So Top Gear Series 23 has come to an end, as the first of the ‘post-Clarkson’ era. And within 24 hours of the final of the six episodes, Chris Evans announced he’s stepping down from presenting the series.
Viewing figures haven’t been great, but the fact that the series coincided with Euro 2016 and Wimbledon probably hasn’t helped. The average figures have been around 2.7 million, with the final show getting 1.9 million (not counting catch-up viewers). Somewhat worryingly, it was beaten by the 3.9 million watching the Antiques Roadshow at the same time. By comparison, Top Gear Series 22 averaged 6.49 million across 10 episodes.
As far as anyone knows, the remaining five presenters, Matt LeBlanc, Rory Reid, Chris Harris, Sabine Schmitz and Eddie Jordan will return to film the next series in September.
What’s Good About the New Top Gear?
There’s been definite improvements with the new Top Gear, even over the short 6 episode run. It always takes time for a new team to gel and feel comfortable, but Chris Harris and Rory Reid seem to have adapted particularly well.
It’s also good to have two fairly accomplished racers on the team. Chris Harris has competed in a variety of races including the Blancpain GT Series, and 24 Hours Nurburgring, whilst Sabine Schmitz is obviously well known for her Nurburgring knowledge.
Obviously the Top Gear team know exactly how to find awesome and interesting cars, and how to film them, so that hasn’t changed. And the online Extra Gear shows have added plenty of good, behind the scenes content – it’s noticeable that Sabine Schmitz comes across a lot better in the more informal Extra Gear segments where she’s not responded to a script.
Even Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc sound reasonably enthusiastic when they’re being filmed behind the wheel of some of the cars – especially when they get away from trying to refer to technical specs. Or when LeBlanc is being chauffered by Ken Block.
What’s Bad About the New Top Gear?
Basically everything filmed in the Top Gear studio. LeBlanc, Evans and Schmitz seem to all struggle with lines and autocues.
Which then leads to stilted laughter 10 seconds after each punchline. Meanwhile each film is recapped in the studio by Evans and LeBlanc repeating the same questions we just saw answered in a 5-10 minute segment. The opening contest with Evans and LeBlanc competing in Reliant Rialtos was probably the most obvious disconnect of the series, with two relative strangers being forced to deliver comedy lines in stilted fashion.
Having two guests each week hasn’t worked, particularly when the rallycross format puts them in a prepped car which crawls at a standstill when the British weather inevitably turns the water splash into a river.
And then there’s Eddie Jordan, who has so far sat on a train and driven an SUV in road mode.
The Future of Top Gear?
If you want a glimpse of the future of Top Gear, check out the Extra Gear episode 6 while it’s available on BBC iplayer. The last 5 minutes are LeBlanc, Schmitz, Harris and Reid chatting about cars, and suddenly it feels like a group of people that get on well, and share a passion for automobiles.
With Evans gone, I’d expect Eddie Jordan to be gracefully retired to a very occasional segment at most. And if the new quartet can have a longer series with some more trips and challenges, the Top Gear audience might be encouraged to return…
Of course in the meantime, The Grand Tour will arrive on Amazon Prime. If you pay £5.99 per month for Amazon Video or £79 for a year of Amazon Prime (which has a load of other benefits like one-day delivery on orders, Amazon Music and more), you’ll be able to watch each episode as it’s released on a weekly schedule. If not, you can always wait until the end, when they’ll all be available, and take advantage of the one-month free trail to binge watch them all.
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