It looks like car shows are making a comeback, because the most recognisable automotive programme of all time, Top Gear, is officially returning to the BBC. The development comes only a couple of months after The Grand Tour revealed its three new hosts, which means viewers could soon see rival trios on screen once again.
BBC director of entertainment Ed Havard shared the update, and he was direct about it. Speaking on Thursday at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Havard told attendees that “there has been a lot of speculation about this and we can confirm that Top Gear is coming back.”
The most recent Top Gear presenting team featured Andrew Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness, and Chris Harris. The programme has not aired since 2022, when it was placed on hiatus after Flintoff crashed a Morgan Super 3 and suffered serious injuries. Episodes featuring this trio began airing in 2019 and remained on air longer than the previous Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc line-up. More broadly, finding the right mix of personalities has proved extremely difficult after the success enjoyed by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May over their decades on the show before they left and launched The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime.
As for who could front this Top Gear reboot, the BBC is not naming anyone yet. Even so, rumours are already circulating, with comedian Jimmy Carr seen as a strong possibility. Another name said to be under consideration is former rugby player Joe Marler.
Meanwhile, The Grand Tour is set to return before this new version of Top Gear. Both James Engelsman and Thomas Holland [not Tom Holland; this is a different person] arrive on the show with a long track record of making car videos together on their YouTube channel, Throttle House, while Francis Bourgeois is the social media wildcard heading into the season. A trailer for the first season hosted by Engelsman, Holland, and Bourgeois has already been released.
There is still no timeline for when the new Top Gear could make its debut, so it is likely at least a year away from reaching television screens. Even so, anticipation is already building.
