Replace Clarkson with?

[ch108]

Escort3500 said:

If not mentioned already (and I'm not going through 20 pages to check), how about Johnny Vaughan (he of Big Breakfast and radio fame for you younger PHers)? Quick witted and entertaining, and a bit of a petrolhead

Personally I find him annoying as a presenter so wouldn't like to see him in the role. Still better than Sue Perkins though!

When you think how much time away filming all the features and specials Clarkson and Co done, I just wonder if any potential big names that are being suggested would actually have the time or inclination to do the same. It's not exactly a turn up for a few hours at the studio type job.

[The Hypno-Toad]

Phil303 said:

It's old news now and someone joked about it earlier in the thread several weeks ago but there was an short piece in the Telegraph today about Sue Perkins being considered for Top Gear.
.

Can someone confirm this is a belated April Fool's joke or is this a cunning plan by the BBC to absolutely kill the show stone dead so they can broadcast more fking cookery nonsense.

Edited by Phil303 on Thursday 9th April 22:31

Nope it's a bit of very clever piece of marketing by Coral.

1.) Make someone who the current fans of Top Gear will loathe, "favourite" in the running to replace Clarkson
2.) Make sure at least one of the newspapers run the story.
3,) Watch as your click rate goes through the roof as people check your site and what else you might be taking bets on.

Why, it's almost as if there was an event on this weekend that would make it the busiest one of the year for the bookies?

There is? What an astounding coincidence!!!

[Halb]

He should be busy enough, what with all them zombies.

[98elise]

viggyp said:

jonm01 said:

Some utterly ridiculous names being bandied about on this thread. How is Guy Martin a presenter or even a writer? You do realise that Clarkson et al are all actual journalists? They actually have to sit down and write the reviews for the cars they are reviewing on the show.

Spot on mate.

I originally said Chris Harris if Clarkson was to be replaced but apparently others find him dull. They've obviously not seen Clarkson on the old TG format. Wooden and nasally come to mind.

Would Chris Harris be himself, or would he be playing Clarkson? That's the problem right there.

Clarkson is an entertaining motoring journalist. His articles about even the dullest of cars are engaging and funny. That carries over into the Top Gear writing, and it makes the show entertaining.

The world has moved on from being entertained by facts and figures, especially when its for cars that I'll probably never own. If I want to know about cars I will own, then I'll go to a showroom and test drive them.

None of the names I've seen so far have the same journalistic skills (IMO).

I watched 5th Gear last night for the first time in ages. On paper it should be great, I like the presenters, I like cars, but the whole package was just a bit flat. That I fear is the future for Top Gear

[anonymous-user]

The Hypno-Toad said:

Phil303 said:

It's old news now and someone joked about it earlier in the thread several weeks ago but there was an short piece in the Telegraph today about Sue Perkins being considered for Top Gear.
.

Can someone confirm this is a belated April Fool's joke or is this a cunning plan by the BBC to absolutely kill the show stone dead so they can broadcast more fking cookery nonsense.

Edited by Phil303 on Thursday 9th April 22:31

Nope it's a bit of very clever piece of marketing by Coral.

1.) Make someone who the current fans of Top Gear will loathe, "favourite" in the running to replace Clarkson
2.) Make sure at least one of the newspapers run the story.
3,) Watch as your click rate goes through the roof as people check your site and what else you might be taking bets on.

Why, it's almost as if there was an event on this weekend that would make it the busiest one of the year for the bookies?

There is? What an astounding coincidence!!!

Ah... I see. I'd rather see the four-legged winner of the National present the show than Ms Perkins.

[aeropilot]

98elise said:

viggyp said:

jonm01 said:

Some utterly ridiculous names being bandied about on this thread. How is Guy Martin a presenter or even a writer? You do realise that Clarkson et al are all actual journalists? They actually have to sit down and write the reviews for the cars they are reviewing on the show.

Spot on mate.

I originally said Chris Harris if Clarkson was to be replaced but apparently others find him dull. They've obviously not seen Clarkson on the old TG format. Wooden and nasally come to mind.

Would Chris Harris be himself, or would he be playing Clarkson? That's the problem right there.

Clarkson is an entertaining motoring journalist. His articles about even the dullest of cars are engaging and funny. That carries over into the Top Gear writing, and it makes the show entertaining.

The world has moved on from being entertained by facts and figures, especially when its for cars that I'll probably never own. If I want to know about cars I will own, then I'll go to a showroom and test drive them.

None of the names I've seen so far have the same journalistic skills (IMO).

I watched 5th Gear last night for the first time in ages. On paper it should be great, I like the presenters, I like cars, but the whole package was just a bit flat. That I fear is the future for Top Gear

This in a nutshell.

BBC are 'forced' to try and continue with it to make it work but they are on a losing team with that one, as like original TG, it will die a natural death in short time.

[JRM]

I'm not reading the whole thread to see if anyone has already suggested him, but what about Mat Watson from Carbuyer, I think he'd do a cracking job

[surveyor]

There's a ready made presenting team on PH TV. Or maybe not.

[Funkycoldribena]

JRM said:

I'm not reading the whole thread to see if anyone has already suggested him, but what about Mat Watson from Carbuyer, I think he'd do a cracking job

He seems a nice bloke but he did I Want That Car a year or two ago-it was terrible.

[JRM]

Funkycoldribena said:

He seems a nice bloke but he did I Want That Car a year or two ago-it was terrible.

Oh yeah forgot about that, wasn't great was it - perhaps not entirely his fault though, his car buyer stuff on you tube is good

[JontyR]

Sad Ken said:

Slightly portly car dealing cheeky chappy? We had that on the series one of new Top Gear lol.



I don't mind losing Clarkson, but I can't see Brewer being the answer given how many people slate him.

Is the reason he is a slightly portly chap because he has eaten the entire audience?

[anonymous-user]

Kristen Scott Thomas gets my vote but only to ps off clarkson.

Other than put put Jodie Kidd on there.

[djt100]

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned before, but I've just read that the BBC have a dream team lined up. if it's true then the show is dead
Philip Glenister , Jodie Kidd and Guy Martin

Philip is i like for the love of cars but he really is not a petrolhead and knows very little about cars as a rule
Jodie kidd i watched one episode of the classic car show with quentin wilson and that was 30 mins of my life I'll never get back I know she is a massive petrolhead but really droll to listen to

Guy martin i like and has great enthusiasm for all things mechanical but i really don't see him presenting tg on a vast scale.he'd want to go into the details that the average tg viewer is not interested in

I'll wait for clarkson,hammond and may to come back with a new show on a new channel with a refreshed format.

[aeropilot]

djt100 said:

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned before, but I've just read that the BBC have a dream team lined up. if it's true then the show is dead
Philip Glenister , Jodie Kidd and Guy Martin

TG is dead whoever the BBC 'think' they can put in to replace Jezzer, Hamster and Captain Slow.

[SpeedBall]

98elise said:

I watched 5th Gear last night for the first time in ages. On paper it should be great, I like the presenters, I like cars, but the whole package was just a bit flat. That I fear is the future for Top Gear

Fifth Gear - and any other (car) show on commercial TV that has to keep advertisers happy - cannot afford to bite the hand that feeds it. That's why Jonny, Tiff, Vicki etc rarely say anything bad about a car, other than generic comments about not liking the steering wheel or the shape of the rear lights on the new Kia C'eed. That's why Clarkson and co could trash any car/car company they wanted - literally. Look at Peter Oborne quitting the Telegraph because of its lack of coverage of the HSBC tax story in order to keep HSBC's valuable advertising account.

[masermartin]

Guy Martin posted "It's amazing what you can learn from the newspapers" in reference to that article, seems he's denying it.

[otolith]

SpeedBall said:

Fifth Gear - and any other (car) show on commercial TV that has to keep advertisers happy - cannot afford to bite the hand that feeds it.

How can Top Gear be widely broadcast on commercial TV then?

[944fan]

otolith said:

SpeedBall said:

Fifth Gear - and any other (car) show on commercial TV that has to keep advertisers happy - cannot afford to bite the hand that feeds it.

How can Top Gear be widely broadcast on commercial TV then?

Because the BBC/Top Gear are not funded by advertisers. When a commercial channel is making the show they have to be aware of the advertisers but the BBC don't have that issue. The fact that Dave repeats it may mean that Kia or whatever wont run an ad during the show wont affect them that much because someone else will, the shows funding is not dependent on that revenue

[otolith]

944fan said:

otolith said:

SpeedBall said:

Fifth Gear - and any other (car) show on commercial TV that has to keep advertisers happy - cannot afford to bite the hand that feeds it.

How can Top Gear be widely broadcast on commercial TV then?

Because the BBC/Top Gear are not funded by advertisers. When a commercial channel is making the show they have to be aware of the advertisers but the BBC don't have that issue. The fact that Dave repeats it may mean that Kia or whatever wont run an ad during the show wont affect them that much because someone else will, the shows funding is not dependent on that revenue

That makes no sense. If a commercial producer made Top Gear and sold it to commercial channels it would be under exactly the same (lack) of pressure as a Top Gear made by the BBC and sold to commercial channels.

[Derek Smith]

aeropilot said:

TG is dead whoever the BBC 'think' they can put in to replace Jezzer, Hamster and Captain Slow.

The title means that it will have an acceptance initially. Any new line up will not be treated as a new programme and so will have a distinct advantage.

If they try to be a sort of pastiche of TG then it will probably fail, but if it attempts to expand its audience then I reckon it might well stand a chance. Who the writers are is the biggest question, not who presents. Clarkson, for all the criticism against him, was the mainstay of the tightly scripted programme.

Kidd might well attract a new audience but that alone is not enough. I don't think it even significant.

The talk of the relationship of the three presenters is really a reflection of the script. The dreadful scripting of her and Wilson's interaction in the classic car programme is almost farcical.

I felt the format was coming to an end. Certainly I agreed with some of the criticisms, mainly on PH, about it becoming stale. I used to record it a ff through the reasonably priced car lap.

No one is better than the BBC for producing programmes that hit the button with regards viewing figures. Here they have a flying start. I doubt they will miss by much.

However, I doubt it will hit the heights that TG has, that is too much to expect. It is the world's best for what it does and it is something of a phenomenon. However, it might be just as enjoyable.

I assume they will pick someone famous internationally as a presenter, or maybe two.

I wish them the best of luck.