With the changes going on at Top Gear, one thing is certain, things will never be the same again. In fact, Top Gear: The Perfect Road Trip, which premiers tonight (BBC Knowledge, DStv channel 184), will be a bit of a bitter-sweet experience because we all know the hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond have “vroomed” off to other opportunities.
There is a feeling that the new Top Gear host, Chris Evans, has been thrown in the deep end because no one can quite replace Clarkson, Hammond and May. They made that show what it is today and replacing them will result in its slow death.
Much like on their other shows, Top Gear: The Perfect Road Trip sees Hammond and Clarkson challenge themselves to travel more than 1 600km using 20 cars, two boats and one motorbike in only seven days. Of course, it is going to be one of those shows where you’ll see all types of cars that we only see ourselves driving in our dreams. The adventures are always characterised by beautiful roads with even better landscapes, making the viewer feel as if they are riding shotgun. Some of the places the pair will visit include Venice in Italy and Pau in France where they will check out the grand prix.
As usual, it is all fun and games with this pair and their strength lies in the fact that they are good conversationalists so, without realising it, the show shifts from being about spark plugs and exhaust pipes to just simply good company.
This is the reason why Top Gear lost out when all three emerged in their road show, Clarkson, Hammond and May Live at the Coca-Cola Dome. In the past, the show was powered by Top Gear and other sponsors, but given that they have all decided to start their own thing, their names alone were strong enough to fill the Joburg venue and get extra dates.
Watching the live show, I thought, ‘what a nightmare it is going to be if Chris Evans and his new Top Gear posse are going to try and come out here and do the same’. They are going to face the predictable resistance in that they are not the faces that built Top Gear and are not good enough. A fresh approach to the show, an ingenious one, for that matter, is needed for its survival. The producers need to face the fact that their old presenters are gone and they need clever ways to keep the viewers hooked. At first the show was about that – let’s go back there and build another legacy, hopefully not growing names that will one day be big enough to break the show.
l Top Gear: The Perfect Road Trip, tonight (BBC Knowledge, DStv channel 184) at 9pm.