# Top Gear (2002)

> A BBC motoring show in which hosts stage extreme stunts and road tests to see whether cars live up to their makers' claims.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/40

## Facts

- Seasons: 33
- Episodes: 218
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: reality
- Created by: Andy Wilman, Jeremy Clarkson
- Network: BBC One, BBC Two
- Cast: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, Eddie Jordan, Chris Evans, Chris Harris, Rory Reid, Jason Dawe
- TMDB rating: 8.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1628033/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: playful, irreverent, breezy, comedic, cheeky

## What critics say

Viewers broadly acclaim the show as a highly entertaining car programme, with its hosts' chemistry and spectacular stunts drawing the strongest praise, though later hosting changes split opinion.

## Synopsis

Top Gear (2002-present) is a British factual entertainment motoring series created by Andy Wilman and Jeremy Clarkson for BBC Two and BBC One. Hosted over three decades by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, with later presenters Chris Harris, Paddy McGuinness and Andrew Freddie Flintoff joining the lineup, the show tests whether ordinary and extraordinary cars live up to what their manufacturers promise. Each episode is built from road tests, lap times, celebrity challenges and elaborate stunts filmed in locations around the world, with the presenters bantering and competing in a fast, irreverent style. Its engine is simple: a car is given a claim to prove, and the hosts set out to prove it, often with absurd results. The series runs for dozens of seasons with a rotating set of episodes per season, forming a long-running magazine-style show rather than a single story. Set in the present day, it has a warm, cheeky, playful tone and a strong sense of friendship between its presenters. Fans of The Grand Tour, Fifth Gear and Wheeler Dealers will find resonance in its blend of motoring expertise, travel and comic spectacle.

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- [Robot Wars (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/889)
- [Running Wild with Bear Grylls (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54511)
- [Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/73966)
- [Jackass (2000)](https://ember.film/tv/1693)
- [Hyperdrive (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/77724)
- [Clarkson's Farm (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/97909)
- [Scrapheap Challenge (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/10289)

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