the seventh series. On one occasion, a particularly uncool car's picture was stuck onto a member of the audience to the left of the board.

An acknowledged rule of the Cool Wall is that cars owned by the presenters cannot be considered cool. In series nine, Clarkson was forced to place the 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 into the Sub-Zero section.

Frequently Clarkson and Hammond will disagree 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 in his favoured section, preventing the comparatively diminutive Hammond from being able to reach it. On one occasion, Hammond began eating the card on which a BMW M6 was featured, preventing it from being used. In series six, Clarkson slipped two spinal disks from "repetitive oversteer injury" and was unable to bend down. Taking advantage of this, Hammond ended an argument by placing the car in question at the bottom of the board.

In the fourth episode of series nine, Hammond attempted to place a Ducati 1098 motorcycle on the wall, but due to his hatred of motorcycles Clarkson removed it (and some of the wall) with a chainsaw. Clarkson pointed the chainsaw at Hammond and jokingly said, "Do that again and you'll be a whole lot shorter".

In the first episode of series ten, the fire-damaged Cool Wall was featured in the programme. It, along with other studio furniture (including the chairs used during the News segment) had been damaged or destroyed in a fire at the warehouse where props were stored. It was jokingly claimed by Clarkson that the presenters of Fifth Gear had started the fire out of jealousy. The car seats (which came from a Vauxhall Senator) had been replaced by old armchairs and the LCD TV by an old 1980s Sony Trinitron TV.

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:

• 2001 – Ford Mondeo
• 2002 – Land Rover Range Rover
• 2003 – Rolls-Royce Phantom
• 2004 – Volkswagen Golf GTI
• 2005 – Bugatti Veyron
• 2006 – Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder
• 2007 – Ford Mondeo

Ownership 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

Novelty car features

The programme has always been able to come up with new ways to answer that old adage "What will they think of next?" For example, squeezing the 6'5" Jeremy Clarkson into a Peel car, and then getting him to drive round central London and the BBC Television Centre.. Clarkson then promptly described it asthe best car we've had on the show ever.

Ending credits

The programme occasionally alters the end credits to reflect the locale they are in, replacing every first name in the credits with one reminiscent of the area. In the "Winter Olympics Special" episode, filmed in Lillehammer, Norway; everybody was named Björn (except for Hammond, May and The Stig; who took the names Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid respectively), whilst in the "African Adventure Special" all were called Archbishop Desmond. Furthermore, in the Polar Special all first names in the ending credits were replaced with Sir Ranulph, in reference to the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Soundtrack

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.

In series 6 episode 11, James May recorded the necessary notes to play the theme tune from car engine sounds, it was played over the end credits.

During series 6, May 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:

Rank	Band	Song
10	Fleetwood Mac	"The Chain"
9	AC/DC	"Highway to Hell"
8	Led Zeppelin	"Immigrant Song"
7	Kenny Loggins	"Danger Zone"
6	Motörhead	"Ace of Spades"
5	Deep Purple	"Highway Star"
4	Steppenwolf	"Born to Be Wild"
3	Meat Loaf	"Bat Out of Hell"
2	Golden Earring	"Radar Love"
1	Queen	"Don't Stop Me Now"

It included continual complaining from the presenters about the presence 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.

Top Gear annually releases a CD entitled Greatest Driving Songs.

Nominations and awards

In November 2005, Top Gear won an International Emmy in the Non-Scripted Entertainment category.

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 in (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. 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 and 2007. Accepting the award in October 2007, Richard Hammond made the comment, that they really deserved it this year, because he didn't have to crash to get some sympathy votes.

Criticism

Top Gear has been criticised on many occasions for allegedly promoting irresponsible driving, causing ecological damage and favouring performance over fuel efficiency and conservation.

Conversely, Clarkson himself has been critical of the BBC over handling of the programme. 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 the length of the series and for often replacing the show with snooker (which Clarkson labelled as "drunk men playing billiards" at the end of Episode 2, Series 10), despite Top Gear having considerably higher viewer ratings.

General complaints

In July 2006 the BBC rejected a variety of complaints about the 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.

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 was blocked due to opposition by local citizens because of fears that Top Gear would create pollution and noise.

Tree damage

The BBC compensated a Bristol local parish in 2004 after Clarkson rammed a Toyota Hilux into a tree during a segment on proving the sturdiness and reliability of the truck through a series of torture tests. Nobody knew how the damage occurred until film of the incident was broadcast. Until then, it had been presumed that the damage had been accidental or vandalism.

Anti-German sentiment

During the 13 November 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, and "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, and led to viewers' complaints reaching the BBC Board of Governors. In July 2006, the BBC Governors’ Programme Complaints Committee rejected the protests:

...the Committee did not believe that, when looking at the audience as a whole, they would have felt that the comments were anything more than Jeremy Clarkson using outrageous behaviour to amuse his audience, and that the remarks would not have led to anyone entertaining new or different feelings or concerns about Germans or Germany...

Anti-homosexual sentiment

In December 2006, the BBC upheld complaints from four viewers after comments made by Jeremy Clarkson were considered to be derogatory references to homosexuality and had the potential to offend and should not have been broadcast. In a programme broadcast in July 2006, Clarkson had agreed with a member of the audience that a car was "a bit gay". He also described the vehicle as "very ginger beer", taken to be rhyming slang for the term "queer". The BBC 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."

Caravan fire

Top Gear presenters have been criticised for their negative views and depiction of caravans; once claiming to have received 150 complaints after they destroyed a caravan on a 'caravan holiday' during one of many caravan destruction segments. James Tapper, writing in the English Mail on Sunday newspaper, claimed the episode's action had been staged and that Dorset emergency services had been paid around £1,000 by the BBC for a six-man fire crew to participate in the mock fire. A BBC spokeswoman confirmed that the fire had been planned for safety reasons and that viewers were not misled due to the stunt's slapstick nature.

Dead cow incident

Both the BBC and the UK media regulator OFCOM received complaints about the dead cow tied to the roof of Clarkson's car in the third programme of the ninth series. The cow had died several days previously due to natural causes.

Train crash stunt

Another point of controversy regards the airing of a staged train crash in Series 9 Episode 5. The reconstruction of a collision between a train and a car positioned across a level crossing, was criticised due to the Cumbria train crash only 2 days earlier. The reconstruction, which was organised by Network Rail as part of its 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.". 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 film without offending somebody. A repeat of this episode due to be aired on the 1 March 2007 was not broadcast after another death on a level crossing earlier that morning. The episode was replaced with a "Best of Top Gear" episode.

Insensitivity to brain injury victims

The BBC apologised to a number of Top Gear viewers after Clarkson asked the returning Hammond the question "Are you now a mental?" May also offered a tissue in case he "dribbled" during the first episode of the 2007 series. The comments were meant as a joke about the head injuries Hammond sustained during his crash before the series, but an apology was made after several viewers complained.

Gran Turismo 5

On 24 October 2007 it was announced that players of the forthcoming Playstation 3 game, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, will be able to download episodes of Top Gear within the game, and that the show's test track will be one of the included circuits when the full game (Gran Turismo 5) is released at Christmas 2008.

First international Top Gear series

On 19 November 2007, it was revealed that a localised Australian series of Top Gear would be produced by the SBS network in conjunction with Freehand Productions, BBC Worldwide's Australasian partner. This announcement marks the first time a deal has been struck for a version of Top Gear to be produced exclusively for a foreign market. No indication has been given yet as to the exact makeup of the show, other than that it will have a distinct Australian style.

See also

• List of Top Gear broadcasters and video releases
• List of Top Gear episodes
• Top Gear (magazine)

External links

• Top Gear at BBC Online
• Top Gear at BBCAmerica
• Top Gear magazine website
• BBC News article on Top Gear's history (21 September 2006)
• Top Gear on UKTV
• List of Cars appearing on Top Gear courtesy of the IMCDb