Nothing can kill it; not the dryness of the original, the violence that ended the Clarkson era, or the horrifying crash that brought its most recent incarnation to a halt. And so, inevitably, yesterday the BBC confirmed that Top Gear was being resurrected once again. The corporation’s director of entertainment, Ed Havard, told the Edinburgh TV festival: “There has been a lot of speculation about this, and we can confirm that Top Gear is coming back.
I’m not going to talk about talent today.” Which is fair enough – but I can. Casting a show like Top Gear is a dangerously tricky proposition. Whoever the BBC picks to host needs to be funny, charismatic, good at driving and knowledgable about cars.
Lots of people are good at one of these things, but few are good at more than that and almost none are good at everything. Clearly, the smartest thing to do is take a leaf out of Prime Video’s newly revived The Grand Tour, cast three relative unknowns and let them find their feet over a couple of years. That is, after all, what happened with the original Top Gear cast of 2002.
Top Gear is now too established to be a grower, and the BBC will want it to land with immediate impact. Plus, all the rumours and press speculation suggest that Jimmy Carr is going to host it anyway, so they’re clearly aiming high. So with that in mind, let’s idly speculate about who could be signed up.
Jimmy Carr We’ll start with the obvious one. Carr fits the Clarkson bill incredibly well: he’s sharp and knowledgable about cars, and he got rich by making lazy jokes about minority groups. Also – like former hosts Matt LeBlanc and Chris Evans – he has a proven record as a Star in a Reasonably Priced Car.
Plus, his name is literally Carr, so there’s also that. One downside is that, if you’ve heard Carr on a podcast lately, he seems to have swapped comedy for making the sort of faux-profound philosophical statements you tend to hear from the most boring man in the pub, which might turn some viewers off.Suitability: 8/10 Jodie Kidd Strangely, Kidd might be the best like-for-like Clarkson replacement around. A part of Top Gear since 2003, when she recorded a blazingly fast lap time, Kidd has since gained an international racing licence, presented Channel 5’s The Classic Car Show and ITV4’s Isle of Man TT coverage, hosted a motoring podcast and launched a car-based YouTube channel.
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