Who needs Clarkson? Triumph for Top Gear’s new line-up of Paddy McGuinness, Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris as car show moves to flagship channel BBC One
- The 29th series of the show will air later this year on flagship channel BBC One
- Follows in the foot steps of other popular shows such as Line of Duty
- Former Top Gear team had previously fought to keep the show on BBC Two
Top Gear is moving to BBC One as a success of new hosts including Paddy McGuinness, Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris follow in the presenting footsteps of Jeremy Clarkson, whose team previously fought to keep the car show on BBC Two.
The BBC Two show’s possible move to the flagship channel emerged earlier this month, but was said not to have been finalised.
The show, originally resurrected with Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc, will air on BBC One with its 29th series later this year.
It follows in the footsteps of Peaky Blinders and Line Of Duty, which moved to BBC One.
Paddy McGuinness (right), Freddie Flintoff (centre) and Chris Harris (left) are the hosts of the new series
In one recent episode Flintoff was seen taking part in a bungee jump in Switzerland (pictured above)
The BBC said the ‘new line-up of Paddy McGuinness, Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris has been a hit with viewers and critics alike’.
Executive producer Andy Wilman who worked with former Top Gear team, Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May said none of the team had watched the new version of Top Gear and added that the previous group had wanted to keep it on BBC Two in order to keep the ratings up.
Speaking to Deadline magazine in December, Willman, who now works with the Top Gear crew on their Amazon show ‘The Grand Tour’, said there was a lot of pressure on TV shows at the moment due to the amount of quality content being produced.
He said they had the ‘best scheduling’ at the BBC and that the kept Top Gear on for years.
‘We were always quite calculating about, like, we never went to BBC One, we always wanted to be a big dog on BBC Two because your numbers look great, whereas they get buried in BBC One, if you’re against EastEnders or something’.
Director of BBC content Charlotte Moore said the new show and cast is having a big impact on younger audiences.
‘The time is right to move the world’s best motor show to the nation’s most popular channel and bring it to an even broader audience on BBC One.
‘Freddie, Paddy and Chris have revitalised the hit series with their escapades and banter; and we couldn’t have asked for a better response to their series so far and the impact it’s had with young audiences.’
Jeremy Clarkson’s team had previously fought to keep the show on BBC Two because of ratings. Clarkson is pictured above
Ralph Lee, director of content at BBC Studios Production, said ‘I suspect things will get bigger, better, and crazier when we arrive on BBC One.’
Harris told BBC Breakfast: ‘I think it’s been so successful they want to move it … to BBC One. We can view that as a pat on the back.’
And he quipped: ‘It’s nothing to do with me at all. It’s the eye candy that is Fred and Paddy’s genius humour.’
The debut series featuring McGuinness, Flintoff and Harris together has been snapped up around the world, including China, the US, South Africa, India, Australia and Germany, and has been a hit with young viewers.
The opening episode of their second series pulled in an audience of more than 4.3 million, according to consolidated figures.
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