Top Gear’s new host, Chris Evans, gets TG lessons from Jeremy Clarkson
DJ and presenter Chris Evans has been announced as the new presenter of an all new Top Gear, without Clarkson, Hammond and May. Filming starts soon.
The BBC has announced that DJ, presenter, car collector and famed ginger, Chris Evans, is to be the new host of an all new Top Gear, a Top Gear that dispenses not just with the services of Jeremy Clarkson, but those of Richard Hammond and James May too.
Just last week Evans was getting Top Gear lessons from Jeremy Clarkson in a segment for the 19th anniversary TFI Friday whilst piloting Clarkson around in his very own LaFerrari. We all took it as a bit of a spoof; Evans playing silly buggers when he had no interest in the job. But it was a mis-direction, and Evans – and a new team (yet to be revealed) – will start filming Series 23 of Top Gear in the next few weeks, (or is that Series 1 of new new Top Gear?).
The ginger one was suitably chuffed at the announcement, saying:
I’m thrilled, Top Gear is my favourite programme of all time. Created by a host of brilliant minds who love cars and understand how to make the massively complicated come across as fun, devil-may-care and effortless. When in fact of course, it’s anything but and that’s the genius of Top Gear’s global success.
I promise I will do everything I possibly can to respect what has gone on before and take the show forward.
BBC2 boss, Kim Shillinglaw, seemed equally pleased to bag what seems to have been her pick of Clarkson replacements, declaring:
I am so delighted that Chris will be presenting the next series of Top Gear. His knowledge of and passion for cars are well-known and combined with his sheer inventiveness and cheeky unpredictability he is the perfect choice to take our much-loved show into the future.
But Top Gear with Chris Evans will be a very different show to Top Gear with Clarkson et al. And it remains to be seen if whatever the BBC and Evans do with Top Gear floats the same audience’s boat.
But if we judge the potential for Top Gear by the audience Chris garnered for the first TFI Friday in nearly 15 years, he will bring his own audience and perhaps leave the old audience to pick up with Clarkson, Hammond and May wherever they end up making their take on Top Gear. In fact, we could end up with two high quality car entertainment shows as a result.
But will Chris Evans now leave his BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show to find time for Top Gear?
Dave Price says
Sounds like this is going to be TFI with cars, lots of short segments and lots of different people. It might be interesting but it won’t be Top Gear.