No series 16 until next year

[Gingertom]

I don't think this has been posted anywhere (if it has I apologise and please close this thread).

Having just read this months TG Magazine I have spotted the words "The next series of Top Gear is on BBC 2 early next year".

EDIT: Here's the picture.

[MattD1zzl3]

Have they ever done 6 episodes only in a whole year? I dont remember the last time there wasnt a november-december run of episodes...

[Dr_Grip]

I think that's a good idea. With James' new series coming up, Hammond surely returning to his best buddy, the shopping cart and Clarkson delivering another boring Christmas DVD, it's a good thing to give the boys some extra time off from Top Gear to ensure a quality product.

[Eye-Q]

Well, in 2006 they had just 8 episodes (plus the Winter Olympics Special), but in all the other years they had two series (13+ episodes).

How on earth can we survive with such a long dry spell?

[Dogbert]

Have they ever done 6 episodes only in a whole year? I dont remember the last time there wasnt a november-december run of episodes...

In 2006, they only did eight episodes, and started the "fall" season the following winter.

[Labcoatguy]

Yeah, but that's because Hammond crashed.

[t3h r0x0rs]

In 2006, they only did eight episodes, and started the "fall" season the following winter.

That was because of Richard's accident. I think they were originally planning to do a series in the fall of 2006

[shellygrrl]

Yeah, the would-have-been-Series 9 was going to be eight episodes, IIRC. Then Richard went upside-down. After that they could only fit six episodes into early 2007.

I think that's a good idea. With James' new series coming up, Hammond surely returning to his best buddy, the shopping cart and Clarkson delivering another boring Christmas DVD, it's a good thing to give the boys some extra time off from Top Gear to ensure a quality product.

Actually, Richard's not shilling for Morrisons anymore. He was dropped earlier in the summer, as were others. He has been working on a third series of Engineering Connections, however.

Plus, TG Live Dublin is in late September, and I imagine the tour will be during the fall/autumn (though no dates -- cities are Melbourne, Brisbane, and Jo'burg this time -- have been confirmed), culminating in the London and Birmingham shows in November.

[Ice_warmer]

I think budget cuts

[MWF]

I doubt it's budget cuts as the show makes money for the BBC and subsidises less popular programming that the BBC is obliged to make.

Maybe they've taken the hint and decided on quality over quantity.

[maxtortheone]

I want Top Gear on Christmas Day, the 25th is a Sunday this year

[Small Guy]

I want to see the awards for 2010 and Christmas gifts!

[Amie8]

Don't let's complain, eh? Everyone hated series 14, which was rushed due to being squeezed in between the presenters' various other commitments.

It's been posted somewhere else that there will be a Christmas special.

[Ellie]

Two specials, if I remember he-he's and shellygrrls' words correctly!

[edkwon]

I think this will ultimately be a good thing and deliver a better quality series with the budget cuts they're given. Plus we'll get to see more cool off season stuff hosted by May and Hammond, I can't wait.

[Dr_Grip]

Actually, Richard's not shilling for Morrisons anymore. He was dropped earlier in the summer, as were others.

Bad move by Morrisons. As part of my "everything i need to know about Britain i learned from TG and related programs" i did all my shopping (including the "Rule Britannia" TG Mag) at Morrisons when visiting the UK last year and loved it

[controlspecimen]

I think this makes sense. Seasons 12 and 14 seemed very harried due to TG Live going on at the same time.

[upyourego]

It is possible it could be budget cuts - although it is cool and produces a lot of great programming, at its heart the BBC is a very bureaucratic organisation.

There are fairly rigid funding scales for programming - budget ranges that a show in a particular genre is allowed to be given and if the funding range for Top Gear's genre has been cut then it is likely Top Gear would have seen a budget cut.

The money a show makes world wide isn't allowed to have an impact (even though the money helps the BBC as a whole) on the budget that show gets - its all about keeping the public service and commercial content rigidly separate.

[M3_Powered]

Well the next series better be a decent length to make up for this wait.

[he-he]

One of the reasons for moving the show was to even up the wait between series - for the last couple of years there was only a 3-4 month wait between the summer and winter ones, with a longish wait until the next summer one. Now there's ~5 months wait until it comes back in Jan (less if you factor in the Christmas special(s)), and then assuming a 6-8 week run (of which the christmas special may well count as one episode so don't hold your breath for a long run) and then another 5ish month wait if they start next year's summer run in July rather than June. This last bit I'm guessing - the definite info I got out of Andy was the date of return, the reasons for the wait, and the Christmas special.

Personally I am glad it's not coming back until January - there's enough excitement leading up to Christmas that I am happy to wait until the depression that always hits in Jan/Feb and have TG on the telly then to help me through it!