Top gear

Top Gear was Clarkson. Love him, hate him, that's the simple truth, he was the show.(plus sidekicks!)

I don't know why the BBC are trying to keep the show. IMHO, they would be much better off starting a brand new show with a different name and format so there are no preconceptions of the yesteryear shows.

Thoughts?

Disagree.

But only here in the UK. People forget Top Gear is a worldwide brand that has spawned numerous shows with local presenters who have their own loyal following and formats. Then there is the merchandising arm, computer games, licensing etc etc £££££

Top Gear is a huge money spinner for the Beeb. The format will change, presenters will come and go, it may have gone laddy/wacky/humorous/OTT, but it is and always has been a car magazine show.

Clarkson certainly made TopGear and took it to where it is now, but it's now up to Evans to evolve the format, and keep the program as a flagship money spinner. Fail and it could destroy his career.

Pressure wise must be immense with so much speculation, plus Top Gear has set a high bar with a huge loyal following. Destroy the format and you lose your audience, brand dies and revenue collapses. Change too little and you'll be accused of being a poor imitation Clarkson and a cop out.

Only in the UK do we all sit back in our armchairs and relish failure and abject humiliation  

Can you image Mansell as a host? He'd be great on the track, but his monotone voice would have viewers jumping out of the window.

Personally used to despise Evans in his younger days, but since listening to him on the Radio 2 Breakfast show, I've warmed to him and he does have an infectious enthusiasm. He's also really good at interviewing people, particularly when they are hard work.

He's also a well publicised car nut and collector, so presenter wise, there can't be many more that qualified? 

Obviously time will tell and the great British public will give the  or the 

Saw earlier that the line up was being completed with Eddie Jordan (ex F1 boss) and Sabine Schmitz from Germany who appeared on the show a few times. Seem to recall her throwing a van around the Nuremberg ring, some years ago.

So thats in addition to an American actor and a couple of other people i actually don't know.

Sorry Beeb, personally think you have got this totally wrong. From the multitude of available of talent, are you honestly telling me that the annoying Chris Evans joined by a failed F1 team boss, an actor from across the pond, a female racing driver from Germany, a You Tube blogger and an unknown journalist are the best we have to offer?

For those similarly aged to me, i shall do what the Why don't you lot used to say... (for those younger it was -  "switch off the television set and go do something less boring instead" !)

I bet they'll cancel the show with the new line up real quick.

A prophecy? 

Certainly seems to be trouble for the new Top Gear line up. The press are saying Matt LeBlanc has threatened to quit unless Chris Evans is sacked. At least according to a mystery inside source 

Although never a huge fan, I could dip in or out and thought it was pretty good under Clarkson and crew, but the format was getting a bit predictable, and you can only blow up so many caravans.

So I was interested to see what Evans did with the format, and watched the first show. What a disappointment! Same old tired structure, pointless drive to blackpool in a 3 wheeler's, we've seen Clarkson messing about and rolling over in 3 wheelers.

Other than adding a part rally track to the star in the family car, and having different presenters, it was the same. Evans even said "we got custody of the stig". I concede it was only the first program, but the presenters didn't gel and it was like watching a cheap remake.

I think a huge opportunity to reinvent the format has been squandered, and I think MarketingQuotes could be right!

problem is the old format was made by the 3 of them as they were a tight knit family so to speak and can only assume they al got on as each had their own role in the format and could almost predict what car they would choose in the end although the caravanning trip has to be the best with Clarkson in this tower and letting the handbrake off at the end 

I have tried a couple of times to watch it, actually found the show while flicking rather than wanting to find it.

Seems that the line up is predominantly Matt & Chris with the others popping up from time to time.

Totally agree with Steve comments - they had a blank canvass to woo those ailing viewers but it seems even hardened TG fans are switching off.

I wish they would go back to being a car show and actually talk about cars. I'm fed up of looking at cars wizzing around that I will never be able to afford so why not be the car show and test drive some normal cars. Be a font of knowledge about the latest cars coming off the production line.

Be interesting to see what Clarkson and co come up with later in the year - wonder what format they will adopt?

Well looks the like the behind the scenes tensions were more serious than we thought!

Wonder what will happen now... Back to the drawing board, base it around LeBlanc, keep the format, or change it?

Can sense Clarksons smugness from here

Will that be enough to bring back the audiences though? Be interesting when Clarksons show is aired to see what happens.