Old Top Gear Host Says New Presenters Just Won’t Cut It

by Hansen 20 April, 2016, 7:39 pm 705 Views

TIFF NEEDELL. Licensed by Channel 5 Broadcasting. Contact Channel 5 Stills: 020 7 550 5583/5509/5544. Free for editorial press and listings use in connection with the current broadcast of Channel 5 programmes only. This image may only be reproduced with the prior written consent of Channel 5. All rights reserved. Not for any form of advertising, internet use or in connection with the sale of any product. Fifth Gear.

Tiff Needell, a former co-host of the original Top Gear between 1987 and up to when it was cancelled in 2001, believes the newest Top Gear cast, consisting of Chris Evans, Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris, Eddie Jordan, Sabine Schmitz, and Rory Reid, won’t be as big of a hit as the one created by their predecessor.

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, ran the revived Top Gear show for more than a decade, and had set the bar so high to the tune of more than 7 million UK viewers at its peak. According to The Guardian, Tiff Needell spoke at a panel at Advertising Week Europe, and said:

Top Gear won’t sustain the same audience as the old Top Gear. It will be like (BBC’s) The One Show on wheels, all bubbly jubbly… they won’t get the same numbers. The whole thing the three egos did (Clarkson, Hammond, and May) was manage to get the family watching, it was for the family, kids loved it, they appealed to everyone.

Needell has a point. Following in the giant footsteps of the Clarkson, Hammond, and May is one tough act. Not only do they need to put on an entertaining show, but they also have to reverse the harshly negative opinion plaguing the new show. And it hasn’t even aired yet! The Youtube trailer of the new Top Gear has had such terrible reception you’d think they kicked puppies for an entire minute.

[ads1]But to be fair, the first couple of seasons of the rebooted Top Gear wasn’t anything to write home about either. The familiar banter between the W. Chump and Sons crew materialized later on once the trio had found their groove. Perhaps this is the same route the new Top Gear will take. First, it will bomb, terribly. Then they’ll find small nuggets of goodness, which they’ll perfect over two or three seasons. Finally, the show will ultimately be accepted and stand on its own merits.

We recently wrote that the new show won’t be as good as what Clarkson, Hammond, and May has created, but we do believe it at least deserves a chance to entertain us. Just like how Top Gear USA was pretty terrible in its first couple of seasons, the show eventually gained some character and became an entertaining piece of television.

(Source: The Guardian)