Season 24 Starts Filming In September(airs Spring 2017), With The 5 Remaining Hosts

MUGEN02

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Chris Evans will not be replaced as Top Gear host after he sensationally quit today amid a collapse in the show?s ratings, the BBC has confirmed.

Host Evans, 50, announced his resignation on Twitter on Monday afternoon, saying he ?gave it my best shot but sometimes that?s not enough?.

His shock exit came just hours after it was revealed police were investigating a claim he sexually assaulted a woman in the 1990s.

Amid speculation over who could pick up the reins, a BBC spokeswoman said on Monday night the next series of Top Gear was unlikely to see any changes to the current line-up.

She said: "We have no immediate plans to replace Chris Evans and do not expect to do so going forward."

"Series 24 starts filming in September."


She added Evans had made the decision to leave on his own and the BBC "fully respects his decision".

Evans earlier said he would continue with his Radio 2 show but had made the decision to quit Top Gear for the best of the rest of the team.
In a statement he said: ?I have never worked with a more committed and driven team than the team I have worked with over the last twelve months.

?I feel like my standing aside is the single best thing I can now do to help the cause. I remain a huge fan of the show, always have been, always will be. I will continue to focus on my radio show and the allied events that it encompasses.?
Top Gear suffered its worst ratings of the series during last night?s finale, falling by nearly 50 per cent since the opening episode.

Sunday's overnight figures were the lowest of any episode in the new series at an average of 1.9m viewers ? lower than any Jeremy Clarkson episode.

His departure means Matt LeBlanc, Rory Reid, Chris Harris, Sabine Schmitz and Eddie Jordan will front the next series of the show, with ex-Friends star LeBlanc shaping up to take a more prominent role.
http://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/c...d-as-top-gear-host-bbc-confirms-a3287861.html
 
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That's good to hear, It would be silly to think that they would need to find someone else to be the main focus of the show when it doesn't need it. That's probably something from the Clarkson era they should have avoided but I guess if you could put a positive spin on it then maybe Chris served as a lighting rod for the negative energy towards their first season and hopefully he'll take a lot of that with him leaving the show to get a proper chance.
 
Y'know what the TGUK producers ought to do, if they were smart?

They should do what TG Australia did, for their 3rd season premiere:

Invite Clarkson, Hammond and May to make a one-time guest appearance for a TG host challenge.

A chance for the new crew to "earn the right to desecrate the name of Top Gear," as the Aussies put it.

Seven challenges, from quarter-mile drags to stunts in cheap cars to inventive mods and shakedowns. With rampant cheating on both sides.

And cold sandwich platter catering, to remind Clarkson why he's not working there anymore.
 
Y'know what the TGUK producers ought to do, if they were smart?

They should do what TG Australia did, for their 3rd season premiere:

Invite Clarkson, Hammond and May to make a one-time guest appearance for a TG host challenge.

A chance for the new crew to "earn the right to desecrate the name of Top Gear," as the Aussies put it.

Seven challenges, from quarter-mile drags to stunts in cheap cars to inventive mods and shakedowns. With rampant cheating on both sides.

And cold sandwich platter catering, to remind Clarkson why he's not working there anymore.

That would probably be the dumbest thing the BBC could ever do, it would show everything that's been missing from new Top Gear in one move.

For sheer comedy and entertainment value, Clarkson, Hammond and May would grind LeBlanc, Harris, Reid, Sabine and Eddie into the dirt in a very big way.

In this case putting the apprentices up against the masters would not end well for the newbies... :blink:
 
"For sheer comedy and entertainment value, Clarkson, Hammond and May would grind LeBlanc, Harris, Reid, Sabine and Eddie into the dirt in a very big way."

If they were to do this literally, I would watch my first and only episode of this incarnation of Top Gear. I'd especially like to see Eddie ground into the dirt.
 
If they were to do this literally, I would watch my first and only episode of this incarnation of Top Gear. I'd especially like to see Eddie ground into the dirt.

Couldn't argue with that, especially Eddie. Trouble is for the BBC it would probably be the last time many people watch new Top Gear if it ever happened (which it won't).

A Clarkson quote I ran across from around 2010/11 sums up perfectly one of the big reasons why new Top Gear hasn't worked so far and they need to get some of it big time.

"The chemistry that exists between Richard, James and I has rather taken over. Now, you can't really engineer chemistry, that just happens."
 
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By which time I'll have even less of an idea who he is than I do now.

He used to own a Formula one team, he gave F1 debuts to Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and Eddie Irvine.

Leblanc by the way is like aural Mogadon (to quote Jezza), he sounds half asleep. Evans leaving might make it more bearable, so long as LeBlanc isn't the focus.
 
Top Gear faces major change of direction after departure of Chris Evans
The BBC is appointing a new creative lead and hiring a new series producer.
the corporation is targeting a return to BBC Two early next spring, when television audiences are typically higher than in summer.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...-change-of-direction-after-departure-of-chri/

The big takeaway from this story, actually? Alex Renton (the bald guy in the white coat during the CHM era) is being given more of a say in the series' direction.

Mind you, it'll be interesting to see whether they can lure back some of the people currently working on CHM-GT. Perhaps Vicki Butler-Henderson's husband (can't remember his name but he did direct a lot of CHM segments)?
 
Regardless of Evans, six hosts was too many (hell five is too many). LeBlanc, Harris, and Reid are the best of the bunch. Keep them, dump the rest, and allow them to build on-screen personalities and a dynamic.
 
To me, Top Gear is dead, the brand ruined. What do I need "some British car show" for?
 
Regardless of Evans, six hosts was too many (hell five is too many). LeBlanc, Harris, and Reid are the best of the bunch. Keep them, dump the rest, and allow them to build on-screen personalities and a dynamic.
Agreed. With those three there might actually be a chance of succeeding.
 
Agreed. With those three there might actually be a chance of succeeding.

Succeeding in what? Please be more specific. What do you expect of Top Gear apart from nicely shot cars on a screen? And how do you think the remaining hosts will be able to achieve that with their respective talents?

Only taking Chris Evans out of the equation doesn't solve anything. Yes, you get rid of the annoying shouting and the irritating redhead in boots without any taste in clothing. But that's it. No more can be gained from him leaving. The rest of the crew will still be overchallenged with their roles, will still have trouble reading their lines in a convincing way and will still work better alone than together.

I mean yes, technically the BBC has people who can edit a film that only consists of cat poo into something visually appealing. But that's not enough.
 
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This is just going to be another year of people saying "Give it a chance!". Like Evans leaving makes that big of a difference. I gave new Top Gear a chance. It doesn't work for me so it's dead to me. I don't have a problem with it carrying on or with other people liking it. But as far as I'm concerned it's gone the way of the dodo.
 
They have to rip up everything they did this season and start over from scratch, or next season will be just as awful as this one was. They have to just burn the whole "star in the car" garbage, they have to actually hire writers who can write witty dialogue, and toss out Sabine and Eddie, who have proven that they utterly can't read a script without making everyone in earshot moan and groan about it. They have to STOP making lame copies of things that CHM did -- For Crying Out Loud, come up with something original -- is that too much to ask?

All I can say is that I never DREAMED that Evans and Company could make such a horrifying mess out of Top Gear. I suppose there's one ray of hope -- I can't for the life of me imagine anyone POSSIBLY coming up with something WORSE than this dreadful season.
 
They don't really need to do anything radical to make the show better, they just need raise the bar when it comes to which ideas for films they put into production. Working on the writing will need to be the first priority and I think the rallycross car should stay they just need to get rid of the "who's cars are better audience polls" and opt for the sorts of interviews we saw on Extra Gear.
 
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