127-448: Top Gear is a British automotive magazine and currently inactive motoring-themed entertainment television programme. It is a revival devised by Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman of the 1977–2001 show of the same name for the BBC , and premiered on 20 October 2002. The programme focuses on the examination and reviewing of motor vehicles, primarily cars, though this was expanded upon after
254-452: A Top Gear "Christmas Special", with the last three split into two parts. These specials are listed below: At the end of each autumn series, hosts Clarkson, Hammond, and May presented an award ceremony in which they picked out cars on various aspects. While some were serious, others were meant as jokes against cars that the presenters hated. One award given was to one of the presenters, referred to as "Cock of Year", in which they had conducted
381-461: A digital on-screen graphic (DOG) in the top left-hand corner. On some programmes in the channel's early years, commercial breaks were introduced by an "end of part one" sign emerging horizontally from the DOG; when the programme returned after the break, this would become a "part two" sign, which then disappears back into the DOG. On 14 April 1997, Teletext reported that 70% of viewers who took part in
508-411: A Rally-Cross Car". While it stuck to the same format as "Reasonably Priced", it featured a number of changes. The first change was that the interview, conducted with Evans, was much longer, with the celebrities involved discussing what was their favourite car in a certain field and the studio audience voting on which one they preferred. The second change, which was the primary reason for the change in name,
635-426: A back-up car would be provided for the celebrity to use to continue practising, and/or to do their timed lap in. Although only one celebrity is involved in this segment, in a number of episodes, including the majority of the eleventh and twenty-third series, it sometimes featured two celebrities taking part, with footage of each timed lap shown one after the other. From the first series to the twenty-second series, when
762-402: A bit like one of those Yes albums from the 1970s where side one is just one track – so we're trying to calm down the prog-rock side. We'll inevitably still have big films, because it's the only way you can enjoy the three of them cocking about together, but they'll be shorter overall, and alongside we'll be inserting two- or three-minute punk songs." The success of the programme soon led to
889-499: A bridge, when Clarkson, seeing an Asian man crossing it, remarked that the bridge "had a slope on it". As a result of these matters, the broadcaster issued a "final warning" against Clarkson. The programme then suffered another incident, when production of its next special in Argentina was dogged by major issues that placed the team at serious risk of harm, as one of the car licence plates had read "H982 FKL" in an alleged reference to
1016-513: A brief voice over by continuity presenter David Vickery, the first broadcast was the Spice Girls singing a cover version of Manfred Mann 's hit " 5-4-3-2-1 " as "1-2-3-4-5", for which they were reportedly paid around £500,000. Presenters Tim Vine and Julia Bradbury were the first people to introduced the nation to the UK's fifth terrestrial channel with half an hour of previews. The rest of
1143-479: A car and another form of transportation – and completing a variety of challenges, mostly with cheap, second-hand cars. In early 2006, the BBC made plans to move the programme's film site from Dunsfold to Enstone, Oxfordshire , in preparation for its eighth series . These were later cancelled, after West Oxfordshire District Council strongly objected to the planned move, on the basis of noise and pollution concerns. As
1270-497: A different part of the world for a road trip using second-hand cars, with a number produced to be aired as a Christmas special. Despite growing popularity, an interview made with the Radio Times by Wilman revealed that future programmes would have less time devoted to big challenges, stating the following: "We've looked back at the last two or three runs and noticed that a programme can get swallowed up by one monster film –
1397-742: A digital video subscription service created by the BBC and ITV . Channel 5 HD is a high-definition simulcast of Channel 5. The channel launched on Sky Channel 171 and Virgin Media channel 150 on 13 July 2010. In the Summer of 2015, Channel 5 and Channel 5 HD switched places, with Channel 5 HD now being located in Channel 5's original space of Channel 105. Upon the launch, only the Australian soaps Neighbours and Home and Away were shown in HD, with
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#17327808487111524-440: A direct result, the broadcaster ordered that filming continued at Dunsfold during May of that year, despite having no permit to do so, with the eighth series unveiling a revamped studio set. In addition, the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment was modified with new rules along with a new car, while Hammond included one of his dogs for the series throughout its studio segments, along with a number of films made for this series and
1651-453: A failure, the segment returned to its original format. On 31 May 2018, LeBlanc announced he would be leaving the show after the twenty-sixth series in 2019. Andrew Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness were announced on 22 October 2018 to be replacing LeBlanc and joining Harris for the twenty-seventh series. As a part of the reshuffle Rory Reid was announced to be stepping down as a main host to present Extra Gear and make occasional appearances on
1778-454: A film that had been shown prior to footage of their timed lap, and viewed footage of a practice lap in which Harris tutored them on how to get around the circuit in the new car, before the footage of their timed lap. This was altered slightly in Series 25, with it returning to only one part with the training run still shown. The segment was dropped in Series 29 to maintain social distancing during
1905-413: A lap time in the new car. Up until the eighth series, the rules of the segment were that celebrities were given a set number of laps to do, with the fastest amongst these being recorded, but from the ninth series onwards, the rules were changed so that they were now given a few practice laps to get to grips with both the car and the track, before conducting a timed lap. In some episodes, the invited celebrity
2032-680: A live-version format being created called Top Gear Live ; produced by a former producer of the programme, Rowland French, the touring show aimed to attempt to "bring the TV show format to life... featuring breath-taking stunts, amazing special effects and blockbusting driving sequences featuring some of the world's best precision drivers". The Live tour began on 30 October 2008 in Earls Court, London, moving on to Birmingham in November before being performed in at least 15 other countries worldwide. As
2159-420: A major rebrand on 16 September 2002. In 2002, Channel 5 decided to drop the word 'Channel' from its name and refer to the channel as 'Five'. A new look was launched on 16 September 2002 featuring live-action footage with the new logo sliding in from the left of the screen. The new idents would sometimes be accompanied by pieces of chart music, such as Children by Robert Miles . The new look made frequent use of
2286-409: A mistake while filming the show for that year, while another was given to the celebrity who drove well, and not necessarily the fastest. The most important award given out in this special segment was "car of the year", in which the only criterion was that all three presenters must come to a unanimous choice on the winning car. Past winners were: Revival (television) In television, a revival
2413-599: A mix of live-action and CGI idents; some of these included supermarket trolleys, the Food Chain, Invisible Superheroes and Drawings. The look was refreshed in July 2009, making the logo notably larger, and the circle becoming red. As part of the refresh, special idents were made for popular shows such as The Mentalist , Paul Merton in Europe , CSI: Crime Scene Investigation , The Gadget Show and FlashForward with
2540-452: A multimillion-pound project directed by Trevor Beattie . The channel's director of marketing at the time, David Pullen, said: This campaign set out to achieve three key objectives: to clarify the channel's creative strategy; to refresh the channel's on-screen identity; and to address the gap between the common perceptions of Five and the new reality of our programming – stimulating viewers' reappraisal of Five's programmes and brand. Channel 5
2667-426: A number of occasions, the review may feature more than one car from the same class, as well as include exotic/foreign models, and feature more than one presenter as a way of providing different opinions on the cars being reviewed and putting forth an argument over the model they believe is worthwhile to own. Although the programme operated in a standard manner in the early series to the original format of car reviews in
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#17327808487112794-424: A number of series – because the new car was often different, in terms of engine specifications, power, speed, handling, and other factors, a new leaderboard would be created a direct result. In addition, the introduction of a new car would be reserved for the opening episode, with the celebrity segment pre-recorded before the series began – it featured no interview, and involved a group of celebrities taking part to set
2921-418: A nun driving a monster truck. However, these later changed into situations in which the presenters were either competing against each other with a car they chose in a series of tests, or working together to accomplish a goal, with the tagline "How hard can it be?" becoming a common phrase for the introduction of some of the challenges featured on the programme. Challenges that appear in episodes, mainly fall under
3048-408: A place. On 17 June 2008, Hammond and May revealed during an interview on BBC Radio 1 's The Chris Moyles Show , that the eleventh series would feature a new "host" in the line-up, who was later revealed on the programme as "Top Gear Stunt Man", an individual who made few, occasional appearances on the programme. From the twelfth series, feature-length specials were created for the show, each visiting
3175-521: A poll were in favour of removing the DOG. Channel 5 refused to remove it, though they did state that since launch, the DOG had been toned down. Channel 5 explained their reasons for keeping the DOG on screen, in an interview on 30 March 1997, they explained that: Five's candy stripes are intended to join the Nike tick, the Levi's tab and the three Adidas stripes as signifiers of belonging... Brand identity
3302-428: A race circuit for use on the programme that would be situated at the fixed location, while editing of films that were recorded for each episode, focused on extending the runtime of the programme to one hour. Wilman took on the role of the show's executive producer, while Clarkson became part of the hosting line-up. Because those who had worked with Clarkson on the original programme had left the BBC to work on Fifth Gear ,
3429-466: A return to the 'Channel 5' moniker. In October 2010, Desmond revealed the station's new look and confirmed its official on-screen identity as "Channel 5" during a press launch. Desmond promoted these changes in his tabloid newspapers, the Daily Express and Daily Star . There is also cross-promotion between Northern & Shell's newspaper and magazine titles with their websites promoted on
3556-415: A robot figure with the "5" logo imposed in neon lights (outlined). "VIP" features a model walking on a red carpet formed from the big screen with the logo formed out of the camera flashes. "Car Chase" features a police car chasing another car which eventually crashes 'through' the big screen with the logo being on the side of the police car. A generic ident with the Channel 5 logo pulsating on the studio screen
3683-403: A sequel that may introduce a new storyline with some of the same characters after the previous series' story ended. Revivals usually take place at some point after the original series ends. By contrast, reboots and remakes may feature many of the original characters differently, but are usually played by new cast members and without taking into account events or continuity that occurred during
3810-729: A sister to CBS in the United States and Network 10 in Australia. Channel 5 received Channel of the Year honours from the Royal Television Society and Broadcast Awards in 2020, with judges for both recognising the network's expansion under ViacomCBS. On 20 August 2024, it was reported that Paramount was planning a rebrand of Channel 5 to occur in early-2025, which would see its name shortened to "5". In addition, catch-up platform My5 will also be consolidated under
3937-603: A timed lap, the episode either shows the film of each car one after the other, or alongside each other. After the film is shown, the presenter reveals the time to the studio audience and the viewer – abbreviations next to lap times, such as "W" for "wet", highlight if they were conducted under certain track conditions. In order to qualify for a place on the Power Lap Board, cars that undergo a Power Lap must fulfil certain requirements: As such, vehicles that do not qualify have their times mentioned, but do not get included on
Top Gear (2002 TV series) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4064-408: A week later on 20 December, Wilman admitted that the three presenters were now "playing to their TV cartoon characters a bit too much". His statement included referring to "this incarnation of Top Gear " being close to its end, and that the production team would be working towards keeping its "dignity still intact", while experimenting with new ideas for the programme. Nevertheless, a one-off special of
4191-461: A year to boost programming and the equivalent of £20m promoting the channel and its shows in a marketing campaign in Northern & Shell publications. Upon completing his takeover of Five on 23 July 2010, Richard Desmond remarked; "I prefer Channel 5 to Five, but... we haven't met with the team yet to discuss these sorts of details". The day after, Desmond's Daily Express newspaper noted that
4318-411: Is a television series that returns to produce new episodes after being off the air for a certain amount of time, particularly due to cancellation . Network executives may decide to attempt to revive a television program when they feel that a market once again exists for it. It is one of several programming strategies television networks employ to capitalize further on successful programs; among
4445-462: Is the new holy grail of marketing... Product recognition is the winning move in the new consumer system. Five is being sold like a car or a running shoe. Not surprisingly it will be the first of our terrestrial channels to wear its own label on the outside... "Consumers are very brand-conscious these days..." "...and we are definitely describing ourselves as a very modern channel. It would be curious to launch an old-fashioned channel without an image in
4572-478: The Aston Martin DBR9 Le Mans racer. Another major segment in the programme, featured in the majority of episodes broadcast, the format for this involves a celebrity being invited to take part in a timed lap around Top Gear ' s test track in a car provided for the segment. They then join the presenters in the studio for an interview, mainly about their car history, their performance in
4699-477: The COVID-19 pandemic , and did not return in later series. As part of Top Gear ' s format, every episode has contained at least a number of segments involving challenges. In the first few series, these were focused on novelty challenges and stunts that were typically based on absurd premises, such as a bus jumping over motorcycles (as opposed to the more typical scenario of a motorcycle jumping over buses) or
4826-484: The Falklands War of 1982. The controversial incident it created was covered by international news media, but despite the issues faced, the special was later aired as part of the BBC's Christmas schedule for 2014, though with amendments to its ending and the inclusion of an introduction for it. On 10 March 2015, the 22nd series of the programme was abruptly put into hiatus by the BBC. The broadcaster's actions were
4953-460: The Helvetica typeface. The informal name "Five" was used in early continuity announcements and idents containing a lowercase 'five' had been used on the channel from the launch. The final set with this logo was launched on 23 January 2006, based on four-letter words such as Hope, Fast and Love. The idents at first did not feature the logo, but the idents were revised on 2 January 2007 to include
5080-404: The thirtieth series , broadcast in early 2021, due to restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic : studio segments were recorded during a two-night shoot outside Television Centre, London , instead of the previous location at Dunsfold Aerodrome , with no full audience, and all of the films in the series were recorded in the UK. The new outdoor studio at Television Centre was retained for
5207-425: The thirty-first series , which was broadcast later that year. The revamped show fronted by the new trio helped Top Gear increase viewership to numbers not seen since the departure of Clarkson, Hammond and May. The twenty-seventh series has also been one of the most popular shows for British 16 to 34 year olds. On 4 August 2021, it was announced that production of the show would transfer to BBC Studios Bristol from
Top Gear (2002 TV series) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5334-452: The "5" branding to unify its linear and streaming outlets, following the lead of Channel 4. In addition, plans to consolidate Pluto TV with My5 were shelved. The British frequency plan had only allowed for four channels to be transmitted over the whole of the UK using analogue terrestrial transmitters, but the ITC identified that UHF channels 35 and 37 could provide coverage for around 70% of
5461-424: The (now-cancelled) nightly entertainment show OK! TV . Audience figures for the relaunch were boosted with increased viewing figures for the main 5 News bulletins and improved figures for OK! TV in the 6.30 p.m. slot over its predecessor Live from Studio Five . On 18 August 2011, Channel 5 relaunched Big Brother , starting with Celebrity Big Brother 8 and followed by Big Brother 12 , having bought
5588-444: The 14th series was being broadcast in late 2009, the programme began to attract criticism from some viewers, over its predictability through the over-reliance on stunts and forced humour at the expense of serious content. On 13 December 2009, controller of BBC Two Janice Hadlow appeared on the BBC's Points of View to reject such comments, purely on the evidence of Top Gear ' s ratings and audience appreciation figures. However,
5715-579: The 1977 show, it soon began to adopt an unusual approach of reviewing cars, by conducting an unusual test(s) to either put a vehicle through its paces in an arranged scenario, or to demonstrate and showcase an exceptional quality that it exhibited. An example of this comes from the "Toyota Hilux Destruction" film, divided between two episodes of the third series – to prove the strength of a Toyota Hilux pick-up truck, presenters Clarkson and May set about subjecting it to various, mainly destructive tests to see if it could survive against them and still run, allowing
5842-425: The 2007 Britcar 24-hour race at Silverstone , using a race-prepared, second-hand diesel BMW 330d , fuelled by biodiesel refined from crops they had sown as part of an earlier feature. With popularity for the show rising to considerable levels, the waiting list to get a ticket for a recording became extensive – an individual seeking a ticket, found that they would be required to wait for 21 years before securing
5969-410: The 2008 set being withdrawn except for the 'news safe' CGI idents. In February 2010, an additional ident was introduced, featuring a CGI aurora forming the logo tilted on its side. This was used at closedown and, sometimes, before news bulletins. After the takeover by Richard Desmond 's Northern & Shell , major changes and considerable financial investment were promised by the new owners, alongside
6096-494: The 22nd series. Clarkson's forced departure soon had a considerable impact on the programme, beginning with that year's Top Gear Live – as a result of the BBC's decision, the tour's name was changed to "Clarkson, Hammond and May Live" and announced on 1 April 2015. Wilman later revealed on 23 April that he would be resigning from the programme, along with Clarkson's co-presenters May and Hammond, having stated that they would not continue working on Top Gear without Clarkson; however,
6223-469: The BBC aired a special edition episode entitled Top Gear: Polar Special . It was one of the first episodes of the programme to be shown in high-definition , and the third special to be produced, focusing on a race to the North Magnetic Pole , at its recorded location in 1996, between a "polar modified" Toyota Hilux and a dog sled. Considerable planning and co-ordination for the filming of
6350-458: The BBC announced that series 34 production had been suspended to enable a thorough health and safety investigation into the accident. In November 2023, the BBC announced that Top Gear would not return on TV for the "foreseeable future" following Flintoff's accident, though the statement left open the possibility of the show resuming production in the future. Each episode of Top Gear focus a series of segments, switching between those filmed within
6477-413: The Channel 5 launch night schedule, along with the official viewing figures, was as follows: Overall, an estimated 2,490,000 tuned in to see Britain's fifth free channel launch, a figure higher than that achieved by the launch of Channel 4 , fourteen and a half years earlier. The first advert shown on Channel 5 was for Chanel No. 5 perfume. On 16 September 2002, Channel 5 re-branded to Five , in
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#17327808487116604-477: The Channel 5 website. In 2010, afternoon movies on Channel 5 were sponsored by the Daily Express . As for the logo, the red circle was retained, however, the word "FIVE" was replaced with the numeral "5". The extended version of the logo has the word "CHANNEL" in upper case font to its left. The DOG revived the "5" motif, originally as a transparent '5' cutout in a bright grey circle. From 18 February 2011,
6731-463: The DOG was modified to a white semi-transparent '5' on a faint grey circle. The DOG was later returned to the transparent '5' cutout in a bright grey circle. On 5 March 2013, the DOG was moved into the 16:9 safe area , along with the rest of their channels. A range of new idents for Channel 5 was launched in February 2011 incorporating the "5" motif featuring live-action and CGI elements. They echo
6858-688: The Lapboard. Examples of this include the Renault F1 car (0:59.0) and the Caparo T1 (1:10.6), which were disqualified for failing the speed bump requirement; the Ferrari FXX (1:10.7), which was disqualified for using slick tyres ; and the Pagani Zonda R (1:08.5), which was disqualified for not being road legal. In addition, non-production cars are also disallowed from the board, such as
6985-421: The UK population. These channels were used by many domestic video recorders for RF connection to television sets. Before the channel could launch, the broadcaster had to provide over-the-phone instructions or visit any home that complained, to either retune the video recorder or fit a filter to completely block the Channel 5 signal. For many transmitters, channels 35 and 37 were 'out of the group', which meant that
7112-414: The UK's commercial PSB services – ITV/STV/UTV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – now have one-hour timeshifts. The original Channel 5 logo was a numeric "5" within a circle, sometimes accompanied by "candy stripes" of five colours (an idea based on the colour bars used by vision engineers to monitor picture output). Between 30 March 1997 and 15 September 2002, Channel 5 was the only UK terrestrial channel to display
7239-653: The Wild . The channel has also relied on imports from the United States, including the CSI franchise, the NCIS franchise, the first three series in the Law & Order franchise, Power Rangers , The Mentalist , Body of Proof , Once Upon a Time , Dallas , Under the Dome , and sitcom Friends . Wolff Olins and Saatchi & Saatchi were the main companies behind
7366-464: The accident, with filming later resuming on 5 October. The opening episode of the ninth series, aired on 28 January 2007, included footage of Hammond's crash; while it was not repeated like other episodes in the programme, it attracted higher ratings than the finale of Celebrity Big Brother , providing one of the highest ratings for BBC Two for a decade, alongside the series finale, which attracted around 8 million viewers. Later that summer, on 25 July,
7493-528: The board depending on how cool the car was perceived to be. The segment was introduced in the sixth episode of the first series and was mainly presented by Clarkson and Hammond. The two presenters often argued with each other and members of the audience about which category a particular car should be placed in. Clarkson based some of his arguments on how well the car would impress actress Kristin Scott Thomas , and later, BBC newsreader Fiona Bruce . There
7620-441: The broadcast of its earlier series to incorporate films featuring motoring-based challenges, special races, timed laps of notable cars, and celebrity timed laps on a course specially-designed for the relaunched programme. The programme drew acclaim for its visual and presentation style since its launch, which focused on being generally entertaining to viewers, as well as criticism over the controversial nature of its content. The show
7747-476: The broadcaster securing the right to use Dunsfold Aerodrome , an airport and business park in Waverley, Surrey , as the programme's fixed location – while its runways and taxiways were allocated for reviews and other films, one of the site's large aircraft hangars was transformed into Top Gear ' s new studio. To match the proposed ideas for the new format, the BBC gained assistance from Lotus to design
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#17327808487117874-415: The car and a look back to the highlights from their practice laps. After viewing footage of their timed lap, their time is stated and recorded onto a leaderboard, much in a similar fashion to lap times for Power Laps, including the use of abbreviations to denote track conditions the celebrity faced. In the event that the car being used was put out of action by serious mechanical damage during practice sessions,
8001-404: The car driven by The Stig. Often used after the main review of an episode, it mainly involved the car or cars from the review, though it sometimes featured vehicles that either had been reviewed in a previous episode but couldn't be put on the track due to problems or unfavourable conditions on the track, or were special models (such as racing versions of the car). On occasions when multiple cars did
8128-599: The cars for the programme; and the participation of celebrity guests who would be invited to take part in an episode, undertake an interview over motoring matters, such as their car history, and take part in a special challenge to do a timed lap in a designated car. Following the pitch, the BBC decided to green-light the new format, in order to create a programme to compete with Channel 5 's new motoring show Fifth Gear , to which several original Top Gear presenters including Tiff Needell , Vicki Butler-Henderson and producer Jon Bentley went. Production began in mid-2002, with
8255-400: The channel's name was to change: "From today the rather vague 'Five' (Five what? Days of the week? Fingers?) reverts to the much more informative Channel 5". On 11 August 2010, Desmond confirmed the restoration of the original name used from 1997 to 2002. The restoration was revealed onscreen on 14 February 2011. The relaunch also saw investment in a range of new programming with the debut of
8382-408: The common theme was that the presenters conducted a road trip, mainly using a series of second-hand vehicles that they put through a series of challenges along their journey. The format often saw the presenters conduct a small filmed segment to provide an insight of what they were doing; the exception to this format was Top Gear ' s Polar Special . A number of specials were designed to be aired as
8509-418: The course of the show's history, being featured; Wilman was the show's executive producer. Following the first series, Dawe was replaced by James May , with the line-up unchanged until the end of the twenty-second series, when the BBC chose to not renew Clarkson's contract on 25 March 2015, following an incident during filming. His dismissal from Top Gear prompted the departure of Hammond, May and Wilman from
8636-521: The departure of Clarkson, and the subsequent departure of May, Hammond and Wilman, the BBC began searching for their replacements. On 16 June 2015, Chris Evans was confirmed as one of the new hosts, with it later suggested he would be hosting the show alone as part of a new format, despite a previous announcement that the broadcaster was holding open audition for his co-presenters; this claim was later dismissed as untrue. Although former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard had been widely reported to be joining
8763-559: The episode was conducted by both Top Gear ' s production team and Toyota , with both Clarkson and May, driving the Hilux, being the first people to reach the recorded location of the North Magnetic Pole by car. It was one of a number of challenges in which the presenters had to be focused and serious, despite the comedic scenes shown, with another being on 9 September, when the presenters, including The Stig, participated in
8890-413: The era of Next, Levi's and Nike. On 6 September 1999, Channel 5 launched its new 'celebrity' idents, making the candy stripe more frequently used in idents and graphics, most notably in a hole in the backdrop of the idents. The set of idents was refreshed on 11 September 2000, as well as new idents from 4 March 2002, featuring the logo on coloured backgrounds by going widescreen. These idents were used until
9017-508: The fact that the new series struggled to make reasonable viewing figures, with this partly blamed on its broadcast schedule putting it up against live broadcasts of the UEFA Euro 2016 championships. On 4 July, following the series finale, Evans announced his resignation from Top Gear , based on feedback. As a result, the BBC announced on 26 September that, among the remaining five presenters, LeBlanc would be joined by Harris and Reid to become
9144-461: The following categories: Another part of the show's format was the inclusion of a race in every series by the presenters. Such races (which were sometimes referred to as "epic" by Clarkson) were mainly conducted over long distances, though each fell under a certain category: "The Cool Wall" was a board in the studio divided into sections titled "Seriously Uncool", "Uncool", "Cool" and "Sub Zero". Photographs of cars were sorted into different places on
9271-527: The font "Gotham" in upper case. Break bumpers featured the "5" logo in the left-hand corner of the screen with a pattern of circles radiating out from the logo in an alternating red and black colour scheme. This logo was retired from use on 10 February 2016; a virtually identical logo would later be used by American ABC affiliate WEWS-TV in Cleveland, Ohio beginning in September of that year, albeit in
9398-430: The frequencies Channel 5 would begin broadcasting on in the months before launch as well, including a trailer for the channel and information screens. After re-tuning, around 65% of the population's televisions could view the channel on launch night, and a month after launch, the channel launched on satellite to provide coverage to the rest of the UK. The channel's launch on 30 March 1997 (Easter Sunday) at 6 p.m. After
9525-529: The future. In October 2013, Channel 5 HD became a subscription channel on the Sky satellite platform. Previously, it was available as a free-to-view channel, but is now only available to Sky 'Family Bundle' customers or those with the HD pack. On 27 April 2016, Channel 5 HD test transmissions started on Freeview Mux. BBCB (CH105). On 4 May 2016, Channel 5 HD became free-to-air, coinciding with its launch on Freeview and Freesat . The time-shifted Channel 5 +1
9652-409: The group consented to making one final episode for the BBC consisting of the trio's final films, which was aired as a special on 28 June 2015. Following this episode, Hammond, May and Wilman joined up with Clarkson, and subsequently signed a deal with Amazon to produce a new motoring programme in the same vein as their former show, which debuted in 2016 under the title of The Grand Tour . Following
9779-547: The letters HD placed in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Channel 5 HD was due to launch on Freeview in 2010 but was unable to reach the 'key criteria' to keep its slot. In 2011 Channel 5 HD was the sole applicant for a fifth high-definition channel slot on Freeview, intending to launch in spring or early summer 2012. On 15 December 2011, Channel 5 dropped its bid to take the fifth slot after being unable to resolve "issues of commercial importance". Channel 5 said it "remains committed" to having an HD channel on Freeview in
9906-465: The long-running US news programme 60 Minutes featuring Clarkson, Hammond, and May, attracted 16 million viewers in October 2010. Towards the end of 2014, the BBC became concerned over Clarkson's behaviour on the programme, including its production. Their concerns were raised by two incidents that year. The first involved an un-aired take from the 19th series emerging on national news media, featuring
10033-425: The main hosts for the next series. To make amends for its dismal performance, Top Gear underwent a more thorough revamp, which included redoing the studio, and redesigning the show's opening titles. The show's format was refocused on elements developed in early series, a deeper work on chemistry between the presenters, while also revising the celebrity segment – as the arrangement for the 23rd series had proven to be
10160-419: The main programme. A combination of delays with production and conflicts with scheduling, led to the premiere date of the 23rd series being pushed back to 29 May 2016. In addition, the new series aired with only six of the ten episodes that it promised to show. The new look of the show received mixed feedback from critics and viewers alike – although praise was given for the inclusion of LeBlanc, Harris and Reid,
10287-420: The main show; however, Extra Gear did not return and so Reid moved to ITV4 to present Speed Freaks . The new presenting line-up received a positive reception compared to the mixed reviews of the previous few series. During the broadcast of the twenty-eighth series in early 2020, it was announced that, from the twenty-ninth series , the show would move channels to BBC One following the positive reception of
10414-513: The major Tyne & Wear conurbation; many areas in Scotland ; most of Wales , most of Northern Ireland and parts of Cumbria . The channel is available on all digital platforms ( Freesat , Sky satellite, IPTV and Freeview digital terrestrial, and also most cable operators). On 5 November 2008, the channel launched on digital satellite service Freesat, on the Astra 28.2°E satellites. It
10541-549: The most widely broadcast factual television programme in the world. Its success has led to various forms of merchandising, including live tours, special DVD editions, and books, as well as spawning a variety of international versions in various countries, including the United States, Australia, South Korea, China, and France. After the BBC cancelled the original format of Top Gear in December 2001, Jeremy Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman met together to work out ideas for reviving
10668-438: The new format was panned for its sluggish pace, the lack of humour in the studio segments, and the length of time spent on the revamped celebrity segment, "Star in a Rally-Cross Car". The most negative feedback received for the 23rd series was towards Evans' involvement – his presentation style was largely criticised, along with the lack of chemistry he had with LeBlanc. In addition to feedback, several newspaper articles highlighted
10795-505: The new presenting lineup. The twenty-ninth series itself, which was broadcast in late 2020, also saw some changes as a result of filming and broadcast during the COVID-19 pandemic , including the show moving out of the studio and onto the runway, in a 'drive-in festival' style, to enable the audience members to remain physically distanced, and the dropping of the Star in a ... Car segment to maintain social distancing. Further changes were made to
10922-511: The next. On 20 September, during production for the ninth series, Hammond was seriously injured while driving a Vampire turbojet drag racing car at up to 314 miles per hour (505 km/h), as part of a planned feature, leading the BBC to postpone the broadcast of Best of Top Gear until a later date, and delaying production on the series until the presenter had recovered. Both the BBC and the Health and Safety Executive carried out inquiries into
11049-523: The original series. Channel 5 (UK) Channel 5 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global 's UK and Australia division. It was launched in 30 March 1997 to provide a fifth national terrestrial channel in the United Kingdom. Channel 5 was renamed Five , from 16 September 2002 until 13 February 2011. Most of this
11176-450: The other co-presenters appearing "when required". On 27 April 2016, BBC Three announced that a spin-off programme to Top Gear had been commissioned, entitled Extra Gear . Designed to be aired after each episode of the new series was aired, its format focused on providing exclusive new content online – hosted by both Reid and Harris, the spin-off would consist of new footage, interviews, specially recorded films and behind-the-scenes access to
11303-437: The other methods are spin-offs , reboots , remakes , cast reunions, television movies and sequels . Unlike spin-offs, in which a television network creates an entirely new series around an existing character or setting , a revival reintroduces most or many of the original program's storylines , characters, and locales, and usually attempts to resolve story arcs that the original run failed to complete , as opposed to
11430-463: The pre-launch advertising campaign: "Give Me 5". The channel would be both modern and mainstream. A logo (a numeric "5" within a circle) and visual motif (a "candy stripe" bar of colours, reminiscent of TV test cards) were used, and an attempt was made to establish a collection of Channel 5 faces; through the spring of 1997, billboards of Jack Docherty were displayed, along with other unknown characters. A series of pre-launch screens were displayed on
11557-410: The predominantly red colour scheme of the channel's new corporate image, each based in a spacious studio with a large screen as the backdrop for the action. "Drums" features a drummer against a backdrop of animated shapes with the "5" appearing on a screen behind. In "Equaliser", a "5" contained in a cube emerges from a graphic equaliser display. "Imagination" features a battle between a toy dinosaur and
11684-428: The presenter attempting to choose between two cars using the traditional rhyme " Eeny, meeny, miny, moe " but failing to censor the original version's use of the word nigger . The second involved an investigation into racism complaints by the regulator Ofcom , in regards to the show's "Burma Special", which led to the programme being found in breach of broadcasting rules: the presenters had been involved in constructing
11811-406: The presenters regularly destroying a caravan during the early series. After the first series, Dawe was replaced by James May . Having previously been a presenter on Channel 4 's motoring programme Driven and the 1999 series of Top Gear , May initially declined to be a part of the new format, until its growing popularity later changed his mind. At the beginning of the third series, McCarthy
11938-451: The production team arranged for him to be joined by Richard Hammond and Jason Dawe . A difficulty found during production revolved around the show's test driver – neither Clarkson nor Wilman could find a racing driver with experience at speaking on-camera. In discussions over this, the pair opted to make the driver silent, and later having their identity concealed. When they recruited Perry McCarthy amongst their possible candidates for
12065-551: The programme as a host, this was dismissed as speculation when he was revealed, on 11 January 2016, to be the new host of Channel 4 's coverage for the 2016 F1 season. On 4 February, it was officially announced that American actor Matt LeBlanc was to join the show as Evans' co-host. On an edition of his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, a week later, Evans revealed that both men would also be joined by Eddie Jordan , motoring journalist Chris Harris , German motor racing driver Sabine Schmitz , and motoring journalist Rory Reid . Filming for
12192-484: The programme for television. This led to them eventually meeting the broadcaster to pitch the idea of changing it from a motoring magazine format to one that was studio-based. Amongst the ideas that were pitched included: the involvement of a fixed location for car reviews and other films, alongside locations across Britain and abroad; putting notable cars through a timed lap of a circuit; the involvement of test driver with veteran racing experience, who handles driving some of
12319-423: The programme's main studio before a studio audience, and pre-recorded films conducted before the broadcast of an episode – these films primarily cover major segments of the episodes, with studio segments often used as links or breaks between them. The most common forms of segments used in the show's history are "Car Reviews", "Power Laps", "Star in a ... Car", "Cool Wall", "Challenges" and "Races". A major segment of
12446-404: The programme, happening at least once in most episodes, it focuses on the presenters conducting a road-test of a car, looking at such factors as ride quality, speed, handling, practicality, and reliability. These reviews are conducted either on and around Top Gear ' s test track , or on the roads of Britain and abroad, and often focus on one car, primarily from well known car manufacturers. On
12573-402: The programme, who joined Clarkson in forming a new motoring series, The Grand Tour . After the group's departure, others were appointed as hosts for the programme, including Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc , both joined by four co-presenters for the twenty-third series: Rory Reid , Sabine Schmitz , Chris Harris and Eddie Jordan . After negative feedback on this series, Evans resigned from
12700-402: The programme, with LeBlanc joined by Harris and Reid as the main hosts for the following three series. From the twenty-seventh series onwards (2019), the presenting line-up was changed following the departure of LeBlanc and Reid, with Harris joined by Andrew Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness as the main presenters. This series proved more popular with viewers. Production of the thirty-fourth series
12827-546: The result of them suspending Clarkson in order to investigate allegations made against him, over verbal and physical abuse he had committed against one of the show's producers, Oisin Tymon. On 25 March, Clarkson's contract with the BBC was terminated, with Director-General of the BBC Tony Hall announcing that the remaining episodes future were uncertain until the broadcaster could determine how to air them out and complete
12954-500: The rights to air the programme following its cancellation by Channel 4 in April 2011. The deal was worth a reported £200 million. The show helped the channel's viewing figures and audience share to rise slightly year-on-year, from 4.4% to 4.5%, in 2012. It was only achieved by Channel 5 and BBC One later in 2012; all other terrestrial broadcasters fell in comparison. In 2013, Ben Frow , the channel's Director of Programming, revealed that
13081-457: The role, his input led to Wilman choosing to nickname the test driver " the Stig ". To date, there have been 12 presenters of the show: The first series of the new format of Top Gear premiered on 20 October 2002. In its early state, the programme's segments were based on elements of the previous format, such as interviews and viewers' letters, but also featured some new humorous elements, such as
13208-413: The roof-top receiving aerials were not designed to cover Channel 5's broadcast channels. Many people either could not receive the channel at all or required a new aerial. The broadcaster progressively added to the transmitters to improve the analogue terrestrial coverage since that time. From 23 April 1997, the channel was also provided on the analogue Astra satellite service, which enabled people outside
13335-473: The segment's format was revised, and renamed as "Star in a Reasonably Fast Car". While similar in format to "Reasonably Priced", in that celebrities were interviewed about their car history and did a timed lap around the test track, it featured a number of changes. Apart from the car being much faster the segment was split into two parts – the celebrity joined much earlier in the episode, discussed their car history with LeBlanc, Harris and Reid, gave some feedback on
13462-448: The show was presented by Clarkson, Hammond and May, the segment was entitled as "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" – its name was derived from the fact that the celebrities drove around the test track in an affordable car available on the market. The segment was often shown during the middle of an episode, and had the celebrities interviewed by Clarkson. The affordable car used in the segment was changed several times, each being replaced after
13589-462: The start of the tenth series and also due to show being able to produce more pre-recorded film and challenge content due to the bigger budgets of later series. The final appearance of the Cool Wall occurred in the last episode of the sixteenth series though it still remained as part of the studio set until the end of twenty-second series. The Cool Wall was removed from the studio entirely ahead of
13716-583: The station would be moving away from broadcasting just American imports, by introducing shows from other countries such as Canada , Ireland and Australia to the schedules. The station has since begun screening the Australian prison drama Wentworth Prison and the Irish gangland series Love/Hate . In January 2014, it was reported that Richard Desmond was looking at selling Channel 5 for up to £700 million. On 1 May 2014, Desmond agreed to sell Channel 5 to Viacom for £450 million (US$ 759 million). The deal
13843-458: The terrestrial reception areas to receive it via a dish. Unlike the other four analogue British television channels, the channel could not be received via analogue terrestrial broadcasts in many areas, including some parts of the south coast of England where the signal would otherwise interfere with signals from television stations in France ; many areas of North East England , especially around
13970-412: The thirty-third series onwards; however, Dunsfold Aerodrome will still be used for filming. On 13 December 2022, whilst filming at Dunsfold Park Aerodome for the planned 34th series, Flintoff was involved in a second accident and had to be airlifted to hospital. In January 2023 The Mirror reported Flintoff chose to put his TV career on hold to allow himself time to recover from the crash. In March 2023
14097-548: The twenty third series after the studio was refurbished following the departure of Clarkson, Hammond and May from the show. In 2006, Top Gear featured its first, feature-length, special edition episode, in which the presenters conducted a various challenges related to sporting events used in the Winter Olympics, in which cars took the place of athletes in each event. Following this special, the production team worked on creating additional, feature-length specials, in which
14224-406: The twenty-third series soon began in early 2016. While the show still retained the use of the show's presentation style and its test driver The Stig, the format received a number of changes – a small number of segments were dropped, the studio received a revamp to its layout, the celebrity segment was redesigned to feature a rallycross-styled challenge, while Evans and LeBlanc would front the show with
14351-420: The use of tools for repair but prohibiting the replacement of any components (with the exception of the windscreen). Other notable uses of this unusual approach have included: Another unusual approach with car reviews was to conduct them in the form of a challenge. Examples of such "review" challenges have included: This segment focuses on a featured car undergoing a timed lap of the programme's test track, with
14478-431: The word Five again. Additional idents from late-2007 such as Bike, Beach, and Celebrity. On 6 October 2008 at 9 pm, Five launched and aired a new look, replacing the lower-case "five" logo with an upper-case "FIVE" in a circle occasionally with pink, turquoise and purple light effects. The rebrand was conducted by DixonBaxi, and according to them, the new look was "more vocal, expressive and creative". The relaunch included
14605-457: Was a F1 driver, with the segment referred to as "F1 Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" – while it stuck to the standard format, the only difference was that the F1 drivers were restricted to the use of the first car used in the segment, which was retained to maintain fairness with those invited. During Evans' short-lived tenure as the show's host, the twenty-third series saw the segment renamed "Star in
14732-445: Was a name; 'Five' is a brand. 'Five' as a brand reflects the evolution the channel is undergoing in programming and in becoming a more confident and distinctive viewer proposition. Five was taken over by Richard Desmond 's publishing group Northern & Shell on 23 July 2010 for £103.5 million. Desmond pledged to top up the broadcaster's total budget to about £1.5bn over the next five years, including new investment of £50m to £100m
14859-473: Was also praised for its occasionally controversial humour and lore existing in not just the automotive community but in the form of internet memes and jokes. The programme was aired on BBC Two until it was moved to BBC One for its twenty-ninth series in 2020. The programme's first series in 2002 was presented by Clarkson, Richard Hammond , and Jason Dawe , with an anonymous test driver " The Stig ", an individual played by several different racing drivers over
14986-542: Was approved on 10 September 2014 and at the same time, it was announced that it was to co-commission programmes with its pay channels such as Nickelodeon and MTV . Under Viacom, the channel planned to increase its original programming output, increasing its budget by 10%. On 11 February 2016, Channel 5 also unveiled an overhauled brand, meant to reflect a new remit of "Spirited TV with an Emotional Heart". In December 2019, Viacom re-merged with CBS Corporation , forming ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) and making Channel 5
15113-503: Was due to changes to the Freeview platform, which necessitated moving Channel 5 from a commercial multiplex to a public service broadcasting multiplex. This was to increase the coverage of the channel from around 70% to 99% of the country by using relay transmitters : these only carried the three PSB multiplexes but did not carry the three commercial multiplexes. On 20 September 2019, it was announced that Channel 5 had joined BritBox ,
15240-561: Was halted in March 2023 after Flintoff was injured in an accident during filming; the BBC later announced that Top Gear would not return for the "foreseeable future". Top Gear has been one of the BBC's most commercially successful programmes since its relaunch. It has become a significant show in British popular culture , with episodes also broadcast internationally in many countries in Europe, North America, Southeast Asia and more, making it
15367-433: Was introduced in April 2012. Several special idents have also been used for The Hotel Inspector , The Walking Dead , Impossible? , Big Brother , The Bachelor , Europa League , The Mentalist , Tamara Ecclestone: Billion $ $ Girl , It's All About Amy , How to Take Stunning Pictures , and The Gadget Show: World Tour also based around the same theme of the studio and screen. Programme preview cards feature
15494-448: Was launched on Freesat , Freeview and Sky on 6 December 2011. The channel was also expected to be made available via Virgin Media during 2012, eventually launching on 25 October 2012. As with other similar '+1' services, Channel 5 +1 rebroadcasts Channel 5's entire programming output on a one-hour time delay, though the 'Supercasino' commercial gaming block is blacked out on the timeshift. The launch of Channel 5 +1 meant all three of
15621-411: Was no rule for how cars were to be judged; according to producer Andy Wilman, the criteria were not necessarily related to the quality of the car itself. Any car owned by one of the presenters was classified as "Seriously Uncool". The segment appeared frequently during early series acting as a low budget time filler segment but later appeared only a few times since the original Cool Wall was damaged at
15748-516: Was replaced by Ben Collins for contractual reasons – the change in drivers was notable in the fact that for Collins' version, the Stig's outfit was changed from a black outfit to a white one. As the programme progressed, the format slowly began to transform, with a focus towards creating a unique presentation style for the programme, which included the addition of new segments, a more unusual approach to reviewing cars, road trips, and more specialised films involving races – either between cars or between
15875-480: Was that celebrities drove around a specially modified, rally-cross version of the Top Gear test track – while it used the majority of the circuit, it featured two off-road sections and a small jump – in a rally-spec Mini Cooper . After the series ended, the segment received negative feedback and criticism from viewers and critics, and was dropped from the programme as a result. From the twenty-fourth series onwards,
16002-512: Was the first terrestrial channel in the UK to use a permanent digital on-screen graphic , though this was removed in September 2002; however, the children's programming strands kept the DOG. In October 2007, the channel's logo returned to the screen. Channel 5 is available in Switzerland on Swisscom TV and Cablecom . On 30 September 2009, the channel temporarily ceased broadcasting on Freeview from around 9:30 am until midday. This
16129-477: Was under the RTL Group 's ownership with Richard Desmond purchasing the channel on 23 July 2010 and reverting the name change. On 1 May 2014, the channel was acquired by Viacom (now Paramount Global) for £450 million (US$ 759 million). It is a general entertainment channel that shows internally commissioned programmes such as The Drowning , All Creatures Great and Small and Ben Fogle: New Lives in
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