The BBC’s flagship car show will not return, the broadcaster announced Tuesday.
After Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff was hurt in a crash last December, the BBC officially decided to shelf Top Gear, at least for an indeterminate period. According to a statement, the outlet said that, “The BBC remains committed to Freddie, Chris [Harris] and Paddy [McGuinness] who have been the heart of the show’s renaissance since 2019, and we’re excited about new projects being developed with each of them. We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do.”
In one form or another, Top Gear has been around 1977. The show rocketed to international success following its 2002 reboot, however, when hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May transformed the show into one of the BBC’s largest earning franchises. Things obviously have not been the same since an off-camera incident in 2015 that resulted in Clarkson’s departure from the show, followed shortly after by his co-presenters. The outlet went through several new hosts over the next few years, before eventually homing in on Freddie Flintoff, Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness in 2019.
At the time of Flintoff’s accident, Top Gear’s production team were in the process of filming episodes for the show’s 34th series. No episodes emerged after the incident, nor does it appear we’ll see any new episodes “for the foreseeable future”. That said, the BBC stressed the decision only affects the TV show. It does not impact international formats of Top Gear, the magazine, the brand’s digital outlets our licensing rights.
Though some may have already written off BBC’s flagship show after Clarkson, Hammond and May’s departure, this announcement truly marks the end of an era, as any reboot (near-term or not) will undoubtedly look far different than the show we’re used to, even today.
