Any car fanatics should be very familiar with the long-running British car show. It all started in 1977, with the original Top Gear, as a motoring magazine television show aimed at presenting cars and car safety to its viewers. Jeremy Clarkson originally joined the show in 1988, he was a hit with viewers, and the show’s popularity skyrocketed.
It appears that there was controversy both in front and behind the cameras. The BBC decided to pull Top Gear in 2001, after suffering a two-year drop in viewership, resulting from Jeremy Clarkson departing the show in 1999.
Clarkson approached the BBC with the idea to relaunch Top Gear under a fresh start. The BBC agreed, and in 2002 Clarkson was joined by Richard Hammond and James May as presenters. Their comradery made Top Gear a huge success once again.
Any television show, or movie, has many things taking place behind the scenes that viewers may not ever be aware of. Some occur for the production's success and some may be a result of clashing personalities and egos. Read below for some of the things that happen behind the scenes of Top Gear.
15 Richard Hammond Almost Fired
Top Gear has not been without controversy and conflict. With a number of strong-minded individuals trying to put a show together, it is bound to happen.
BBC bosses talked about dismissing Richard Hammond after the 2002 season to make room for a new presenter. The BBC bosses had the idea of bringing in a female presenter. But the other presenters and producer at the time quickly put an end to that idea, and the rest is history.
14 Jeremy Clarkson Additional Agreements
Although there had been attempts to keep details under the radar, it appears that Jeremy Clarkson and the BBC may have had behind the scenes agreements.
The agreements were related to a portion of the profits from international rights from Top Gear going to Jeremy Clarkson through a couple of different companies he formed. BBC Worldwide became a majority holder in one of the companies and Jeremy Clarkson took a cut from the international rights that made him quite wealthy.
13 The Episodes
When fans of Top Gear sit down in the comfort of their homes to watch an episode, they probably don’t realize the time and organization it takes to plan individual episodes?
Once an idea for an episode is decided, planning of how and where filming will take place, and planning for all required items begins. Brainstorming sessions to work out ideas and details takes several months. Then the filming begins. From the conception of an idea to the actual air date of the episode, is a time frame of at least four months.
12 Budget? What Budget?
All television shows have a budget that producers try to stick to. Depending on the episode's theme, sometimes that is easier said than done.
Every episode has its own budget due to the variety of each episode. Factors include where they are filming, what is happening in the episode, and what vehicles are featured. Top Gear has been known to go six-figures over budget on an episode. Hard for owners to say no, or cut the show if it is as successful as Top Gear has been.
11 Rules For Celebrity Guests
Top Gear provides information as well as entertainment for viewers. Each episode's content needs to keep a hold on the viewer’s attention and interest to keep them coming back week after week.
Celebrity guests are one method of achieving this. One catch, there is a list of rules celebrities need to follow when they make their appearance. Some rules include making the audience laugh using preapproved jokes, swearing is taboo, and no interview do-overs.
10 Audience Rules
Those who are lucky enough to be a part of the studio audience, find out very quickly that there are behind the scenes rules they must follow. Some are there to keep the filming running smoothly, and some are to add to the entertainment factor of the show.
There is the usual no talking and you must laugh at the jokes. And no recording within the studio for audience members. And an FYI for audience members - you must remain standing and recording can take up to six hours.
9 Health And Safety
In the earlier episodes of Top Gear, even before Richard Hammond's horrific high-speed crash, there was a Health and Safety Officer in attendance at episode planning meetings. The Health and Safety Officer would decide if episodes contained stunts and if a stunt coordinator was required on site.
There has been some uproar from the construction industry about a more recent Top Gear episode with a backhoe digging competition. After digging was complete, one of the presenters jumped into the holes which were unshored and leaving him at risk if there was a collapse.
8 Scripted
Top Gear had the famous faces of Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond at the forefront as the presenters of the show from 2002-2015. The impression to viewers was that the show was impromptu and their conversations were off the cuff.
In reality, there was, and still are, a team of talented writers and a script editor that worked behind the scenes preparing a script for the presenters to follow.
7 The Stig
Viewers are all familiar with the white-suited Stig, whom we never see the identity of as he tests cars around Top Gear's track. Interestingly, the original Stig wore a black suit and was on the series from 2002-2003. He apparently met his demise in 2003 after driving a car off the end of an aircraft carrier. This made way for the white Stig character in 2003.
Numerous “cousins” of The Stig have made appearances on Top Gear. They typically make an appearance when Top Gear ventures outside of the United Kingdom, or there is a special event.
6 No Free Perks
All of the Top Gear presenters, or hosts, get to test drive every car imaginable as part of their job on the show. It would seem a slight possibility that manufacturers would allow the hosts to keep the cars they are test driving. After all, it could be seen as advertising for their product.
Unfortunately for them, they do not. The BBC rules and regulations do not allow this to happen. It is one way to try to keep an unbiased opinion on the cars being tested.
5 Test Track
Another star, of the non-human variety, in the Top Gear show, was the test track itself. For almost twenty years, the 1.75-mile-long main runway and taxiways at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey were used to push test cars to their limits.
There had been rumors and movement to close the track, tear it up, and redevelop the area to make way for 1,800 homes. The last word was that motions had been passed to go ahead with the plan.
4 Avoiding Controversy
Since Top Gear is apparently scripted, writers and the presenters have to really watch what is said and how it is said. There have been many occasions over the history of the show that not the best choice of words was made. Being in the public eye, they also need to keep their actions in check on and off the show.
There have been accusations on numerous occasions and lawsuits over inappropriate and racial slurs. When it came to actions, the reason Jeremy Clark was fired from Top Gear, was for punching a producer in the face.
3 Stunt Drivers
Even though viewers are led to believe that it is the presenters driving the cars the entire time, apparently they are not. There are stunt drivers brought in to fill in, such as if the presenters are needed at another location.
As far as we know though, The Stig does all of his own driving.
2 Theme Music
All television shows have a theme song, or opening credits song, that becomes very recognizable and associated with the show. Top Gear's theme song is Jessica, written by the Allman Brothers Band in 1973.
The seven-minute instrumental has been used for 27 seasons of Top Gear. Most of the international versions of Top Gear use Jessica for their theme as well. The U.S. is the only one that used it for their first season and then went on to change it.
1 Feuding Co-hosts
Tension continued behind the scenes of Top Gear even after a revamping when Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond departed. New co-hosts, Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc had their differences right from the start when BBC bosses wanted LeBlanc on the show but Evans did not.
LeBlanc’s apparent donut stunt in front of the London Cenotaphone of the cars on the show added fuel to the fire. Even though Evans had two years left on his Top Gear contract, he stepped down from the show in July 2016.