After Evans’ Departure, Top Gear To Make Wholesale Changes To Show

You’ve all been asking for it and I’m fairly certain you may get your wish soon. Top Gear is set to make massive changes in the wake of Chris Evans leaving the show.

According to a report from The Telegraph, Evans’ departure will lead to a slew of changes behind the scenes. I believe this can lead to a better product especially on the writing front. Apparently when Evans came to the show, he only brought one writer with him. This means that the presenters were fed lines directly from a writer the Evans hand picked, something I’m sure didn’t sit well with anyone but Evans himself. This also, I’m sure, lead to many of the awkward moments ad Evans likely had script control the whole time.

This might be the news we’ve all been looking for to help Top Gear return to some of it’s former entertainment greatness.

The corporation is advertising for a new series producer, who, according to a job description , must be able to “manage their own emotions in the face of pressure”, as executives face the challenge of fixing the botched relaunch of the motoring show.

Executives have decided to scrap the popular Christmas specials, in which the show’s previous presenters, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May carried out extended road trips across a foreign country.

Instead, the corporation is targeting a return to BBC Two early next spring, when television audiences are typically higher than in summer.

Executives are planning a low-key overhaul of the  production team, in which Evans’s responsibilities as “creative lead” will pass to Alex Renton, the series editor, who has worked on Top Gear for more than a decade.

The fact that someone from the OLD Top Gear crew is taking over creative control is a hugely good sign. This is a move they should have made after episode 1.

It is understood that  presenters were unhappy with the show’s scripts, after just one writer was hired to work on the programme, leading Evans to invite his friend and long-term collaborator, Danny Baker, to join the crew.

One senior figure involved with the show said: “Jeremy Clarkson used to hone, and hone, and hone the script. He was obsessive about it.  They over-resourced the technology side, and under-resourced the parts that add finesse.”

Clearly this isn’t going to be the same without Clarkson, Hammond, and May. True they mad they show, but now here we are with a new cast and those boys have a new show. It’s time we got over that Top Gear is different. I say we give this second season a chance. If these changes are to be made, there’s a big chance we’re about to get a much better product. Especially with Evans out of the way.

(Source: The Telegraph)