Is it time for a Top Gear rethink? Ex-BBC host James May says it’s ‘time for a new format’ but there is still a desire from viewers to watch fast cars
James May today called for the BBC to give Top Gear a ‘new format’ as he argued there was still a lot of demand for a motoring show.
The 60-year-old, who used to present hit programme with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, spoke after the corporation said the hit series will be off air for the ‘foreseeable future’.
May told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the decision is ‘very sad’.
But he said: ‘It does need a bit of a rethink. It’s time for a new format and a new approach to the subject because the subject has not been this interesting, I suspect, since the car was invented.
‘And it would be a shame if an organisation like the BBC didn’t have something to say about it.’
James May, 60, (right) hosted the programme from 2003 to 2005 alongside Jeremy Clarkson, 63, (centre) and Richard Hammond, 53 (left)
Freddie Flintoff, pictured in September, scraped his face ‘horrifically’ after he rolled a three-wheel Morgan Super 3 while on the Top Gear test track
The crash saw Flintoff’s car flip while filming with co-hosts Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris
Asked what a new format could involve, May said he and his co-presenters Clarkson and Hammond ‘already’ fill a gap for a show of this type on Prime Video.
He said that when the trio created The Grand Tour after leaving Top Gear to 2015, the latter followed a ‘similar format to the way we left it’.
READ MORE – Richard Hammond’s 320mph crash in jet-powered dragster, diplomatic quarrels and Jeremy Clarkson’s ‘unprovoked attack’ on producer in row over a steak
‘I’m not saying I know what it is but there must be one,’ May said. ‘There must be another way of doing a show about cars that will embrace more fulsomely many of the questions being asked of cars that weren’t being asked of cars.’
He said this could involve a ‘greater scrutiny’ of cars, including the way the vehicles are powered, and said: ‘You could still do that in an entertaining and informative kind of way.’
Top Gear’s production has been halted since host Freddie Flintoff, 45, was badly hurt in a crash at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey in December 2022.
May also said he is ‘a bit’ annoyed that fans of Top Gear think he, Hammond and Clarkson should return to the series.
He said: ‘The people who watch car shows – I’m quite happy with there being several car shows, I think that’s healthy – but some people are very much us or very much the new Top Gear.
‘But there are a lot of people saying, ‘Oh well they’ve done that wrong and now you can come back in and rescue it’.
‘And I’m thinking, the bloke’s hurt himself very badly, in a life-changing way, obviously, and you could perhaps not use it as an opportunity to be partisan. You could perhaps just say, ”Rotten bit of luck, hope you get well soon”.’
Flintoff is understood to have negotiated a £9million settlement with the corporation for two years’ loss of earnings as a result of the crash
The father-of-four is still recovering from his ‘life-altering significant’ injuries
The Morgan Super 3, pictured, has three wheels and is open topped. Flintoff was travelling at 22mph when he flipped it
Former Top Gear Stig Perry McCarthy has also shared his views on the decision to pause the programme, saying it had left him ‘frustrated’ and believed it could be adapted to implement ‘better on-site monitoring’.
The former racing driver, who was the first to star as the mysterious helmet-wearing racing driver in the long-running hit motoring programme, said: ‘I’m frustrated on several different levels and I just think it’s unacceptable.’
McCarthy added that he feels the show could employ these suggested practices, saying: ‘You’ll never eradicate risk from some TV shows that have action and drama in them, you won’t eradicate it, (but) you can always seek to squeeze it down.
‘I feel that they could do all the things they did, but with better on-site monitoring.
‘So if somebody was there who really understood these kinds of risks, they really understood what could happen, then they could advise there and then, turn around and say ”I’m sorry, you’re going to have to do this or this precaution’s going to have to be taken or presenter you are going to have to back off a little bit because you’re too wild here, you’re too quick”.’
READ MORE: BBC faces questions over Flintoff crash
Meanwhile former Top Gear presenter James Dawe said he felt it was the ‘right decision’ for Top Gear to be rested as he feels it could not recapture the chemistry of the original hosts – Clarkson, Hammond and May – following their departure.
He said: ‘For many fans of the show it has not been the same since Jeremey, Richard and James left and although many presenters have stepped up and played their part over the past few years, the essential chemistry of the show was never recaptured.
‘I wish the most recent presenting line-up success with ‘Life after Top Gear’… and to Freddie a continued recovery.’
Flintoff is understood to have negotiated a £9million settlement with the corporation for two years’ loss of earnings as a result of the crash.
The father-of-four is still recovering from his ‘life-altering significant’ injuries, is reportedly preparing his return to TV to make a second series of Field of Dreams, the 2022 BBC documentary series that saw him introducing children in his home city of Preston to cricket.
In a statement, the BBC said: ‘Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future.
‘The BBC remains committed to Freddie, Chris and Paddy who have been at the heart of the show’s renaissance since 2019, and we’re excited about new projects being developed with each of them.
‘We will have more to say in the near future on this. We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do.
‘All other Top Gear activity remains unaffected by this hiatus including international formats, digital, magazines and licensing.’
Flintoff with Top Gear presenters Paddy McGuinness, left, and Chris Harris, right, in 2019
Flintoff is reportedly preparing his return to TV to make a second series of Field of Dreams, the 2022 BBC documentary series that saw him introducing children in his home city of Preston to cricket. Pictured: Freddie Flintoff and his wife attend the Glamour Women Of The Year Awards at Berkeley Square in 2015
Flintoff has had other accidents on Top Gear – flying off of a runway on a high-speed motorised trike (above) in September 2019, from which he emerged unscathed
The UK show is currently sold to more 150 territories and there are 11 local format versions including in the United States, France and Finland.
Top Gear magazine is the world’s largest monthly motoring magazine with 30 licensed local editions, including China, France and Japan.
In addition, BBC Studios said a health and safety production review of Top Gear, which did not cover the accident but instead looked at previous seasons, found that ‘while BBC Studios had complied with the required BBC policies and industry best practice in making the show, there were important learnings which would need to be rigorously applied to future Top Gear UK productions.’
A statement added: ‘The report includes a number of recommendations to improve approaches to safety as Top Gear is a complex programme-making environment routinely navigating tight filming schedules and ambitious editorial expectations – challenges often experienced by long-running shows with an established on and off screen team.
READ MORE: Flintoff’s Top Gear crash car did not have airbags
‘Learnings included a detailed action plan involving changes in the ways of working, such as increased clarity on roles and responsibilities and better communication between teams for any future Top Gear production.’
The investigation looked at series 32, 33 and production of series 34 up to the December 22 accident, the PA news agency understands.
There was a separate investigation into Flintoff’s crash which was concluded in March of this year and those findings will not be published.
In September, Flintoff was photographed for the first time in public since the crash and had visible facial injuries as he joined up with the England cricket squad for their one-day international series against New Zealand.
He has since made a gradual return to the public eye and last week it was announced Flintoff has been appointed as head coach of the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred, replacing ex-England wicketkeeper James Foster.
Flintoff and McGuinness made their debut as Top Gear hosts in June 2019.
The Ashes-winning sportsman and Take Me Out host McGuinness joined Harris from the 27th series of the BBC Two show in the main presenting line-up.
Harris started as a lead host on Top Gear in 2017.
The accident was not the first faced by Flintoff since he began working on the show.
In February 2019 the presenter was involved in a minor incident when he crashed into a market stall in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
Flintoff was recruited as one of the new presenters on Top Gear after it was rebooted for a third successive time since the departure of mainstay presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May
The incident had echoes of Richard Hammond’s terrifying 300mph dragster crash in 2006, which left the ex-Top Gear presenter in a coma for two weeks
The presenting line-up of Top Gear has made headlines for better and worse over the years.
Former Friends star Matt LeBlanc joined Top Gear in 2016, but announced his departure from the show in 2018 due to the demands of the role and how much it kept him away from his family and friends.
The American actor was a surprise addition to the Top Gear presenting line-up along with presenter and radio star Chris Evans, following the departure of previous hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
LeBlanc continued hosting the show after Evans threw in the towel after just one series.
Clarkson was dropped from the flagship BBC show in 2015, over what the corporation called an ‘unprovoked physical attack’ on a show producer.
After his BBC exit, fellow presenters May and Hammond remained loyal, ruling out returning to the BBC show without their co-host, and the trio moved to Prime Video to front The Grand Tour.
Top Gear timeline: What happened after Jeremy Clarkson’s departure?
Following Jeremy Clarkson’s departure, Top Gear has undergone various revamps before the BBC announced it would pause the show for the ‘foreseeable future’.
The long-standing motoring show, which began under a new format in 2002, has seen big changes to its presenting line-up since 2015.
Here is a round-up of big moments in the show’s history:
2015
– March 10: BBC says Clarkson has been suspended after a ‘fracas’ with a producer on the show.
– March 25: Then director-general of the BBC Lord Tony Hall says the corporation will not renew Clarkson’s contract following an investigation. This event would then bring the resignation of Richard Hammond and James May.
– June 16: Chris Evans is announced as part of the Top Gear presenting line-up.
Clarkson, Hammond and May (left-right) left Top Gear in 2015 after Clarkson punched a producer
2016
– February: Former Friends star Matt LeBlanc is confirmed as co-host to join radio DJ Evans.
– March 14: The BBC ‘sincerely apologises’ for Top Gear filming near The Cenotaph in London, saying that the war memorial was not intended to be featured and will not appear in the programme.
– July 4: Chris Evans steps down, saying he gave it his ‘best shot’ but ‘standing aside is the single best thing I can now do to help’ the show move forward.
2018
– May 31: LeBlanc will leave Top Gear after the next series, BBC Studios announces.
– October 22: Take Me Out star Paddy McGuinness and former England cricket player Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff confirmed as presenters as they join motoring journalist and racing driver Chris Harris.
2022
– December 13: Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff is taken to hospital after an accident at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey while filming the show.
2023
– March 23: BBC Studios conclude an investigation into Flintoff’s accident, saying ‘it would be inappropriate to resume making series 34 of Top Gear at this time’.
– October 13: BBC Studios, which does not use licence fee income, confirms it has reached a financial settlement with Flintoff. The agreement was reportedly worth £9 million.
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