GearKnob Wiki - User contributions [en]

Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 20/Episode 6

2025-03-30T01:18:02Z

AlexGRFan97:

{{Infobox Episode
|episode = Episode 5
|image =<tabs plain style="margin:0;padding:0;" container="text-align:centre;">
<tab name="Thumb 1">
[[File:TG_1977_S20E06_Lead_Image.jpg|300px]]
[[Jeremy Clarkson]] made his on-screen debut in this episode.
</tab>
<tab name="Thumb 2">
[[File:TG_1977_S20E06_JC.jpg|300px]]
[[Jeremy Clarkson]] made his on-screen debut in this episode.
</tab>
</tabs>
|prodcode = NBML613E
|number = 176
|length = 29:26
|previous = [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/Series 20/Episode 5|Series 20, Episode 4]]
|next = [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Episode 2|Series 20, Episode 6]]
|airdate = 27th October, 1988
}}

{{TG 1977 Episode|episodename=Series 20, Episode 5|airdate=27th October|year=1988|xth=sixth|series=[[Series 20]]|number=176th|number78=167th|prognum=15th|totprog=18|resolution=576i|aspratio=4:3 Standard|tvorstream=British television|channel=BBC Two}} {{TG 1977 Episode Starring|hosta=William Woollard|hostb=Chris Goffey|hostc=Tony Mason|hostd=Tom Boswell|hoste=|hostf=|hostg=|hosth=|hosti=|hostlast=Jeremy Clarkson}} This episode is perhaps most widely-known for being the on-screen debut of the latter, not just for ''[[Top Gear]]'', but for any television programme featuring him in any capacity following a successful stint at ''[[Performance Car Magazine]]''.

==Synopsis==
{{Lost Episode}}

===Radio Times Listing===
''When police surveillance systems catch motorists breaking the law, the onus is increasingly on drivers to prove their innocence rather than on the police to prove guilt. William Woollard investigates this apparent change in emphasis. Tony Mason reports on preparations for the Lombard RAC Rally. Chris Goffey drives the 440 – the new Volvo made in Holland and Tom Boswell tackles rust warranties – how much protection do they offer? Jeremy Clarkson visits a firm that pulls apart new Rolls-Royces, and rebuilds them.''

===Infax Listing===
According to information stored on the BBC's Infax database, the episode began with Chris Goffey presenting a piece on the [[Volvo 440]] in Holland. It was then followed by Woollard reporting on the use of cameras inside police cars and at road junctions to photograph cars that are speeding or driving recklessly. He interviews Chief Inspector Mike Dixon regarding the use of these cameras, in addition to legal journalist Stephen Gold, who questions the legality of such photos as evidence. Sarah Spencer of the NCCL also reports on the civil liberty implications that these cameras have. The show's third film, presented by Tony Mason, focused on the Wales Rally GB which occurred on the 22nd - 23rd of October, 1988. He interviews drivers Jimmy McRae for Toyota, Hannu Mikkola for Mazda, Malcolm Wilson for Vauxhall, and Per Eklund for Nissan.

The episode continues with Tom Boswell investigating problems in regards to auto manufacturers' anti-corrosion warranties, interviewing Linda Zeff, a Fiat customer dissatisfied with her [[Fiat Panda (first generation)|Panda's]] warranty, with various rusty body panels being shown to the camera before the car is treated in a garage. He also interviews Julian Edwards from the Consumer Association, who is unhappy with the complex conditions car makers impose in regards to anti-corrosion. The episode then finally concludes with Jeremy Clarkson's first ever piece to camera, where he discusses the Hooper tuning firm in North London, who take apart Bentleys and Rolls-Royces in order to customise them. He interviews the firm's main director, Paul Crowder, in addition to various owners of these 'Hooperised' vehicles. A fleet of these cars then drive through London before arriving at the Hooper workshop to be modified.

==Soundtrack==
{{Soundtrack}}

{{Song|artist=The Allman Brothers Band|songpage=Jessica (instrumental)|songname=Jessica|playswhen=Plays during the title sequence.}}
{{Song|artist=Elton John|songpage=Out of the Blue (instrumental)|songname=Out of the Blue|playswhen=Plays during the closing sequence.}}

Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 20/Episode 6

2025-03-30T01:17:42Z

AlexGRFan97:

{{Infobox Episode
|episode = Episode 5
|image =<tabs plain style="margin:0;padding:0;" container="text-align:centre;">
<tab name="Thumb 1">
[[File:TG_1977_S20E06_Lead_Image.jpg|300px]]
[[Jeremy Clarkson]] made his on-screen debut in this episode.
</tab>
<tab name="Thumb 2">
[[File:TG_1977_S20E06_JC.jpg|300px]]
[[Jeremy Clarkson]] made his on-screen debut in this episode.
</tab>
</tabs>
|prodcode = NBML613E
|number = 176
|length = 29:26
|previous = [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/Series 20/Episode 4|Series 20, Episode 4]]
|next = [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Episode 2|Series 20, Episode 6]]
|airdate = 27th October, 1988
}}

{{TG 1977 Episode|episodename=Series 20, Episode 5|airdate=27th October|year=1988|xth=sixth|series=[[Series 20]]|number=176th|number78=167th|prognum=15th|totprog=18|resolution=576i|aspratio=4:3 Standard|tvorstream=British television|channel=BBC Two}} {{TG 1977 Episode Starring|hosta=William Woollard|hostb=Chris Goffey|hostc=Tony Mason|hostd=Tom Boswell|hoste=|hostf=|hostg=|hosth=|hosti=|hostlast=Jeremy Clarkson}} This episode is perhaps most widely-known for being the on-screen debut of the latter, not just for ''[[Top Gear]]'', but for any television programme featuring him in any capacity following a successful stint at ''[[Performance Car Magazine]]''.

==Synopsis==
{{Lost Episode}}

===Radio Times Listing===
''When police surveillance systems catch motorists breaking the law, the onus is increasingly on drivers to prove their innocence rather than on the police to prove guilt. William Woollard investigates this apparent change in emphasis. Tony Mason reports on preparations for the Lombard RAC Rally. Chris Goffey drives the 440 – the new Volvo made in Holland and Tom Boswell tackles rust warranties – how much protection do they offer? Jeremy Clarkson visits a firm that pulls apart new Rolls-Royces, and rebuilds them.''

===Infax Listing===
According to information stored on the BBC's Infax database, the episode began with Chris Goffey presenting a piece on the [[Volvo 440]] in Holland. It was then followed by Woollard reporting on the use of cameras inside police cars and at road junctions to photograph cars that are speeding or driving recklessly. He interviews Chief Inspector Mike Dixon regarding the use of these cameras, in addition to legal journalist Stephen Gold, who questions the legality of such photos as evidence. Sarah Spencer of the NCCL also reports on the civil liberty implications that these cameras have. The show's third film, presented by Tony Mason, focused on the Wales Rally GB which occurred on the 22nd - 23rd of October, 1988. He interviews drivers Jimmy McRae for Toyota, Hannu Mikkola for Mazda, Malcolm Wilson for Vauxhall, and Per Eklund for Nissan.

The episode continues with Tom Boswell investigating problems in regards to auto manufacturers' anti-corrosion warranties, interviewing Linda Zeff, a Fiat customer dissatisfied with her [[Fiat Panda (first generation)|Panda's]] warranty, with various rusty body panels being shown to the camera before the car is treated in a garage. He also interviews Julian Edwards from the Consumer Association, who is unhappy with the complex conditions car makers impose in regards to anti-corrosion. The episode then finally concludes with Jeremy Clarkson's first ever piece to camera, where he discusses the Hooper tuning firm in North London, who take apart Bentleys and Rolls-Royces in order to customise them. He interviews the firm's main director, Paul Crowder, in addition to various owners of these 'Hooperised' vehicles. A fleet of these cars then drive through London before arriving at the Hooper workshop to be modified.

==Soundtrack==
{{Soundtrack}}

{{Song|artist=The Allman Brothers Band|songpage=Jessica (instrumental)|songname=Jessica|playswhen=Plays during the title sequence.}}
{{Song|artist=Elton John|songpage=Out of the Blue (instrumental)|songname=Out of the Blue|playswhen=Plays during the closing sequence.}}

Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 20/Episode 5

2025-03-30T01:16:12Z

AlexGRFan97:

{{Infobox Episode
|episode = Episode 4
|image = [[File:TG_1977_S20E05_Lead_Image.jpg|300px]][[Tiff Needell]] presents the [[Volkswagen Corrado|VW Corrado]].
|prodcode = NBML612K
|number = 175
|length = 29:54
|previous = [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/Series 20/Episode 3|Series 20, Episode 3]]
|next = [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Episode 6|Series 20, Episode 5]]
|airdate = 20th October, 1988
}}

{{TG 1977 Episode|episodename=Series 20, Episode 4|airdate=20th October|year=1988|xth=fifth|series=[[Series 20]]|number=175th|number78=166th|prognum=14th|totprog=18|resolution=576i|aspratio=4:3 Standard|tvorstream=British television|channel=BBC Two}} {{TG 1977 Episode Starring|hosta=William Woollard|hostb=Tom Boswell|hostc=Tiff Needell|hostd=Chris Goffey|hoste=|hostf=|hostg=|hosth=|hosti=|hostlast=Frank Page}} This episode was Page's last TV credit after 8 years on ''Top Gear'' and a career which spanned 36 years. It is also perhaps slightly infamous for being the final episode before the on-screen debut of [[Jeremy Clarkson]], Page's replacement. The episode also accompanied the BBC's coverage of [[BBC Motor Show TV Specials/Motor Show '88|Motor Show '88]], airing one day after Part 1 aired.

==Synopsis==
{{Lost Episode}}

===Radio Times Listing===
''William Woollard at the British International Motor Show which opens on Saturday. Chris Goffey road tests the estate version of Peugeot's successful 405; and reports on Malaysia's emergence as a car-building nation with the Proton. Tom Boswell sheds some light on lead-free petrol. [[Beki Adam]] looks at the late Sir Alec Issigonis 'poached egg', the Morris Minor, 40 years old this year.''

'''<sup>Note that Adam's segment on the Morris Minor appears to be a print error, as the Infax entry lists this segment as having aired [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/Series 20/Episode 3|two weeks prior]].</sup>'''

===Infax Listing===
According to information stored on the BBC's Infax database, the episode began with William Woollard introducing the episode from the [[British International Motor Show/1988|1988 British International Motor Show]]. The first segment involved Tom Boswell briefly talking about the [[Vauxhall Cavalier (third generation)|Vauxhall Cavalier]], before to Woollard, who introduces the [[Volkswagen Corrado]] for fellow host Tiff Needell to briefly present and drive, as the marque's successor to its well-known [[Volkswagen Scirocco (Typ 53)|Volkswagen Scirocco]]. Needell then briefly presents a new Audi, before Woollard and Boswell present a piece on lead free petrol, espousing the effects it has on a car engine's valves and the reduced cost of unleaded fuel, in addition to the cars which support this type of fuel. The duo are then joined by Chris Goffey, with each of them comparing the estate variants of the [[Ford Sierra]], [[Peugeot 405]] and [[Austin Montego]]. There's also brief looks at the [[Nissan Silvia (S13)|Nissan 200SX]], [[Mitsubishi Galant (sixth generation)|Mitsubishi Galant]], and [[Hyundai Sonata (first generation)|Hyundai Sonata]], before moving on to the [[Proton Saga (first generation)|Proton Saga]], making its British debut at this show. Chris Goffey drives the car, mentioning how the Malaysian government are very interested in its overseas success.

After Goffey concludes his segment on the Proton, there's a brief look at the [[Aston Martin Virage (first generation)|Aston Martin Virage]], before the episode's final segment, a retrospective on Jaguar presented by Frank Page. Page interviews then-reigning World Sports Car champion Martin Brundle, who drove for Jaguar at the time, and wishes to return to [[Formula 1]]. He then interviews Roger Woodley of the Jaguar Car Club, who remarks positively on the brand, with brief clips showing the company's success at Le Mans. It is here, back at the show, where William Woollard helps to debut the [[Jaguar XJ220]], which is set to become the ultimate road car, dethroning the [[Ferrari F40]] as the fastest car in the world. Frank Page finishes the episode with a retrospective piece on the [[Jaguar XK120]], which marked the last time [[Jaguar]] held the record for the world's fastest production vehicle. The closing scenes of this episode mark the final time Frank Page would ever make a TV appearance, as he permanently retired immediately thereafter.

==Soundtrack==
{{Soundtrack}}

{{Song|artist=The Allman Brothers Band|songpage=Jessica (instrumental)|songname=Jessica|playswhen=Plays during the title sequence.}}
{{Song|artist=Elton John|songpage=Out of the Blue (instrumental)|songname=Out of the Blue|playswhen=Plays during the closing sequence.}}

Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 20/Episode 5

2025-03-30T01:15:49Z

AlexGRFan97:

{{Infobox Episode
|episode = Episode 4
|image = [[File:TG_1977_S20E05_Lead_Image.jpg|300px]][[Tiff Needell]] presents the [[Volkswagen Corrado|VW Corrado]].
|prodcode = NBML612K
|number = 175
|length = 29:54
|previous = [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/Series 20/Episode 3|Series 20, Episode 4]]
|next = [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Episode 6|Series 20, Episode 5]]
|airdate = 20th October, 1988
}}

{{TG 1977 Episode|episodename=Series 20, Episode 4|airdate=20th October|year=1988|xth=fifth|series=[[Series 20]]|number=175th|number78=166th|prognum=14th|totprog=18|resolution=576i|aspratio=4:3 Standard|tvorstream=British television|channel=BBC Two}} {{TG 1977 Episode Starring|hosta=William Woollard|hostb=Tom Boswell|hostc=Tiff Needell|hostd=Chris Goffey|hoste=|hostf=|hostg=|hosth=|hosti=|hostlast=Frank Page}} This episode was Page's last TV credit after 8 years on ''Top Gear'' and a career which spanned 36 years. It is also perhaps slightly infamous for being the final episode before the on-screen debut of [[Jeremy Clarkson]], Page's replacement. The episode also accompanied the BBC's coverage of [[BBC Motor Show TV Specials/Motor Show '88|Motor Show '88]], airing one day after Part 1 aired.

==Synopsis==
{{Lost Episode}}

===Radio Times Listing===
''William Woollard at the British International Motor Show which opens on Saturday. Chris Goffey road tests the estate version of Peugeot's successful 405; and reports on Malaysia's emergence as a car-building nation with the Proton. Tom Boswell sheds some light on lead-free petrol. [[Beki Adam]] looks at the late Sir Alec Issigonis 'poached egg', the Morris Minor, 40 years old this year.''

'''<sup>Note that Adam's segment on the Morris Minor appears to be a print error, as the Infax entry lists this segment as having aired [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/Series 20/Episode 3|two weeks prior]].</sup>'''

===Infax Listing===
According to information stored on the BBC's Infax database, the episode began with William Woollard introducing the episode from the [[British International Motor Show/1988|1988 British International Motor Show]]. The first segment involved Tom Boswell briefly talking about the [[Vauxhall Cavalier (third generation)|Vauxhall Cavalier]], before to Woollard, who introduces the [[Volkswagen Corrado]] for fellow host Tiff Needell to briefly present and drive, as the marque's successor to its well-known [[Volkswagen Scirocco (Typ 53)|Volkswagen Scirocco]]. Needell then briefly presents a new Audi, before Woollard and Boswell present a piece on lead free petrol, espousing the effects it has on a car engine's valves and the reduced cost of unleaded fuel, in addition to the cars which support this type of fuel. The duo are then joined by Chris Goffey, with each of them comparing the estate variants of the [[Ford Sierra]], [[Peugeot 405]] and [[Austin Montego]]. There's also brief looks at the [[Nissan Silvia (S13)|Nissan 200SX]], [[Mitsubishi Galant (sixth generation)|Mitsubishi Galant]], and [[Hyundai Sonata (first generation)|Hyundai Sonata]], before moving on to the [[Proton Saga (first generation)|Proton Saga]], making its British debut at this show. Chris Goffey drives the car, mentioning how the Malaysian government are very interested in its overseas success.

After Goffey concludes his segment on the Proton, there's a brief look at the [[Aston Martin Virage (first generation)|Aston Martin Virage]], before the episode's final segment, a retrospective on Jaguar presented by Frank Page. Page interviews then-reigning World Sports Car champion Martin Brundle, who drove for Jaguar at the time, and wishes to return to [[Formula 1]]. He then interviews Roger Woodley of the Jaguar Car Club, who remarks positively on the brand, with brief clips showing the company's success at Le Mans. It is here, back at the show, where William Woollard helps to debut the [[Jaguar XJ220]], which is set to become the ultimate road car, dethroning the [[Ferrari F40]] as the fastest car in the world. Frank Page finishes the episode with a retrospective piece on the [[Jaguar XK120]], which marked the last time [[Jaguar]] held the record for the world's fastest production vehicle. The closing scenes of this episode mark the final time Frank Page would ever make a TV appearance, as he permanently retired immediately thereafter.

==Soundtrack==
{{Soundtrack}}

{{Song|artist=The Allman Brothers Band|songpage=Jessica (instrumental)|songname=Jessica|playswhen=Plays during the title sequence.}}
{{Song|artist=Elton John|songpage=Out of the Blue (instrumental)|songname=Out of the Blue|playswhen=Plays during the closing sequence.}}

Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 20/Episode 6

2025-03-30T01:13:59Z

AlexGRFan97:

{{Infobox Episode
|episode = Episode 5
|image =<tabs plain style="margin:0;padding:0;" container="text-align:centre;">
<tab name="Thumb 1">
[[File:TG_1977_S20E06_Lead_Image.jpg|300px]]
[[Jeremy Clarkson]] made his on-screen debut in this episode.
</tab>
<tab name="Thumb 2">
[[File:TG_1977_S20E06_JC.jpg|300px]]
[[Jeremy Clarkson]] made his on-screen debut in this episode.
</tab>
</tabs>
|prodcode = NBML613E
|number = 176
|length = 29:26
|previous = [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/Series 20/Episode 5|Series 20, Episode 5]]
|next = [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Episode 2|Series 20, Episode 6]]
|airdate = 27th October, 1988
}}

{{TG 1977 Episode|episodename=Series 20, Episode 5|airdate=27th October|year=1988|xth=sixth|series=[[Series 20]]|number=176th|number78=167th|prognum=15th|totprog=18|resolution=576i|aspratio=4:3 Standard|tvorstream=British television|channel=BBC Two}} {{TG 1977 Episode Starring|hosta=William Woollard|hostb=Chris Goffey|hostc=Tony Mason|hostd=Tom Boswell|hoste=|hostf=|hostg=|hosth=|hosti=|hostlast=Jeremy Clarkson}} This episode is perhaps most widely-known for being the on-screen debut of the latter, not just for ''[[Top Gear]]'', but for any television programme featuring him in any capacity following a successful stint at ''[[Performance Car Magazine]]''.

==Synopsis==
{{Lost Episode}}

===Radio Times Listing===
''When police surveillance systems catch motorists breaking the law, the onus is increasingly on drivers to prove their innocence rather than on the police to prove guilt. William Woollard investigates this apparent change in emphasis. Tony Mason reports on preparations for the Lombard RAC Rally. Chris Goffey drives the 440 – the new Volvo made in Holland and Tom Boswell tackles rust warranties – how much protection do they offer? Jeremy Clarkson visits a firm that pulls apart new Rolls-Royces, and rebuilds them.''

===Infax Listing===
According to information stored on the BBC's Infax database, the episode began with Chris Goffey presenting a piece on the [[Volvo 440]] in Holland. It was then followed by Woollard reporting on the use of cameras inside police cars and at road junctions to photograph cars that are speeding or driving recklessly. He interviews Chief Inspector Mike Dixon regarding the use of these cameras, in addition to legal journalist Stephen Gold, who questions the legality of such photos as evidence. Sarah Spencer of the NCCL also reports on the civil liberty implications that these cameras have. The show's third film, presented by Tony Mason, focused on the Wales Rally GB which occurred on the 22nd - 23rd of October, 1988. He interviews drivers Jimmy McRae for Toyota, Hannu Mikkola for Mazda, Malcolm Wilson for Vauxhall, and Per Eklund for Nissan.

The episode continues with Tom Boswell investigating problems in regards to auto manufacturers' anti-corrosion warranties, interviewing Linda Zeff, a Fiat customer dissatisfied with her [[Fiat Panda (first generation)|Panda's]] warranty, with various rusty body panels being shown to the camera before the car is treated in a garage. He also interviews Julian Edwards from the Consumer Association, who is unhappy with the complex conditions car makers impose in regards to anti-corrosion. The episode then finally concludes with Jeremy Clarkson's first ever piece to camera, where he discusses the Hooper tuning firm in North London, who take apart Bentleys and Rolls-Royces in order to customise them. He interviews the firm's main director, Paul Crowder, in addition to various owners of these 'Hooperised' vehicles. A fleet of these cars then drive through London before arriving at the Hooper workshop to be modified.

==Soundtrack==
{{Soundtrack}}

{{Song|artist=The Allman Brothers Band|songpage=Jessica (instrumental)|songname=Jessica|playswhen=Plays during the title sequence.}}
{{Song|artist=Elton John|songpage=Out of the Blue (instrumental)|songname=Out of the Blue|playswhen=Plays during the closing sequence.}}

Fifth Gear

2025-03-29T23:22:18Z

AlexGRFan97:

{{Infobox Show
|image =<tabs plain style="margin:0;padding:0;" container="text-align:center;">
<tab name="Default">
[[File:FG Logo 2005.jpg|300px]]
The ''Fifth Gear'' logo used since 2005.
</tab>
<tab name="2002">
[[File:FG Logo 2002.png|300px]]
Numeral ''5th Gear'' logo used only during 2002.
</tab>
<tab name="2003">
[[File:FG Logo 2003.png|300px]]
''Fifth Gear'' logo used during the 30 minute episode era.
</tab>
</tabs>
|year=2002
|epcount=273
|origin=British
|airstatus=No longer airing
|year2=2019}}
''For the programme which has aired since 2021, see [[Fifth Gear: Recharged]].''

'''''Fifth Gear''''' is the name of an automotive-themed intellectual property created by [[Richard Pearson]] in 2001 and aired during three separate tenures between 2002 and 2019, produced by [[North One Television]]<ref>Originally known as ''Chrysalis Television Midlands''.</ref> since its inception. It has been adapted to a television format multiple times in its native [[United Kingdom]], in addition to subsequent international versions that were made once the programme had proven itself a success in the early 2000s.

After original host [[Quentin Willson]] departed ''[[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|Top Gear]]'' in late 2000, he would spend the successive year as an independent journalist, uncovering<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1456337.stm BBC News - Exposed: Criminals behind huge car fraud.]</ref> a major international car fraud involving the sale of Japanese cars in the UK by proxy of Dubai. That August, ''Top Gear'' would announce its cancellation<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1480197.stm BBC News - BBC takes ''Top Gear'' off road.]</ref> after 23 years on the air. In light of this news, three of ''Top Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s then-current hosting team, comprised of lead presenter [[Tiff Needell]], [[Vicki Butler-Henderson]] and [[Adrian Simpson]] all chose to defect<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1657807.stm BBC News - ''Top Gear'' team switch lanes.]</ref> to rival broadcaster [[Channel 5]], the team meeting up with former ''Top Gear'' producer Pearson after the latter had successfully persuaded the estranged Willson on the idea. The resultant programme, rechristened as ''Fifth Gear'', would [[Fifth Gear/Series 1|premiere]]<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1918330.stm BBC News - ''Top Gear'' finds a new home.]</ref> in April of 2002 and recycle much of the format that the outgoing ''Top Gear'' had employed. Contemporary public reception<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1918681.stm BBC News - ''5th Gear'': Your views.]</ref> to this new series was largely positive.

Later on, the programme was joined by two-time BTCC champion [[Jason Plato]] in 2004, who had previously worked for [[Channel 4]]'s since-cancelled ''[[Driven]]'', along with the presenting duo of [[Jonny Smith]] in 2006 and [[Tom Ford]] from the very start. Simpson and Willson would eventually depart the series, and [[Tim Shaw]] would also briefly join the presenting team for the programme's [[Fifth Gear/Series 14|fourteenth series]] in 2008.

==Format==
Originally, ''Fifth Gear'' was very similar to ''Top Gear'', but as time progressed, developed more distinct characteristics, such as its famed [[Fifth Gear/Shoot-Outs|Shoot-Outs]] between two cars of a similar type. For the first seven series, the show aired in a 23 minute format, before doubling to a 45 minute format in 2005. ''Fifth Gear'' then lasted through to its sixteenth series in 2009 in this format, before Channel 5 cancelled<ref>[http://www.ausmotive.com/2009/10/19/fifth-gear-cancelled.html AUSMotive - ''Fifth Gear'' cancelled - CONFIRMED.]</ref> the programme at the end of that year. This cancellation was brief, and the programme was relaunched the subsequent Summer back in its original 23 minute format, with less time spent on more dramatic stunts and a heightened focus on automotive journalism. ''Fifth Gear'' lasted four series in this format as part of a renewed two-year contract with the network, until late 2011, when the programme was shuttled off to [[Discovery]]<ref>[https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/247672-fifth-gear-returns/ BRISKODA - ''Fifth Gear'' Returns.]</ref> in 2012, returning to a 45 minute format from its [[Fifth Gear/Series 21|twenty-first]] series onwards. The programme would move once again to the [[History Channel]] in 2015, before being cancelled. ''Fifth Gear'' went into hiatus for three years before being revived in 2018 by Discovery channel [[Discovery (network)/Quest|Quest]], where it returned one final time for its [[Fifth Gear/Series 27|twenty-seventh]] and [[Fifth Gear/Series 28|twenty-eighth]] series.

For the first seven series, ''Fifth Gear'' was based at an [[Fifth Gear's original offices|unnamed office]] in [[Birmingham]], likely near their earlier place of employ at [[Pebble Mill Studios|Pebble Mill]], and was otherwise filmed on-location. From Series 8, the programme became partly studio-based at the [[Ace Cafe]] near Wembley in [[London]].

==Series overview==
273 episodes would air in total between 2002 and 2019 across 28 total series, including specials such as those made for ''[[Fifth Gear/Series 2/James Bond's Cars Special|James Bond]]'' and ''[[Fifth Gear/Series 4/Italian Job Special|The Italian Job]]'', in addition to end of series compilation specials.

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 8px;" |Series
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 8px;" |Episodes
! colspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 80px;" |Originally aired
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 80px;" |Original network
|-
! scope="col" |Series premiere
! scope="col" |Series finale
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 1|1]]
|11
|8th April 2002
|17th June 2002
| rowspan=18 | [[File:Five Logo 2002.png|100px]]
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/The Greatest Cars in The World Special|GC]]
|Special
| colspan=2 | 8th September 2002
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 2|2]]
|11
|7th October 2002
|16th December 2002
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 3|3]]
|10
|12th March 2003
|28th May 2003
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Italian Job Special|IJ]]
|Special
| colspan=2 | 26th September 2003
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 4|4]]
|11
|13th October 2003
|22nd December 2003
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 5|5]]
|10
|29th March 2004
|31st May 2004
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 6|6]]
|11
|11th October 2004
|20th December 2004
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 7|7]]
|10
|21st March 2005
|23rd May 2005
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 8|8]]
|11
|10th October 2005
|19th December 2005
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 9|9]]
|15
|27th March 2006
|24th July 2006
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 10|10]]
|13
|25th September 2006
|18th December 2006
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 11|11]]
|10
|30th April 2007
|2nd August 2007
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 12|12]]
|8
|3rd September 2007
|22nd October 2007
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 13|13]]
|10
|21st January 2008
|24th March 2008
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 14|14]]
|8
|11th August 2008
|29th September 2008
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 15|15]]
|8
|5th January 2009
|23rd February 2009
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 16|16]]
|8
|8th June 2009
|27th July 2009
|-
| colspan=5 style="padding:0 80px; background: #EAECF0;" | '''First cancellation'''
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 17|17]]
|10
|3rd June 2010
|12th August 2010
| rowspan=4 | [[File:Five Logo 2008.png|100px]]
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 18|18]]
|10
|8th October 2010
|10th December 2010
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 19|19]]
|10
|15th April 2011
|15th July 2011
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 20|20]]
|10
|14th October 2011
|30th December 2011
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 21|21]]
|9
|3rd September 2012
|29th October 2012
| rowspan=4 | [[File:Discovery Logo 2009.png|100px]]
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 22|22]]
|9
|11th February 2013
|8th April 2013
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 23|23]]
|9
|13th September 2013
|11th November 2013
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 24|24]]
|9
|24th February 2014
|21st April 2014
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 25|25]]
|6
|6th March 2015
|9th April 2015
| rowspan=2 | [[File:HUK Logo 2008.png|50px]]
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 26|26]]
|6
|2nd July 2015
|13th August 2015
|-
| colspan=5 style="padding:0 80px; background: #EAECF0;" | '''Second cancellation'''
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 27|27]]
|8
|2nd September 2018
|25th October 2018
| rowspan=2 | [[File:Quest HD Logo.png|50px]]
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 28|28]]
|10
|3rd October 2019
|5th December 2019
|}

==='''Fifth Gear Web TV'''===
{{Main Article|name=Fifth Gear Web TV}}
Beginning in June 2009, ''Fifth Gear'' would produce an extremely low-budget online miniseries, with Vicki Butler-Henderson as lead host and series producer [[Graham Smiles]] (always referred to on-screen as "Graham from the Office") as co-presenter.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 8px;" |Series
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 8px;" |Episodes
! colspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 80px;" |Originally aired
|-
! scope="col" |Series premiere
! scope="col" |Series finale
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 1|1]]
|14
|5th June 2009
|29th November 2009
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 2|2]]
|30
|4th December 2009
|29th June 2010
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 3|3]]
|12
|12th August 2010
|10th December 2010
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 4|4]]
|8
|17th January 2011
|18th March 2011
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 5|5]]
|7
|14th April 2011
|16th June 2011
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 6|6]]
|14
|1st July 2011
|20th December 2011
|}
Episodes initially aired on a fortnightly basis, running from June through to November of 2009. With ''Fifth Gear'' then subsequently off the air due to its original cancellation, ''Web TV'' became the programme's main base of operations heading out of 2009 and into the following decade. The original concept of 10 - 15 minute long minisodes was ditched in favour of shorter, 5 minute long individual reviews. Occasionally, installments would consist of Smiles informing the viewer of the latest ''Fifth Gear''-related developments, news concerning an upcoming motoring event, or outtakes from the televised version of the show (in much a similar vein to the function that [[Top Gear/Website|''Top Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s website]] served) and these have been discounted from the overall episode count.

==Presenters==
From the programme's inception, Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson were ''Fifth Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s joint lead hosts, with Quentin Willson the first to officially join. Tom Ford would be the programme's first new hire, debuting in the fifth episode. From there, the team of five would stabilise, with the occasional on-screen appearance from producer Jon Bentley, before Simpson's departure at the end of Series 6 and Willson following not long thereafter. The team would then continue to operate as a quintet thanks to the addition of former ''Driven'' host Jason Plato through to 2006's Series 10, where they were then joined by Jonny Smith and [[Tim Lovejoy]]. Lovejoy's role on the programme wouldn't last long, and in Series 14, Tim Shaw joined until the programme's 2009 cancellation. Both Shaw and Ford would be absent from the 2010 revival, Ford in order to fully focus on his obligations for BBC's ''Top Gear'', eventually being "rewarded" as lead host for the shortlived BBC America run of ''[[Top Gear America]]''.

From 2010 through to the first year of its 2018 revival, a period comprising 11 series and 96 episodes, the presenting team did not change between Needell, Butler-Henderson, Smith or Plato. Of the programme's hosts, Vicki Butler-Henderson remained the only host to have starred in every series. Tiff Needell appeared in the first 27 series until his unexpected firing a year into Discovery's ownership of the IP. In his place arrived [[Jimmy de Ville]] and former F1 driver [[Karun Chandhok]] for the [[Fifth Gear/Series 28|final series]] of traditional ''Fifth Gear'' in 2019.

An unusually high proportion of presenters with the male given name "Timothy" would serve as host throughout; it is both the original birth name of Tiff Needell and Jason Plato (with Jason being the latter's middle name), in addition to being the names of later hires Tim Lovejoy and Tim Shaw.

===Timeline of presenters===
Placeholder.

==References==
<references/>

Top Gear

2025-03-29T23:20:48Z

AlexGRFan97:

{{Infobox Show
|image =<tabs plain style="margin:0;padding:0;" container="text-align:center;">
<tab name="Default">
[[File:TG Logo 2002.JPG|300px]]
The ''Top Gear'' logo as used from 2002 until early 2013.
</tab>
<tab name="1977">
[[File:TG Logo 1977.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo used in 1977.
</tab>
<tab name="1983">
[[File:TG Logo 1983.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used from 1983 until 1985.
</tab>
<tab name="1994">
[[File:TG Logo 1994.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used from 1993 until 2002.
</tab>
<tab name="2013">
[[File:TG Logo 2013.jpg|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used starting from 2013.
</tab>
</tabs>
|year=1977
|epcount=869
|origin=British
|airstatus=Ongoing}}
''For a particular version of ''Top Gear'', please see [[Top Gear (disambiguation)]].''

'''''Top Gear''''' is the name of an automotive-themed intellectual property created by [[Derek Smith]] in 1977. It has been adapted to a television format multiple times in its native [[United Kingdom]], in addition to subsequent international versions that were made once the programme had proven itself a success in the early 2000s. A successful [[Top Gear Magazine/UK|magazine]] of the same name was established in 1993, subsequently diversifying into foreign markets, and a [[Top Gear Live|live show]] was created in 1996 and ran twice, before being [[MPH Live|revived]] in 2003, with ''Top Gear'' (and later ''[[Fifth Gear]]'') host [[Tiff Needell]] alongside [[Jeremy Clarkson]] transforming the basic format into a smaller-scale version that could be adapted for the stage.

==Series overview==
As of February 2022, [[Top Gear/Episodes|870 episodes]] of ''Top Gear'' have aired across 76 series. Traditionally, the first 550 of these are considered distinct from the latter 320, but further distinctions do exist.

==Presenters==
Since 1977, the British version of ''Top Gear'' has had 12 main hosts, who have served 13 tenures in total:
*[[Angela Rippon]]: 22nd April, 1977 - 3rd July, 1979
*[[Noel Edmonds]]: 4th July, 1979 - 21st October, 1980
*[[Judith Jackson]]: 22nd October, 1980 - 9th June, 1981
*[[William Woollard]]: 10th June, 1981 - 2nd May, 1991
*[[Jeremy Clarkson]] (first): 3rd May, 1991 - 22nd January, 1999
*[[Index.php?title=Quentin Willson|Quentin Willson]]: 18th February 1999 - 25th May 2000
*[[Jason Barlow]]: 7th September 2000 - 21st March, 2002
*Jeremy Clarkson (second): 22nd March, 2002 - 10th March, 2015
*[[Richard Hammond]]: 11th March, 2015 - 15th June, 2015 (shared duty with [[James May]])
*James May: 11th March, 2015 - 15th June, 2015; acting host until 7th February, 2016
*[[Chris Evans]]: 16th June, 2015 - 4th July, 2016
*[[Matt LeBlanc]]: 5th July, 2016 - 17th March, 2019
*[[Chris Harris]]: 18th March, 2019 - December 2022

The longest serving main host by a considerable margin is Jeremy Clarkson, serving a combined tenure of 20 years and 7 months, during which he would present over 400 episodes of ''Top Gear''. The shortest serving main host is Richard Hammond, serving a combined tenure (if it can be even called one) of 3 months and 4 days.

===Timeline of presenters===
Placeholder.

==Page roadmap==
To be a complete summary of the ''Top Gear'' intellectual property, the following was to be added to this page, which was otherwise very much a work-in-progress at this time:
* International television adaptations
* Expansion into other franchises (e.g. Motorsport, Waterworld etc.)
* Merchandising and non-audiovisual media (i.e. games, trading cards etc.)

==Notes==

Top Gear (2016 TV series)

2025-03-29T23:20:17Z

AlexGRFan97:

[[File:TG Logo 2013.jpg|thumb|200px|Top Gear logo.]]

'''''Top Gear''''' is the name of a British automotive journalism programme which began airing on the 29th of May, 2016 and ended in December 2022. It is a soft reboot of the earlier ''[[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|Top Gear]]'' which aired from October 2002 through to June of 2015 before its cancellation and subsequent revival in light of former lead host [[Jeremy Clarkson]] being [[Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal from Top Gear|sacked]] in March 2015. As of January 2022, this version of the programme has thus far ran for approximately 50 episodes across 9 series, and has largely been characterised through the persistent tenure of former [[Evo Magazine|evo]] writer [[Chris Harris]], who has so far accompanied three separate presenting teams during his time on the show.

Due to the [[BBC]] recognising the show as a continuation of the prior format rather than a full reboot, 2002-era series designations have been used, with the programme's first series being [[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 23|Series 23]], which premiered in May of 2016.

User:AlexGRFan97

2025-03-29T23:19:17Z

AlexGRFan97:

Welcome to my userpage.

It doesn't really matter what you call me, whether that's just Alex, AlexGRFan97 (which stands/stood for "Alex '''G'''ene'''R'''ally '''F'''an 19'''97'''" which I created when I was 12/13 years old for my first (now abandoned) GMail and YouTube accounts), AlexTGRF (which means a similar thing and can refer to GeneRally or Top Gear), or just plain old Gearknob.

Was this website supposed to be open this March? Yes it was. Then I had a lot of videos that I needed to work on, as well as some Patrons I needed to hopefully satisfy with news and other goodies.

If you'd like to know more, check the [https://gearknob.org associated blog], where I explain everything that happened leading up to my extended hiatus from Discord. At least by the 25th, when this site opened its gates.

==Current Plans (never done)==
*Re-do 3 car pages because the vehicle template just does not work; only 3 pages use it currently and it's more work trying to use it than it's worth.
*Rewrite Vehicle infobox, incorporating switch cases to allow buses and coaches to be properly input, as well as other things.
*Add accurate runtimes for all 22 CHM-format Top Gear series, as well as home video release statuses.
*Create detailed series pages for all ''Top Gear'' series from 1977 - 2015, along with navigation.
*Stop putting it off and get back on Discord as well as prepare more stuff for YouTube.

==Pre-2002 Series Photos==
I am also aiming to try and find production stills for every pre-2002 series of ''Top Gear''. Realistically, most of these will probably have to use a title card, screen shot, or otherwise-unrelated photograph, but here are some I've presently found:
*Series 1 - Will likely use promo shot of Angela Rippon in an Aston Martin
*Series 2 - Will likely use promo shot of Noel Edmonds with his Ford GT40
*Series 3 - Not found yet
*Series 4 - Not found yet
*Series 5 - Not found yet
*Series 6 - Not found yet
*Series 7 - May 1982 production still found
*Series 8 - Not found yet
*Series 9 - Not found yet
*Series 10 - Not found yet
*Series 11 - Not found yet
*Series 12 - Not found yet
*Series 13 - Official promo shot found from 1986 BBC Yearbook
*Series 14 - Not found yet
*Series 15 - Not found yet
*Series 16 - Not found yet
*Series 17 - Not found yet
*Series 18 - Not found yet
*Series 19 - Not found yet
*Series 20 - Not found yet
*Series 21 - Several promo shots found from various episodes, will likely use one
*Series 22 - Ditto for Series 22
*Series 23 - Not found yet
*Series 24 - Not found yet
*Series 25 - Not found yet
*Series 26 - Official promo shot found from ''Performance Car'' shoot with Lamborghinis
*Series 27 - Official promo shot found from the "Motaball" segment
*Series 28 - Official promo shot found of Jeremy Clarkson and his Ford Escort
*Series 29 - Official promo shot found from ''Radio Times'' cover
*Series 30 - Not found yet
*Series 31 - May use shot of Clarkson with the Ford Probe in Utah
*Series 32 - Official promo shots found from October 1994 issue of ''Action''
*Series 33 - Clarkson and Willson promo shot from October 1994 issue of ''Top Gear'' magazine may be used
*Series 34 - Jeremy Clarkson's January 1995 photo shoot for ''TV Times'' will likely be used
*Series 35 - Official promo shot found, taken at the inaugural ''Top Gear'' live event
*Series 36 - May use promotional shot of Michele Newman for ''TV Times'' from September 1996
*Series 37 - March 1997 magazine cover
*Series 38 - Official promo shot found from the track day portion of ''Apocalypse Clarkson''
*Series 39 - March 1998 magazine cover
*Series 40 - Not found yet
*Series 41 - Official promo shot found in June 1999 calendar photo, will need to buy/scan
*Series 42 - Inlay artwork for ''Fast & Furious 2'' VHS, will need to buy/scan
*Series 43 - Official promo shot found online, as well as one for the Awards Special in the March 2000 issue of the magazine
*Series 44 - Not found yet, may use promotional still of Jason Barlow
*Series 45 - June 2001 magazine cover, currently cleaning up

Main Page/Leaving Fandom

2025-03-29T23:18:16Z

AlexGRFan97: Page is not to be edited.

Since making my last meaningful edits in the first half of 2020, I have been contemplating whether or not to return to the [https://topgear.fandom.com Top Gear Wiki] hosted at Fandom.

Up until that point, I'd had a decade-long relationship with the website across many wikis which I helped to improve over the years. The problem is, during that time, the service has slowly changed from what it once was. For me, it all started with the [http://battlebots.fandom.com BattleBots Wiki], where I spent the best part of my first year or two documenting robots, biographies, and episodes of the original 2000 - 2002 run of the show under the leadership of Badnik96. Though much of this work was would be left unappreciated by the egotistical ''[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/berk berks]'' over at Gametechmods, I got a real sense of fulfillment over working on the wiki, and sought to do more. During the early days of Wikia, admins were free to do whatever they wanted, with hierarchies for other members based on quality and frequency of contribution. For most of the decade, this didn't change. Content was very freeform and creativity was boundless.

Then TPG Capital acquired the service in 2018, and things started to go downhill. It was slow at first, but by mid-2019, the quality of the website hit a freefall.

The final nail in the coffin came in the summer of 2021, when Fandom force-changed the layout on every single wiki to the horrifically bad "FandomDesktop", a gross misnomer that was clearly an attempt to unify the style between mobile and desktop, something which many users did not want. Desktop usability has been sacrificed for better cohesion between the two device types. Already the article area was noticeably thinner than other projects forked from MediaWiki to accompany intrusive advertisements, as well as a scrolling background at both edges. Now it is almost ridiculously thin. Tables in particular have suffered the most from this design choice, with many now non-displayable on 1080p displays without horizontal scrolling. Font sizes have been forced larger to aid reading on a small screen. This has made articles occupy much more vertical page area than before.

In addition, it seems with every successive update Fandom slowly becomes less user-friendly and more corporate. Just before FD's implementation, user blogs were deleted, thus silencing much of the wiki owner's voice, and there is no guarantee that they won't suddenly decide to delete something else, given that they've already deleted NSFW wikis, any wikis which are based around critique of media ("hate" wikis), and have now blocked "competing" wikis of certain intellectual properties to be set up, even though this was previously a big feature of Fandom which allowed people disgruntled with the way a wiki was being run to break away and found their own base of operations.

Frankly, I would love to pick up where I left off. I put many hundreds, if not thousands of hours into the Top Gear Wiki during 2019 and early 2020.

But the fact of the matter is you '''do not''' continue to build a house on shaky foundations that move often; you raze what you've built and start over in a new location. In that same vein, I '''cannot''', in good faith, work on a wiki where the service is known to suddenly and drastically change its TOS on a whim. They even [https://archive.md/hI68M closed] the [https://community.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003246397 Polandball Wiki] over completely baseless claims of "racism", for God's sake. When you can't even enjoy light-hearted fun between anthropomorphized countries and a stereotypical summation of their history without getting shut down, '''nothing is safe'''.

As a result, it is with a heavy heart I announce that I must finally officially abandon the Top Gear Wiki on Fandom and step down. But as they say; The King is dead, long live the King. Where the Top Gear Wiki has been declared dead, ''[[GearKnob]]'' rose in its place.

''GearKnob'' joined an ever-growing list of wiki projects that have moved off of Wikia/Fandom in recent years, alongside the likes of [https://lostmediawiki.com Lost Media Wiki], the [https://runescape.wiki Runescape Wiki], [https://halopedia.org Halopedia], and the [https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Fallen_London_Wiki Fallen London Wiki], but unlike those wikis mentioned, GearKnob hasn't survived the test of time. More than a year of thought was given to this decision, and the events of mid-2021 made my mind up for me. The reason for most of this deliberation was the decision to start '''completely''' from scratch, retaining just the knowledge I learned throughout 2019 and early 2020, in addition to a few scraps I kept on my computer during that time. Though the original Top Gear Wiki never went away, it is no longer something I am actively updating. I am done with it, and truthfully, have been since the end of 2019. The pandemic finally gave me the excuse I needed to ditch it for good. From here on in, I no longer support that wiki in any capacity.

I have '''zero interest''' in forking since doing so would reacquaint me with certain individuals I have no need to converse with ever again. I do not need any last minute snark or malicious compliance over the decision to take my ball and go elsewhere. They had more than their fair share of chances to talk to me in a respectable and dignified manner, and they chose not to.

What's more, the wiki's attempted raid by TheAldroid & NootOfRoses proved to me that Fandom's existing security measures were woefully inadequate, and that nothing substantial was in place to combat or prevent vandalism. The fact that the wiki's "owner" had to be alerted to it by a regular user DAYS after the fact shows how much these people actually care about the wikis they were given supervision over, and proved to me that over 90% of the wiki's users and critics were nothing more than dead weight that had to be got rid of for the common good of everyone. I had to go scorched earth and make the wiki I wanted and what I feel people wanted, not what a consortium of barely-invested meddlers sat on high chairs thinks we wanted.

This was the short, formal answer. Read ahead for the full one, which is decidedly ''less'' formal. '''Reader discretion is advised, and even more yapping ahead'''.

==Why though?==
Simple. To '''get away''' from Fandom. More specifically, to break away from the tyranny of its bureaucracy.

===Apology to Spongebob456===
First and foremost, I guess I'm kind of sorry (lol) to Chris, the unfortunate poor sod who had the misfortune of being assigned to supervise the Top Gear Wiki.

I tried my hardest to work with him, I really did.

But if I'm being completely honest, I never ''wanted'' to work with this person. It's not that I didn't like him, it's just that I thought when I took over the wiki, I would be left alone to do my own thing. I was perfectly fine dealing with everything myself. I had a clear vision for the wiki, and Chris was really just an extra barrier at the end of the day. Normally, when you're the admin of a website, the host doesn't typically turn around and say "Oh, you answer to ''this guy'' now" and sic some untouchable, unbannable super-admin that occasionally pops in and gives random orders on you. That really rubbed me the wrong way, but I was willing to make concessions here and there to keep everything in check. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough.

I think the biggest problem is that he never really pulled his weight on my wiki. He assisted a few times, diagnosed a couple issues that I probably would not have been able to find otherwise and helped to program in some nice features, but never stuck around to make a page or two, or even facelift some. That's all I would have asked for. He just seems to have received ownership due to his subject of expertise being TV series without any real desire to actually have said ownership in the first place. When you give one guy over-reaching influence over '''all''' TV-themed wikis, how do you expect it to go?

That said, I don't actually hate the guy, and most of this was just 2 years worth' of pent-up venting. If Spongebob456/Chris is ''actually'' passionate about Top Gear and wishes to join this project, he's more than welcome to. I harbour no ill will towards him. In the event he does choose to join, he would be treated as a regular member and only given a higher rank based on merit.

Before I proceed any further, a special shout-out to Tupka217 and Fandyllic. Without the [http://community.fandom.com/wiki/Thread:1769260 unwanted input] of these two imbeciles, I never would have found the desire or motivation to go about things my own way. Now I no longer have to deal with self-important morons like them. A win for all parties involved, in the sense I could finally get on with what they have helped to delay for over 2 years.

In fact, since the latter of those seems to have a [https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/the-future-of-wowpedia/45879/50 pre-established] [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fandyllic history] of being a histrionic windbag with the maturity of a teenager, Mr. Kinoshita automatically earned himself a permanent ban should he decide to join, simply for existing - but all he's got to get rid of the ban, is to just get a new IP from the router on restart (or by contacting the ISP). I don't need egos like his on here, '''EVER'''.

==What's wrong with Fandom?==
An awful lot of things. In past years, these could easily be overlooked, but as time has continued to go on, the situation has only deteriorated.

*'''No quality control.'''
By far, the #1 issue with Fandom is that it has essentially commodified the MediaWiki software; anyone and everyone can set up a wiki without questioning whether or not they '''should'''. Underage and otherwise-incompetent users are using MW as though it were a toy. For every well-sourced, intricate wiki out there, there's another 100 that just use endlessly copy-pasted templates with broken links and minimal content with frequent typos and improper capitalisation. There is also nothing in Fandom's adaptation of MediaWiki that deals with plagiarism - even comprehensive wikis like the Hot Wheels Wiki has a [https://hotwheels.fandom.com/wiki/History_of_Hot_Wheels history page] that is ripped straight from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Wheels Wikipedia] almost verbatim.

Furthermore, the community itself is a laughing stock of human incompetence - just take a quick glance at [https://community.fandom.com/f Community Central] on any given day and marvel at the displays of ineptitude from clueless bureaucrats, admins and contributors who have seemingly never used a MediaWiki-derived website in their life, alongside petty squabbles, 90% of the time for things they did themselves.

*'''Abolition of power structure.'''
Fandom can claim otherwise all day long, but the fact of the matter is for a good decade or so, admins were perceived as the "owners" of their respective Wiki and commanded respect, as they did not get that position by doing nothing. By stating on the official Wikipedia article that "wikis are also not owned by their founders, nor does the founder's opinion carry more weight in disagreements than any other user's opinion" is a MASSIVE slap in the face, and basically implies that a troll, spammer, or complete numpty who can barely write a plain-text article should have the same input in the way a wiki is run as the admin who tirelessly works on accurately documenting and researching their articles and extensively designing templates. No, just no. That's not the way the world works. The village idiot should not be able to overrule the monarchy.

*'''Poor security track record on the whole.'''
Wikia/Fandom's security history is among the worst for websites of its calibre; if you take a look through their history, you'll find that they never fix a glaring security fault until it's been abused 1000 times.

*'''Horrendous, intrusive advertisements, many of which come from Fandom itself.'''
It's one thing for a bad actor on AdSense, another thing entirely for the wiki's own host to ruin the experience. It's like keying your own car; why would you do it? The worst ones were the pop-up quizzes that asked you random questions about unrelated pop culture. And you can forget about trying to use Fandom on a mobile device, that's all I'll say on that matter.

*'''Fandom's continued insistence that it is somehow ''more'' than just a wiki host, reinforced by the name change from "Wikia" and their flavour-of-the-month new additions (which were almost always colossal flops).'''
The worst part about this particular reason is that when Fandom wants something, no matter how poorly-received they are by the community, they'll pretend to listen, give a few weeks/months grace so that most of the original critics forget about it, then force a lightly modified version of that poorly-received change on everyone before anyone has time to mount any resistance to it. That was the case with FandomDesktop, where they waited 2 whole years after the universal rejection of the horrifically bad "Community Builder" in 2019.

P.S. The fact they had to reopen a "Wikia.org" URL for wikis of a serious nature is a shining example of the website's hubris in full effect, lest the Cambodian Genocide "fandom" ever started to pick up steam.

*'''Fandom's increased control and uniformity over pre-existing wikis.'''
Ranging from the outright banning of large wiki logos, to the "simple" Infobox design which was a royal pain in the ass to use, couldn't do basic infobox functions from the visual editor alone, and wasted shitloads of page space, all the way through to FandomDesktop. Until the introduction of the latter, wikis could ''still'' look somewhat decent provided you were willing to put in the hours in .css and template editing to negate Fandom's garbage as much as possible. FD took a big crap over that. Now, wikis hosted on Fandom all look the same; bloated and ugly with absolutely ginormous infoboxes and tables. The font size is too big and takes up too much of the screen, as it is designed for use on mobile devices. All we wanted was an update to the version of MediaWiki so that we could use more extensions and less proprietary junk.

What's even worse is I have visited this website on my phone and apart from a minor glitch involving the positioning of the first few words in articles with infoboxes (which I do not intend to fix unless someone knows what's causing it since this is being designed as a desktop-oriented website), Fandom's own mobile phone interface is actually inferior to the one MediaWiki natively provides. So what exactly was FD supposed to achieve?

*'''General E-Drama on Fandom as a whole'''
Along with Representatives and Specialists, Fandom has gone from being a generally peaceful community with little in the way of hierarchy or power structure to a group of the same individuals that seem to want to control the site from within and kick up some of the biggest flamewars in history if they don't get their way. The damage control over FandomDesktop thus far has been hilarious, and believing that its forced implementation was met with anything other than major polarisation at best and overwhelmingly negative reception at worst has their head firmly lodged up Sannse's ass. It works decently on smaller devices. It does ''not'' translate to a "desktop" experience, and the fact that Fandom has the '''gall''' to call it as such is astonishing.

*'''Finally, if one thing is clear, it's that Fandom does not give a ''single damn'' about the people who actually use it for its intended purpose. They will chew you up and spit you out at a moment's hesitance.'''
In late 2019, I noticed that a wiki for GEICO car insurance had been (and was continually being) extensively vandalised by an underaged, unregistered user identifying himself as "Thomas Lau", most of the pages referring to fictional crossover crap that didn't exist. Attempting to alert Fandom staff to this vandalism was met with, and I do paraphrase here, the likes of '''"How can you be sure it's being vandalised?"''' and '''"If you're so insistent, go do it yourself."'''

So I did. After having my initial adoption attempt rejected by an '''absolute colostomy bag''' by the name of CzechOut (despite fulfilling all criteria AND having nearly a decade's worth of experience to back it up), I finally gained admin access, only for a random user to immediately enable something that prevented unregistered users from making any further edits and negating my job before I even had the chance to start it. Had I known about this, I would not have put in the effort. At '''no point''' did any of the staff tell me that you could do this, even if you weren't in a position of authority to do so, and the fact that there were people working on Fandom's staff that appeared to genuinely not know about it was quite frankly alarming. In addition, the site's adoption process is irredeemably awful (a person with 1000 contributions over the course of a year is inarguably better for the role than a newbie with just 14 made on a daily basis), and the fact it can be '''arbitrarily rejected''' is even worse. It's really bad that a website that tries to portray itself as professionally as possible is staffed by some of the least professional people on the planet.

===Example of Fandom Admin power abuse===
After about 5 minutes of searching, I found [https://community.fandom.com/wiki/Message_Wall:Kimberton?threadId=4400000000003102001 this] little example from 2021 that is a PERFECT demonstration of how Fandom's staff acts on a regular basis.

From what I can gather, this user did nothing wrong, and that the admin, Kimberton, whoever they are, either made an incompetent error and believed that the user's legitimate addition was not made in good faith, or maliciously abused admin powers simply to virtue-signal. Either way, Kimberton was in the wrong, as basic research ''will'' indeed show that the character's middle name is in fact [https://boymeetssubs.tumblr.com/post/17216066574/season-6-everybody-loves-stuart-shawn-my-soap "Shanaynay Martin Luther King Boulevard"], as "racist" as it may seem to a kneejerk reactionary like Kimberton.

I am a staunch advocate for apolitical entertainment, as I do not believe the topic has its place in media, and that stretches to the documentation of said media. I will keep my personal political views firmly out of everything I do in a professional manner, but the fact that [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/User:Toprawa_and_Ralltiir decade+] [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/User:Darth_Culator veterans] can be banned on a whim for holding the ''wrong'' views by an online lynch mob seriously scares me, and is not the sort of environment I wish to reside any longer than I physically have to.

===A Human Tragedy: The Ballad of Owli Powli===
Largely due to Fandom's steadfast ignorance towards "fanon" wikis, [http://spongefan.fandom.com/wiki/Special:Random which] [http://peppafanon.fandom.com/wiki/Special:Random are] [http://tvfan.fandom.com/wiki/Special:Random as I'm] [http://numberblocks-fanon.fandom.com/wiki/Special:Random sure] [http://fanontubbies.fandom.com/wiki/Special:Random you'll] [http://gorge-fanon.fandom.com/wiki/Special:Random agree], a MASSIVE waste of bandwidth, Fandom sets an '''extremely poor standard''' for the rest of the site. Why bother making something interesting and well-researched when you can just make crap up in your juvenile brain for '''HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS''' of pages?

The worst part about this is that it invites people who do not belong onto otherwise good, factual wikis and tarnishing them with their bullshit,

An example of this is the Midtown Madness 2 Wiki, a wiki that was otherwise about a real video game. Around 2014/15, a user by the name of "Owli Powli" '''somehow''' got admin rights on this wiki, seemingly without any prior vetting, and immediately set about vandalising the main page with a statement about his non-existent sequel, presenting it as though it were an official follow-up title, and then LOCKING the page so that only Admins could edit and remove this blatantly false information. As of '''2022''' [https://midtownmadness2.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page this vandalism] remains.

For those who don't know (I don't blame you), Owli is one of Wikia's most infamous members. He was banned more times than you can count, constantly raided wikis with sockpuppets, and was overall a general nuisance.

Initially, the MM2 community believed Owli's claims, since he was a relative unknown, but the cracks eventually began to form. By 2016, he was no closer to making his game than the initial announcement.

He eventually attempted to seize control of the Midnight Club Wiki, [https://midnightclub.fandom.com/wiki/Message_Wall:Sajmon14pl?threadId=4400000000000017897 continuously harrassing] a well-respected and proven member of the community called Sajmon14. Owli would CONSTANTLY make excuses as to why he wasn't further ahead in game development, until Sajmon finally pushed him, by which point, by Owli's own volition, he began posting "concept art" drawings that looked like a 5 year old had drawn them. He also clearly displayed no knowledge on how games worked, or so much as the basics on how to make one. Owli continued to try justifying himself, digging a bigger and bigger hole until eventually he gave up. After this debacle, he changed his aspirations up to a Mario Kart clone centred around the long-dead internet meme Weegee. He went cold about a year or so after that, but his destructive path through Wikia remains to this day.

The EXTREMELY worrying thing I found out is that even after seemingly being IP banned, Owli '''still''' [https://www.reddit.com/r/SmashBrosUltimate/comments/d6u54n/i_have_an_idea_for_the_ultimate_smash_fangame/ reveals ambitions] of making his non-existent game from time to time. Though the username is gone, since having been deleted, I can tell this is him. No-one else in this day and age gives a crap about the Weegee meme. His idea has now switched genres completely to a fighting game, and he clearly has no more clue as to how games are actually made or how engines work, judging from his posts. He thinks he can just grab the engine from an off-the-shelf copy of a video game and begin working on it as though it were open source.

People like Owli are part and parcel of a service that does not curate its userbase or wikis and appropriately merit its harder-working members. There are likely hundreds, if not thousands of people like him that would have been kicked off a long time ago.

==How did this happen?==
Although I only took control of the Top Gear Wiki in Spring of 2019, much changed in a short period of time. Here's a basic recollection of the most important points.

*'''The Wiki itself had been orphaned several times in its decade+ of existence up to that point.'''
As a result, many pages were written at a time when even major pages hosted on Wikipedia looked like a Middle Schooler's rushed literature report. Many pages were low quality with poor, broken, or non-existent formatting. Even a year in, my job was far from done.

*'''The Wiki only had one semi-active user, SennaPerformante, who would disappear for a few weeks at a time, before reappearing with low quality edits that almost always had to be tweaked.'''
Every time I thought he'd gone for good, he'd re-emerge a few weeks later and mess a few more things up. It was like trying to babysit the toddler relative of someone you didn't really talk to anymore, but felt obligated to look after. He had a keen spirit, but was just perhaps a little ''too'' keen and lacking where it mattered most. Like Spongebob456, he is welcome to join this Wiki, but he will be beholden to much more strict rules. If he were to continue with the crap he pulled over on Fandom, he will be shown the door. Language is no excuse for a lack of familiarity with basic formatting and templates.

*'''Just a couple of months into my tenure as wiki owner, Wiki Representatives and Specialists emerged.'''
With their announcement, Fandom told us, that under no uncertain terms, Admins were no longer the "owners" of the wikis we curated, that we were merely replaceable "caretakers", and that these people would become the "true" owners. I found this assertion '''gravely insulting''', and as the weeks passed with no further news on this, I hoped that this was not mandatory or that they'd somehow miss the TG Wiki due to its relative inactivity compared to the typical fare of Doctor Who and Marvel Wikis. Alas...

*'''Immediately, my experience with the service began to worsen.'''
Chris, the Representative assigned to my wiki, as I've stated before, wasn't really doing much. Admittedly this may be due to his ridiculously wide responsibilities preventing him from really working on a single wiki, but even so, is perhaps endemic of a bigger problem where Wikia/Fandom simply does not have enough qualified members to police and curate its many wikis. Something I would have '''gladly''' signed up for had Fandom put such a program in place, with or without financial backing.

In addition, I would also be pestered to include "newer" content (i.e. post-CHM Top Gear), even though I was happy working on documenting older, more obscure content like ''The Car's The Star'', and the low page views on post-2015 Top Gear content compared to say, ''The Grand Tour'' did not justify expansion on content that a lot of people don't watch and has otherwise comprehensive analysis already available on the internet.

*'''There is no point trying to fight your way to the surface when the same hands that need to pull you up are the ones actively holding you down.'''
I kept to myself and got on with it as much as I could. And yet, almost every time I asked for help in Community Central, I would almost never get a straight answer and would either be questioned or insulted for asking such a thing in the first place. Half the time I ''did'' bother to communicate with Spongebob456 about my intentions, it would end up being rejected by those he was in communication with. Take [http://community.fandom.com/wiki/Thread:1769260 this thread] again for instance. I presented a clear-cut argument as to why the Top Gear Wiki should have been expanded to incorporate similar shows, using the Professional Wrestling Wiki as an example, and not only was it shot down, but they did so in an extremely unprofessional manner.

To that end I say '''fuck that shit'''. I do not bust my back working on templates, pages, images etc. just to have my hard work insulted. If that's the way Fandom's staff wishes to act, then they'll just have to deal with the consequences.

==What did you decide to do?==
In the end, there was only one decision to make. It was a tough one, but it was a necessary one. I had to start afresh. Start all over again, grab some of my templates, and just remake everything, but better, and the way I want them to look, but unfortunately haven't finished it entirely.

In hindsight, I honestly believe that this was an inevitability.

First of all, aside from SennaPerformante's occasional additions, the wiki was a one-man affair for most of the time I worked on it. There was realistically no way I could have enforced any form of 24/7 security. All other big wikis had a team of mods and admins working around the clock to make sure if a bad-faith edit was made, the culprit would be punished within a matter of minutes. The Top Gear Wiki just had me. At any moment, a group of trolls could have raided hundreds of pages over the course of a few hours and I would have been powerless to stop it, and this indeed occurred in May 2020. This is a '''massive security flaw''' which Fandom has nothing in place to combat, as you saw above.

And finally, following TPG Capital's buyout of the service, there have been constant talks about "official" wikis, which have since become a reality, for instance in the [https://dexter.fandom.com Dexter Wiki], which has Showtime's involvement.

For me, this is a '''MAJOR''' no-no.

Having official ties between a website and an intellectual property means that you are typically limited in the ways you can talk about a particular piece of media. For instance, I would not be able to call the 2016 onwards series of "Top Gear" a steaming pile of dogshit buoyed by bought reviews and inflated viewing figures, endlessly reheating a long-obsolete programming format that should have been put to pasture long ago. And yet, here I can, but barely anyone will know about it, let alone care, unless they watch my [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgggEByOC5Y video discussing why 2016 onwards series of "Top Gear" was fundamentally rubbish].

Furthermore...

==What were the benefits?==
There were quite a few benefits to self-hosting a wiki as opposed to relying on Fandom.

*'''Full control over operation of the wiki and its member base.'''
User accounts could ONLY be created by communicating via Discord (which I've quit forever since 2022). Doing it this way made it 99.9% secure to outsiders who do not belong.

*'''Full control and free will to organise information however I chose, without any reliance on outside interference.'''
I no longer had to wait for a wiki sysop to get out of bed and enable a feature that is standard on virtually every other MediaWiki service in existence. In addition, I could work on the content that I want to, not what some smoothbrained midwit wants, but never did so.

*'''A better outside image.'''
Let's face it, Wikia/Fandom has picked up quite a stigma over the past 15 years. No matter how well you write your wiki, fact check etc., it will never get the recognition it deserves over an independent one.

*'''No bullcrap.'''
I do not need to hear how Capeshit Film #4721 is the best in the franchise, nor do I need to hear which characters in GOT deserved to die the most. I do not need my wiki's search function advertising the Genshin Impact Wiki. This website was for ''Top Gear'' and similar content '''only'''.

*'''Not needing to self-censor.'''
Though the problem rarely reared its ugly head, there are certain things that you cannot talk about on Fandom, which prevent a writer from accurately conveying depicted events. Starting up independently places this responsibility in the hands of the web host, not of the website.

==So, how does this work now?==
It's simple. This was a brand new wiki that had a website-come-blog attached to it.

My first course of action was to make pages for every single pre-2002 episode and series of Top Gear, along with all its associated spin-offs, as there is currently no online resource that does so. Nik was supposed to work on covering ''[[Best Motoring]]'' and other similar Japanese programmes.

On the whole, we aimed to get detailed pages for every episode of 1977 - 2001 format Top Gear, early Fifth Gear, 2002 - 2015 format Top Gear, and The Grand Tour done in the first couple years. Eventually, we intended to move on to more car programmes and their associated publications (Motorweek/MotorTrend for instance). The end goal was to have a wiki that celebrated automotive journalism in all its forms, not just one or two programmes' worth. This was a big reason as to why I left Fandom above any other; the ship had just unfortunately sailed on making a general car show wiki a few years before I turned my attention to TGFW, and I did not want to fight the staff longer than I felt necessary.

Hopefully the Top Gear Wiki at Fandom will continue devolving into a lawless hellhole and people will learn to put quality over an established name. People would've begun visiting this wiki of their own accord (which barely happened), and it would've naturally grown and expanded over time - which again, never happened. This, I feel, was a valuable lesson in humility to those I have mentioned in a negative light. Don't push people around who have no time for your bullshit.

==Any last words?==
Aside from what I've already iterated, the very existence of this wiki was 90% down to Fandom's administration and intended path. I will '''not''' be coming back. Any other projects of mine will also be transferred to the same host in due time as well, which never happened.

On the whole, Fandom more than had their fair share of chances. More than I should have allowed, in retrospect. The only people who have themselves to blame are those I have already mentioned, along with the rest of their ilk. I could now work on this wiki, in peace, with ''who'' I wanted, ''how'' I wanted, and without worrying about a single damn thing. And to be honest, I would have done this a lot sooner if I had the money.

It was a massive sigh of relief that I could wake up every morning knowing that this actually was '''my''' wiki, and that no-one could take it away from me. No-one could berate me in the face of my hard work, nor deride what I have built.

And as for Tupka, Fandyllic, CzechOut and all those other bottomfeeding wasters?

They have '''no power''' here, and they '''never will'''.

GearKnob

2025-03-29T23:03:35Z

AlexGRFan97:

'''GearKnob''' was the name of a website founded in February 2022, and hosts this Wiki.

==Name==
The name "GearKnob" is a compromise. It sounds odd because it was originally intended to be ''GearKnobs'', however, a firm representing [[Andy Wilman]] has owned<ref>[https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003113115 Intellectual Property Office - Gear Knobs]</ref> that particular name as a trademark since June 2015, and a game of legal Russian Roulette does not sound particularly appealing. Otherwise, the two-worded "Gear Knob" is in the English dictionary, and so should be safe from any legal challenges.

==History==
The following is a very abridged story concerning why the change to a whole new domain was not only necessary, but also inevitable from an informal, first person perspective. If you'd like to read a passive-aggressive tome of a diatribe, then read [[Main Page/Leaving Fandom]] for further information. (Warning: extensive yapping ahead)

===Top Gear Wiki on Fandom===
The [https://topgear.fandom.com Top Gear Wiki] had existed since [http://web.archive.org/web/20080803013954/http://topgear.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page 2008], and in its first decade of existence, the amount of activity on it rose and fell, particularly following Clarkson's 2015 fracas. In that time there were a lot of low quality, odd, and ill-fitting additions which took a lot of time to sort out and even by the beginning of 2020, were far from finished.

====Implementation of Wiki Specialists====
Though I'd enjoyed my time on the service for the first month or so, it was not to last. Wikia/Fandom implemented one of many controlling totalitarian-esque measures by basically stripping the owner of their right to decide what's best for their wiki, deferring it to one guy who had about 500 other wikis under his belt. All this really did was construct an extra wall between me and the sysops who added back in certain features. Eventually it got to a point where I'd contact my assigned specialist, wait a couple days for an answer to whatever request I asked of him, and get a predictable, yet nonetheless disappointing "no" from those he was in contact with. This got old fast.

====May 2020 Raid====
The final deciding factor for the move occurred in May 2020. A group of internet trolls, chiefly TheAldroid and NootOfRoses, for whatever mind-addled reason, decided to target the wiki because their 15-viewer stream was lacking in content.
Other than pointlessly dragging their name through the mud, what their lacklustre raid proved is that no-one really '''cared''' about the old wiki. The specialist ought to have noticed and mitigated it before I returned from my brief hiatus, but nothing happened. This made it plain that raids could happen at any time with zero means to negate them. This is particularly bad if you want your Wiki to become an accredited source of information.

===Financing and creation===
I had the idea for a breakaway Wiki since late 2019, but it could not happen until 2022 as I lacked the financial means to bring it online. With the release of my two-part documentary on ''Top Gear'', I was able to pay for hosting and achieve my goal 2 years behind schedule, but as they say, better late than never. Through sustained donations, you would help to keep this source of information online, but it doesn't matter anymore. The Wiki and the blog itself is abandoned, so you are better off donating to the Top Gear Complete Collection project, unless you want to support my work on videos.

==References==

Main Page

2025-03-29T22:55:34Z

AlexGRFan97:

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__
<table style="width:100%;background-color:#fcfcfc;border:1px solid #cccccc">
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<h1 style="font-size:100%;border:none;margin:0;padding:.1em;color:#000">
<div style="font-size:large;">'''Welcome to The [[GearKnob|GearKnob Wiki]]'''</div>
<div style="font-size:small;">Former home of [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles about automotive journalism programmes. Officially opened to the public on 25/09/2022, closed on 29/03/2025.</div>
</h1>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%; margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#FFDDDD;border:1px solid #EA8A8A">
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<td class="box_tgen" style="text-align:center;color:#000;font-size:90%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;">
<big>'''The GearKnob Wiki has been closed indefinitely. See below why. [https://tgcomplete.com Top Gear Complete Collection website]'''</big>
</td>
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</table>

<table style="width:100%; margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#F0F0FA;border:1px solid #8663A8">
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<td class="box_tgen" style="text-align:center;color:#000;font-size:90%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;">
'''Quick Links:''' [[Top Gear]] ''([[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|1977]], [[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|2002]])'' | [[The Grand Tour]] | [[Fifth Gear]] | [[Best Motoring]]
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<br>This Wiki [[Main Page/Mission Statement|aimed]] to be a '''complete''' resource for all things televisual and written in the world of cars.<br>

In order to classify for inclusion, the programme had to satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
*Present some form of journalistic automotive content in a serious and factual manner
*Feature road testing and reviews of then-new vehicles
*Air on television or on a major streaming service
*Have a direct lineage to the ''[[Top Gear]]'' concept created by [[Derek Smith]] (i.e. ''[[Fifth Gear]]'', ''[[Panic Mechanics]]'', ''[[The Grand Tour]]'') - this automatically '''overruled''' any other rule
*Accompany a magazine or other regular publication (i.e. ''[[Hot Version]]'', ''[[Motorweek_(American_TV_series)|Motorweek]]'')

Programmes couldn't:
*Be exclusively satirical or farcical in nature
*Be internet-exclusive (otherwise this Wiki would've been flooded with poorly-made, mass-produced vlogs, but it doesn't matter anymore)
*Be exclusively focused on the re-building, restoration, or modification of cars (e.g. ''Car SOS'', ''Wheeler Dealers'', ''Pimp My Ride'' etc.)
*Be exclusively focused on the purchase and sale of classic cars (e.g. ''Chasing Classic Cars'', ''Bangers & Cash'' etc.)
*Be exclusively focused on motorsport unless the show was a child program of ''[[Top Gear]]'' or a related programme (i.e. ''[[Rally Report]]'', ''[[Top Gear Motorsport]]'', Grand Prix reports hosted on ''[[Wheelbase]]'' etc.)
*Originate outside Europe, Russia, North America, Brazil, East Asia (Japan, Korea etc.) or Australia, otherwise there would've been hundreds of low-budget, likely lost automotive programs this Wiki would have to list, but again, it doesn't matter anymore.

Don't bother looking at the [[Main Page/Welcome|rules]] before submitting an application for an account, because account creation doesn't work. But hey, at least it exists for all to view when it was developed in 2022 and swiftly forgotten.

'''The GearKnob Wiki has been closed until further notice on the 29th of March 2025 due to abandonment from the original creator and lack of interest from fans to help document programmes on the Wiki.'''

== Before you navigate the Wiki... ==
For the viewers out there, check out the [https://tgcomplete.com Top Gear Complete Collection V3] website, because unlike this one, it works, looks better and will have Top Gear documented. Currently available with all of the infax (+ additions since).

For anything non-Top Gear, check out [https://discord.gg/Rp2aAK2MaU Revamped Car Shows Discord server], where you can find preservation status and active progress on preserving lost car shows (and motoring-related media, such as ''Police, Camera, Action!'' for example).

Even though this Wiki makes no purpose anymore, other than to stay as an archive of what was supposed to be done in 2022, we shouldn't forget about the [https://www.youtube.com/@gearknobofficial Gearknob Official] channel, providing very-high detailed documentaries on the world of Top Gear.

<table style="width:100%;background-color:#F0F0FA;border:1px solid #8663A8">
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center;color:#000;padding:.1em;font-size:90%;margin: 0;">'''[https://www.topgear.com Top Gear Official Website]'''
</tr>
</table>

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<td style="text-align:center;color:#000;padding:.1em;font-size:90%;margin: 0;">'''[https://www.tgcomplete.com Top Gear Complete Collection V3 Official Website]'''
</tr>
</table>
[[Category:Main Page]]

Main Page

2025-03-29T22:53:31Z

AlexGRFan97: Final edit. https://tgcomplete.com

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__
<table style="width:100%;background-color:#fcfcfc;border:1px solid #cccccc">
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<td style="text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;color:#000">
<h1 style="font-size:100%;border:none;margin:0;padding:.1em;color:#000">
<div style="font-size:large;">'''Welcome to The [[GearKnob|GearKnob Wiki]]'''</div>
<div style="font-size:small;">Former home of [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles about automotive journalism programmes. Officially opened to the public on 25/09/2022, closed on 29/03/2025.</div>
</h1>
</td>
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</table>

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<td class="box_tgen" style="text-align:center;color:#000;font-size:90%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;">
<big>'''The GearKnob Wiki has been closed indefinitely. See below why. [https://tgcomplete.com Top Gear Complete Collection website]'''</big>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%; margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#F0F0FA;border:1px solid #8663A8">
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<td class="box_tgen" style="text-align:center;color:#000;font-size:90%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;">
'''Quick Links:''' [[Top Gear]] ''([[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|1977]], [[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|2002]])'' | [[The Grand Tour]] | [[Fifth Gear]] | [[Best Motoring]]
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<br>This Wiki [[Main Page/Mission Statement|aimed]] to be a '''complete''' resource for all things televisual and written in the world of cars.<br>

In order to classify for inclusion, the programme had to satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
*Present some form of journalistic automotive content in a serious and factual manner
*Feature road testing and reviews of then-new vehicles
*Air on television or on a major streaming service
*Have a direct lineage to the ''[[Top Gear]]'' concept created by [[Derek Smith]] (i.e. ''[[Fifth Gear]]'', ''[[Panic Mechanics]]'', ''[[The Grand Tour]]'') - this automatically '''overruled''' any other rule
*Accompany a magazine or other regular publication (i.e. ''[[Hot Version]]'', ''[[Motorweek_(American_TV_series)|Motorweek]]'')

Programmes couldn't:
*Be exclusively satirical or farcical in nature
*Be internet-exclusive (otherwise this Wiki would've been flooded with poorly-made, mass-produced vlogs, but it doesn't matter anymore)
*Be exclusively focused on the re-building, restoration, or modification of cars (e.g. ''Car SOS'', ''Wheeler Dealers'', ''Pimp My Ride'' etc.)
*Be exclusively focused on the purchase and sale of classic cars (e.g. ''Chasing Classic Cars'', ''Bangers & Cash'' etc.)
*Be exclusively focused on motorsport unless the show was a child program of ''[[Top Gear]]'' or a related programme (i.e. ''[[Rally Report]]'', ''[[Top Gear Motorsport]]'', Grand Prix reports hosted on ''[[Wheelbase]]'' etc.)
*Originate outside Europe, Russia, North America, Brazil, East Asia (Japan, Korea etc.) or Australia, otherwise there would've been hundreds of low-budget, likely lost automotive programs this Wiki would have to list, but again, it doesn't matter anymore.

Don't bother looking at the [[Main Page/Welcome|rules]] before submitting an application for an account, because account creation doesn't work. But hey, at least it exists for all to view when it was developed in 2022 and swiftly forgotten.

'''The GearKnob Wiki has been closed until further notice on the 29th of March 2025 due to abandonment from the original creator and lack of interest from fans to help document programmes on the Wiki.'''

== Before you navigate the Wiki... ==
For the viewers out there, check out the [https://tgcomplete.com Top Gear Complete Collection V3] website, because unlike this one, it works, looks better and will have Top Gear documented. Currently available with all of the infax (+ additions since).

For anything non-Top Gear, check out [https://discord.gg/Rp2aAK2MaU Revamped Car Shows Discord server], where you can find preservation status and active progress on preserving lost car shows (and motoring-related media, such as ''Police, Camera, Action!'' for example).

Even though this Wiki makes no purpose anymore, other than to stay as an archive of what was supposed to be done in 2022, we shouldn't forget about the [https://www.youtube.com/@gearknobofficial Gearknob Official] channel, providing very-high detailed documentaries on the world of Top Gear.

<table style="width:100%;background-color:#F0F0FA;border:1px solid #8663A8">
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<td style="text-align:center;color:#000;padding:.1em;font-size:90%;margin: 0;">'''[https://www.topgear.com Top Gear Official Website]'''
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%;">
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<td style="text-align:left;">Leave suggestions for this page [[Talk:Main Page|here]].</td>
<td style="text-align:right;" class="plainlinks">[{{fullurle:{{PAGENAME}}|action=purge}} Refresh] this page.</td>
</tr>
</table>
[[Category:Main Page]]

Main Page/Mission Statement

2025-03-29T22:35:23Z

AlexGRFan97:

All around the internet, there are concise, insanely-detailed resources for just about any type of media you can think of, likewise representing just about every media franchise you can think of. Passionate fans breaking down every single molecule of their chosen franchise down to its base components, so that the layperson has a resource to get reliable facts from rather than hearsay.

But for ''Top Gear'', this has never been the case. There are no websites that allow you to go through, episode by episode, and list everything you could possibly want to know about them from an encyclopedic perspective. Granted, there are ''some'' that tell you from a more formal point-of-view, and of course Wikipedia gives the basic facts, but there is otherwise '''nothing'''. There certainly isn't any online resource available for the pre-2002 version of the show. Until 2020, there wasn't even an episode guide available. Though the show did considerably change in tone between 2001 and 2002, it is not something that should ever be omitted.

Top Gear Wiki? Nope. Some pages are/were more fleshed out than others, but it was never even close to being finished and it likely never would have been under [[Main Page/Leaving Fandom|Fandom's godawful leadership]].

What the ''GearKnob'' Wiki set out to do (at the time) is to document '''every single episode''' of Top Gear from its 1977 inception through to December 2022, incorporating each and every little facet that accompanied it along the way. Wheelbase. Fifth Gear. The Grand Tour. The Top Gear Magazine, and all its foreign variants. Every single car. Every single star. Every single inch of tar. Though this Wiki launched with a mere handful of articles, by the time our work was supposed to be finished, it would've housed tens of thousands of pages worth of content on everything to do with automotive journalism and its related media.

Why?

Because fans of ''Top Gear'' and its general sphere of influence deserve a well-developed internet resource that accurately documents ''Top Gear'' without the egos that have plagued Fandom for many years.

==Aims (to be added to in the future)==
*The first and main aim of the ''GearKnob'' Wiki was to feature pages on all 180 or so episodes of the 2002 format of ''Top Gear''. Each of these pages were supposed to feature an in-depth look into each episode, the production that went behind them, and all the little idiosyncracies they might've possessed.
*The second, which was likely be finished first (but didn't), was to feature pages on the 1977 format of ''Top Gear'', which no online resource currently documents.
*After that secondary shows were supposed to come, such as spin-offs and spiritual successors like ''Fifth Gear'' and ''The Grand Tour''.
*Meanwhile, Nik was supposed to primarily help with Japanese programming and magazines, such as ''Best Motoring'' and ''Hot Version'', among many others.
*Over a long period of time, this Wiki was supposed to continually grow to accommodate more and more shows, so that it became a general home for car journalism programmes, but it never happened.

Main Page

2025-03-29T22:13:32Z

AlexGRFan97:

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__
<table style="width:100%;background-color:#fcfcfc;border:1px solid #cccccc">
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;color:#000">
<h1 style="font-size:100%;border:none;margin:0;padding:.1em;color:#000">
<div style="font-size:large;">'''Welcome to The [[GearKnob|GearKnob Wiki]]'''</div>
<div style="font-size:small;">Former home of [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles about automotive journalism programmes. Officially opened to the public on 25/09/2022, closed on 29/03/2025.</div>
</h1>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%; margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#FFDDDD;border:1px solid #EA8A8A">
<tr>
<td class="box_tgen" style="text-align:center;color:#000;font-size:90%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;">
<big>'''The GearKnob Wiki has been closed indefinitely. See below why. [https://tgcomplete.com Top Gear Complete Collection website]'''</big>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%; margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#F0F0FA;border:1px solid #8663A8">
<tr>
<td class="box_tgen" style="text-align:center;color:#000;font-size:90%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;">
'''Quick Links:''' [[Top Gear]] ''([[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|1977]], [[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|2002]])'' | [[The Grand Tour]] | [[Fifth Gear]] | [[Best Motoring]]
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<br>This Wiki [[Main Page/Mission Statement|aimed]] to be a '''complete''' resource for all things televisual and written in the world of cars.<br>

In order to classify for inclusion, the programme had to satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
*Present some form of journalistic automotive content in a serious and factual manner
*Feature road testing and reviews of then-new vehicles
*Air on television or on a major streaming service
*Have a direct lineage to the ''[[Top Gear]]'' concept created by [[Derek Smith]] (i.e. ''[[Fifth Gear]]'', ''[[Panic Mechanics]]'', ''[[The Grand Tour]]'') - this automatically '''overruled''' any other rule
*Accompany a magazine or other regular publication (i.e. ''[[Hot Version]]'', ''[[Motorweek_(American_TV_series)|Motorweek]]'')

Programmes couldn't:
*Be exclusively satirical or farcical in nature
*Be internet-exclusive (otherwise this Wiki would've been flooded with poorly-made, mass-produced vlogs, but it doesn't matter anymore)
*Be exclusively focused on the re-building, restoration, or modification of cars (e.g. ''Car SOS'', ''Wheeler Dealers'', ''Pimp My Ride'' etc.)
*Be exclusively focused on the purchase and sale of classic cars (e.g. ''Chasing Classic Cars'', ''Bangers & Cash'' etc.)
*Be exclusively focused on motorsport unless the show was a child program of ''[[Top Gear]]'' or a related programme (i.e. ''[[Rally Report]]'', ''[[Top Gear Motorsport]]'', Grand Prix reports hosted on ''[[Wheelbase]]'' etc.)
*Originate outside Europe, Russia, North America, Brazil, East Asia (Japan, Korea etc.) or Australia, otherwise there would've been hundreds of low-budget, likely lost automotive programs this Wiki would have to list, but again, it doesn't matter anymore.<br>

Don't bother looking at the [[Main Page/Welcome|rules]] before submitting an application for an account, because account creation doesn't work. But hey, at least it exists for all to view when it was developed in 2022 and swiftly forgotten.

For the viewers out there, check out the [https://tgcomplete.com Top Gear Complete Collection V3] website, because unlike this one, it works, looks better and will have Top Gear documented.

For anything non-Top Gear, check out [https://discord.gg/Rp2aAK2MaU Revamped Car Shows Discord server], where you can find preservation status and active progress on preserving lost car shows (and motoring-related media, such as ''Police, Camera, Action!'' for example).<br><br>

<table style="width:100%;background-color:#F0F0FA;border:1px solid #8663A8">
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center;color:#000;padding:.1em;font-size:90%;margin: 0;">'''[https://www.topgear.com Top Gear Official Website]'''
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%;">
<tr>
<td style="text-align:left;">Leave suggestions for this page [[Talk:Main Page|here]].</td>
<td style="text-align:right;" class="plainlinks">[{{fullurle:{{PAGENAME}}|action=purge}} Refresh] this page.</td>
</tr>
</table>
[[Category:Main Page]]

Main Page

2025-03-29T22:12:38Z

AlexGRFan97: https://tgcomplete.com

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__
<table style="width:100%;background-color:#fcfcfc;border:1px solid #cccccc">
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;color:#000">
<h1 style="font-size:100%;border:none;margin:0;padding:.1em;color:#000">
<div style="font-size:large;">'''Welcome to The [[GearKnob|GearKnob Wiki]]'''</div>
<div style="font-size:small;">Home of [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles about automotive journalism programmes and counting. Officially opened to the public on 25/09/2022.</div>
</h1>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%; margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#FFDDDD;border:1px solid #EA8A8A">
<tr>
<td class="box_tgen" style="text-align:center;color:#000;font-size:90%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;">
<big>'''The GearKnob Wiki has been closed indefinitely. See below why. [https://tgcomplete.com Top Gear Complete Collection website]'''</big>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%; margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#F0F0FA;border:1px solid #8663A8">
<tr>
<td class="box_tgen" style="text-align:center;color:#000;font-size:90%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;">
'''Quick Links:''' [[Top Gear]] ''([[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|1977]], [[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|2002]])'' | [[The Grand Tour]] | [[Fifth Gear]] | [[Best Motoring]]
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<br>This Wiki [[Main Page/Mission Statement|aimed]] to be a '''complete''' resource for all things televisual and written in the world of cars.<br>

In order to classify for inclusion, the programme had to satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
*Present some form of journalistic automotive content in a serious and factual manner
*Feature road testing and reviews of then-new vehicles
*Air on television or on a major streaming service
*Have a direct lineage to the ''[[Top Gear]]'' concept created by [[Derek Smith]] (i.e. ''[[Fifth Gear]]'', ''[[Panic Mechanics]]'', ''[[The Grand Tour]]'') - this automatically '''overruled''' any other rule
*Accompany a magazine or other regular publication (i.e. ''[[Hot Version]]'', ''[[Motorweek_(American_TV_series)|Motorweek]]'')

Programmes couldn't:
*Be exclusively satirical or farcical in nature
*Be internet-exclusive (otherwise this Wiki would've been flooded with poorly-made, mass-produced vlogs, but it doesn't matter anymore)
*Be exclusively focused on the re-building, restoration, or modification of cars (e.g. ''Car SOS'', ''Wheeler Dealers'', ''Pimp My Ride'' etc.)
*Be exclusively focused on the purchase and sale of classic cars (e.g. ''Chasing Classic Cars'', ''Bangers & Cash'' etc.)
*Be exclusively focused on motorsport unless the show was a child program of ''[[Top Gear]]'' or a related programme (i.e. ''[[Rally Report]]'', ''[[Top Gear Motorsport]]'', Grand Prix reports hosted on ''[[Wheelbase]]'' etc.)
*Originate outside Europe, Russia, North America, Brazil, East Asia (Japan, Korea etc.) or Australia, otherwise there would've been hundreds of low-budget, likely lost automotive programs this Wiki would have to list, but again, it doesn't matter anymore.<br>

Don't bother looking at the [[Main Page/Welcome|rules]] before submitting an application for an account, because account creation doesn't work. But hey, at least it exists for all to view when it was developed in 2022 and swiftly forgotten.

For the viewers out there, check out the [https://tgcomplete.com Top Gear Complete Collection V3] website, because unlike this one, it works, looks better and will have Top Gear documented.

For anything non-Top Gear, check out [https://discord.gg/Rp2aAK2MaU Revamped Car Shows Discord server], where you can find preservation status and active progress on preserving lost car shows (and motoring-related media, such as ''Police, Camera, Action!'' for example).<br><br>

<table style="width:100%;background-color:#F0F0FA;border:1px solid #8663A8">
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center;color:#000;padding:.1em;font-size:90%;margin: 0;">'''[https://www.topgear.com Top Gear Official Website]'''
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%;">
<tr>
<td style="text-align:left;">Leave suggestions for this page [[Talk:Main Page|here]].</td>
<td style="text-align:right;" class="plainlinks">[{{fullurle:{{PAGENAME}}|action=purge}} Refresh] this page.</td>
</tr>
</table>
[[Category:Main Page]]

User talk:Will

2025-03-29T21:48:06Z

AlexGRFan97: AlexGRFan97 moved page User talk:Williamg209 to User talk:Will without leaving a redirect: Automatically moved page while renaming the user "Williamg209" to "Will"

'''Welcome to ''GearKnob Wiki''!'''
We hope you will contribute much and well.
You will probably want to read the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents help pages].
Again, welcome and have fun! [[User:AlexGRFan97|AlexGRFan97]] ([[User talk:AlexGRFan97|talk]]) 22:34, 29 March 2025 (CET)

User:Will

2025-03-29T21:48:05Z

AlexGRFan97: AlexGRFan97 moved page User:Williamg209 to User:Will without leaving a redirect: Automatically moved page while renaming the user "Williamg209" to "Will"

williamg209 williamg209 williamg209 williamg209 williamg209 williamg209

User talk:Will

2025-03-29T21:34:54Z

AlexGRFan97: Welcome!

User:Will

2025-03-29T21:34:54Z

AlexGRFan97: Creating user page for new user.

williamg209 williamg209 williamg209 williamg209 williamg209 williamg209

User talk:Revolume

2025-03-29T19:54:10Z

AlexGRFan97: Welcome!

User:Revolume

2025-03-29T19:54:10Z

AlexGRFan97: Creating user page for new user.

Lost media researcher. I research lost car shows, such as Fifth Gear, Driven, Pulling Power etc.

Top Gear

2025-03-29T19:28:47Z

AlexGRFan97: Changes

{{Infobox Show
|image =<tabs plain style="margin:0;padding:0;" container="text-align:center;">
<tab name="Default">
[[File:TG Logo 2002.JPG|300px]]
The ''Top Gear'' logo as used from 2002 until early 2013.
</tab>
<tab name="1977">
[[File:TG Logo 1977.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo used in 1977.
</tab>
<tab name="1983">
[[File:TG Logo 1983.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used from 1983 until 1985.
</tab>
<tab name="1994">
[[File:TG Logo 1994.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used from 1993 until 2002.
</tab>
<tab name="2013">
[[File:TG Logo 2013.jpg|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used starting from 2013.
</tab>
</tabs>
|year=1977
|epcount=869
|origin=British
|airstatus=Ongoing}}
''For a particular version of ''Top Gear'', please see [[Top Gear (disambiguation)]].''

'''''Top Gear''''' is the name of an automotive-themed intellectual property created by [[Derek Smith]] in 1977. It has been adapted to a television format multiple times in its native [[United Kingdom]], in addition to subsequent international versions that were made once the programme had proven itself a success in the early 2000s. A successful [[Top Gear Magazine/UK|magazine]] of the same name was established in 1993, subsequently diversifying into foreign markets, and a [[Top Gear Live|live show]] was created in 1996 and ran twice, before being [[MPH Live|revived]] in 2003, with ''Top Gear'' (and later ''[[Fifth Gear]]'') host [[Tiff Needell]] alongside [[Jeremy Clarkson]] transforming the basic format into a smaller-scale version that could be adapted for the stage.

==Series overview==
As of February 2022, [[Top Gear/Episodes|870 episodes]] of ''Top Gear'' have aired across 76 series. Traditionally, the first 550 of these are considered distinct from the latter 320, but further distinctions do exist.

==Presenters==
Since 1977, the British version of ''Top Gear'' has had 12 main hosts, who have served 13 tenures in total:
*[[Angela Rippon]]: 22nd April, 1977 - 3rd July, 1979
*[[Noel Edmonds]]: 4th July, 1979 - 21st October, 1980
*[[Judith Jackson]]: 22nd October, 1980 - 9th June, 1981
*[[William Woollard]]: 10th June, 1981 - 2nd May, 1991
*[[Jeremy Clarkson]] (first): 3rd May, 1991 - 22nd January, 1999
*[[Index.php?title=Quentin Willson|Quentin Willson]]: 18th February 1999 - 25th May 2000
*[[Jason Barlow]]: 7th September 2000 - 21st March, 2002
*Jeremy Clarkson (second): 22nd March, 2002 - 10th March, 2015
*[[Richard Hammond]]: 11th March, 2015 - 15th June, 2015 (shared duty with [[James May]])
*James May: 11th March, 2015 - 15th June, 2015; acting host until 7th February, 2016
*[[Chris Evans]]: 16th June, 2015 - 4th July, 2016
*[[Matt LeBlanc]]: 5th July, 2016 - 17th March, 2019
*[[Chris Harris]]: 18th March, 2019 - December 2022

The longest serving main host by a considerable margin is Jeremy Clarkson, serving a combined tenure of 20 years and 7 months, during which he would present over 400 episodes of ''Top Gear''. The shortest serving main host is Richard Hammond, serving a combined tenure (if it can be even called one) of 3 months and 4 days.

===Timeline of presenters===
Placeholder.

==Page roadmap==
To be a complete summary of the ''Top Gear'' intellectual property, the following is to be added to this page, which is otherwise very much a work-in-progress at this time:
* International television adaptations
* Expansion into other franchises (e.g. Motorsport, Waterworld etc.)
* Merchandising and non-audiovisual media (i.e. games, trading cards etc.)

==Notes==

Top Gear

2025-03-16T20:27:36Z

AlexGRFan97:

{{Infobox Show
|image =<tabs plain style="margin:0;padding:0;" container="text-align:center;">
<tab name="Default">
[[File:TG Logo 2002.JPG|300px]]
The ''Top Gear'' logo as used from 2002 until early 2013.
</tab>
<tab name="1977">
[[File:TG Logo 1977.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo used in 1977.
</tab>
<tab name="1983">
[[File:TG Logo 1983.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used from 1983 until 1985.
</tab>
<tab name="1994">
[[File:TG Logo 1994.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used from 1993 until 2002.
</tab>
<tab name="2013">
[[File:TG Logo 2013.jpg|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used starting from 2013.
</tab>
</tabs>
|year=1977
|epcount=869
|origin=British
|airstatus=Ongoing}}
''For a particular version of ''Top Gear'', please see [[Top Gear (disambiguation)]].''

'''''Top Gear''''' is the name of an automotive-themed intellectual property created by [[Derek Smith]] in 1977. It has been adapted to a television format multiple times in its native [[United Kingdom]], in addition to subsequent international versions that were made once the programme had proven itself a success in the early 2000s. A successful [[Top Gear Magazine/UK|magazine]] of the same name was established in 1993, subsequently diversifying into foreign markets, and a [[Top Gear Live|live show]] was created in 1996 and ran twice, before being [[MPH Live|revived]] in 2003, with ''Top Gear'' (and later ''[[Fifth Gear]]'') host [[Tiff Needell]] alongside [[Jeremy Clarkson]] transforming the basic format into a smaller-scale version that could be adapted for the stage.

==Series overview==
As of February 2022, [[Top Gear/Episodes|870 episodes]] of ''Top Gear'' have aired across 76 series. Traditionally, the first 550 of these are considered distinct from the latter 320, but further distinctions do exist.

==Presenters==
Since 1977, the British version of ''Top Gear'' has had 12 main hosts, who have served 13 tenures in total:
*[[Angela Rippon]]: 22nd April, 1977 - 3rd July, 1979
*[[Noel Edmonds]]: 4th July, 1979 - 21st October, 1980
*[[Judith Jackson]]: 22nd October, 1980 - 9th June, 1981
*[[William Woollard]]: 10th June, 1981 - 2nd May, 1991
*[[Jeremy Clarkson]] (first): 3rd May, 1991 - 22nd January, 1999
*[[Index.php?title=Quentin Willson|Quentin Willson]]: 18th February 1999 - 25th May 2000
*[[Jason Barlow]]: 7th September 2000 - 21st March, 2002
*Jeremy Clarkson (second): 22nd March, 2002 - 10th March, 2015
*[[Richard Hammond]]: 11th March, 2015 - 15th June, 2015 (shared duty with [[James May]])
*James May: 11th March, 2015 - 15th June, 2015; acting host until 7th February, 2016
*[[Chris Evans]]: 16th June, 2015 - 4th July, 2016
*[[Matt LeBlanc]]: 5th July, 2016 - 17th March, 2019
*[[Chris Harris]]: 18th March, 2019 - December 2023

The longest serving main host by a considerable margin is Jeremy Clarkson, serving a combined tenure of 20 years and 7 months, during which he would present over 400 episodes of ''Top Gear''. The shortest serving main host is Richard Hammond, serving a combined tenure (if it can be even called one) of 3 months and 4 days.

===Timeline of presenters===
Placeholder.

==Page roadmap==
To be a complete summary of the ''Top Gear'' intellectual property, the following is to be added to this page, which is otherwise very much a work-in-progress at this time:
* International television adaptations
* Expansion into other franchises (e.g. Motorsport, Waterworld etc.)
* Merchandising and non-audiovisual media (i.e. games, trading cards etc.)

==Notes==

Top Gear

2025-03-16T20:20:39Z

AlexGRFan97: Minor corrections.

{{Infobox Show
|image =<tabs plain style="margin:0;padding:0;" container="text-align:center;">
<tab name="Default">
[[File:TG Logo 2002.JPG|300px]]
The ''Top Gear'' logo as used from 2002 until early 2013.
</tab>
<tab name="1977">
[[File:TG Logo 1977.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo used in 1977.
</tab>
<tab name="1983">
[[File:TG Logo 1983.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used from 1983 until 1985.
</tab>
<tab name="1994">
[[File:TG Logo 1994.JPG|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used from 1993 until 2002.
</tab>
<tab name="2013">
[[File:TG Logo 2013.jpg|300px]]
Top Gear logo as used starting from 2013.
</tab>
</tabs>
|year=1977
|epcount=869
|origin=British
|airstatus=Ongoing}}
''For a particular version of ''Top Gear'', please see [[Top Gear (disambiguation)]].''

'''''Top Gear''''' is the name of an automotive-themed intellectual property created by [[Derek Smith]] in 1977. It has been adapted to a television format multiple times in its native [[United Kingdom]], in addition to subsequent international versions that were made once the programme had proven itself a success in the early 2000s. A successful [[Top Gear Magazine/UK|magazine]] of the same name was established in 1993, subsequently diversifying into foreign markets, and a [[Top Gear Live|live show]] was created in 1996 and ran twice, before being [[MPH Live|revived]] in 2003, with ''Top Gear'' (and later ''[[Fifth Gear]]'') host [[Tiff Needell]] alongside [[Jeremy Clarkson]] transforming the basic format into a smaller-scale version that could be adapted for the stage.

==Series overview==
As of February 2022, [[Top Gear/Episodes|870 episodes]] of ''Top Gear'' have aired across 76 series. Traditionally, the first 550 of these are considered distinct from the latter 320, but further distinctions do exist.

==Presenters==
Since 1977, the British version of ''Top Gear'' has had 12 main hosts, who have served 13 tenures in total:
*[[Angela Rippon]]: 22nd April, 1977 - 3rd July, 1979
*[[Noel Edmonds]]: 4th July, 1979 - 21st October, 1980
*[[Judith Jackson]]: 22nd October, 1980 - 9th June, 1981
*[[William Woollard]]: 10th June, 1981 - 2nd May, 1991
*[[Jeremy Clarkson]] (first): 3rd May, 1991 - 22nd January, 1999
*[[Index.php?title=Quentin Willson|Quentin Willson]]: 18th February 1999 - 25th May 2000
*[[Jason Barlow]]: 7th September 2000 - 21st March, 2002
*Jeremy Clarkson (second): 22nd March, 2002 - 10th March, 2015
*[[Richard Hammond]]: 11th March, 2015 - 15th June, 2015 (shared duty with [[James May]])
*James May: 11th March, 2015 - 15th June, 2015; acting host until 7th February, 2016
*[[Chris Evans]]: 16th June, 2015 - 4th July, 2016
*[[Matt LeBlanc]]: 5th July, 2016 - 17th March, 2019
*[[Chris Harris]]: 18th March, 2019 - present

The longest serving main host by a considerable margin is Jeremy Clarkson, serving a combined tenure of 20 years and 7 months, during which he would present over 400 episodes of ''Top Gear''. The shortest serving main host, by a factor of mere days, is Jason Barlow, who served as interim main host from Tiff Needell's departure in December 2001 through to Clarkson's re-appointment as lead host in March 2002, presenting just [[Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 45/2002 Awards Special|one episode]] in February 2002 before being vetoed as a host.

===Timeline of presenters===
Placeholder.

==Page roadmap==
To be a complete summary of the ''Top Gear'' intellectual property, the following is to be added to this page, which is otherwise very much a work-in-progress at this time:
* International television adaptations
* Expansion into other franchises (e.g. Motorsport, Waterworld etc.)
* Merchandising and non-audiovisual media (i.e. games, trading cards etc.)

==Notes==

Main Page/Welcome

2024-07-04T21:48:54Z

AlexGRFan97: Protected "Main Page/Welcome" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

Take your time to get acquainted with the basic rules.

*'''There is a hierarchy here. Like that or lump it.'''
Fandom prides itself on the notion that "wikis are not owned by their founders, nor does the founder's opinion carry more weight in disagreements than any other user's opinion". This does '''not''' fly here. Myself and RacingFreak/Nik hold the most weight in terms of rank and opinion, and further hierarchies will be assigned based on the number of valuable contributions a user makes. This is a meritocracy, and without a clear-cut leader, things will fall into chaos and anarchy fairly quickly.

*'''Don't be afraid to speak up.'''
That said, if you feel the Wiki could be improved or changed in any way, be sure to use the [[Main Page/Talk|suggestions page]] to voice your ideas. If there's a consensus or the idea sounds really good, it will likely be implemented.

In terms of aesthetics, I do not really plan to update the wiki's appearance beyond the default MW layout. Most of what I've seen is just horridly generic Semantic Web mundanity that the usual suspects (i.e. Fandom) are trying to shove down everyone's throats. I like my web pages to have a certain "look" to them, as well as appear more predictable and encyclopedic.

*'''Please familiarise yourself with templates.'''
Take a look at [[Top Gear (2002 TV series)/Series 6/Episode 6|either]] of [[Lada Riva by Lotus|these]] pages. Note how they have a lot of categories, as well as infoboxes?

That's because they use templates. Every category is ''dynamically added'' through templates, that is to say '''automatically generated''' when the correct information is input. Please do not manually add categories to articles, or you will be warned. If the template interface looks intimidating to you, don't feel that way. It's literally a case of declaring a template with double curly braces; {{}} and then filling in the parameters before dividing them with vertical lines which you can obtain either by looking at the source of each template, or copying an instance of a template from another article and modifying the information where applicable.

There are two major benefits to templates; it massively reduces page size by transcluding (copying from one page unto another), and if there's a mistake or something that needs to be added, the template can be modified and then '''all''' instances of that template on the Wiki will be simultaneously updated.

Again, if this seems a little overwhelming, just remember that [[User:AlexGRFan97|someone]] went through a great deal of setting the website up, creating something from nothing, and the least you can do on your part is to memorise a few template formats.

*'''Image uploading is disabled to non-admins.'''
If you wish to see a picture on here, please use the correct Discord channel (once it is created) so they may be cleaned up, sourced correctly, and uploaded at the right time. This is to avoid a similar situation as last time where members would flood the Wiki with low-quality images, necessitating clean-up.

*'''Declare your pages in advance.'''
If you want to work on a page or two, then announce your intentions beforehand so that multiple people aren't working on the same thing. You can use [[Main Page/Requests|this page]] to "reserve" articles. From here you will have one week to write your article, else it is forfeited and someone else is allowed to write it. You can request as many pages as you want.

*'''Furthermore, work on pages in your userspace BEFORE putting them online.'''
This will allow me to review your page before it goes live, and make any necessary corrections/alterations. Use my [[User_talk:AlexGRFan97|talk page]] to draw my attention, and you can use this page for matters outside of the Wiki so long as it's tangentially Top Gear or automotive journalism-related. If I and/or RacingFreak are not available for whatever reason, upload pages without our blessing at your peril. If you become a trusted member, you may disregard this rule. For protected pages, if you would like to modify or improve one, discuss your ideas on the talk page first.

*'''All articles are to be written from the perspective of an indefinite point in the future UNLESS something is presently ongoing.'''
This prevents the need to continually update articles should something suddenly change (i.e. a car being taken out of production, a company going bankrupt etc.) and means an article only has to be written once. This basically means use "was/were" in '''99% of applications''' unless it's something that is happening right now, or due to happen imminently.

*'''Similarly, major changes occurring outside any of the shows on this Wiki (e.g. incapacitating injuries, cars being scrapped, name changes etc.) are NOT to be reported unless they occur during the span of a particular show.'''
It may sound callous, but on this wiki, the life of a television presenter or magazine author begins and ends with their involvement in the show or journal in which they worked for, and anything outside of that is irrelevant. [[Sabine Schmitz]] and [[Tom Boswell]]'s deaths for instance are only to be reported as they occurred ''during'' their tenures as presenter on the show and were otherwise expected to continue. Another example is if [[Jeremy Clarkson]] were to have changed his name to "Jennifer" in 2015/16 as per the original stipulation of his [[Holy Trinity Wager|wager]], the page would only refer to him as "Jennifer" when describing events following the name change, with all preceding events and the article title itself retaining the name "Jeremy", as that is the name he was most commonly known by for over 55 years.

*'''Once a page is finished, submit it to the [http://web.archive.org/ Wayback Machine] so that it may be preserved.'''
That way, if the website were to ever go down, it can be revived at any time simply by mirroring the pages back into a live form. Please make sure you enable outlinks as that allows it to capture more pages at once.

*'''This wiki operates on a primarily Anglo-centric perspective.'''
As most automotive programs are British (including the earliest known example, [[Wheelbase]]), the British dialect of English is to be used in most articles, along with British-market car names (i.e. Vauxhall over Opel) ''unless'' the car in question was never sold in the UK, or an import car was used instead. An example of this is the Dodge Viper, which despite being known as a Chrysler in the UK, mostly appeared in its American form throughout TV shows. American programmes or shows with significant American involvement (such as ''[[The Grand Tour]]'') are allowed to use American English vernacular and spelling variations such as "season" for instance.

*'''You are responsible for your account.'''
If the security of your account is ever compromised, whether by another individual or by a bot/script, it is your responsibility to report this so that I may disable it. Failure to do so will result in a presumption of malicious activity and will likely result in a ban.

*'''No plagiarism, please.'''
This basically means no copying from Wikipedia or from the obsolete Top Gear Wiki at Fandom. You have a brain, you have hands, write. '''Don't steal'''. Source each of your citations by using the <nowiki><ref></nowiki> feature.

Main Page/Welcome

2024-07-04T21:48:44Z

AlexGRFan97: No nazism please.

GearKnob Wiki:Notability

2024-07-04T21:20:14Z

AlexGRFan97: Protected "GearKnob Wiki:Notability" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

Much like Wikipedia, '''''GearKnob''''' practices a policy of notability to decide whether or not a given topic deserves an article. These are separated into tiers, with '''1''' being highest priority, and '''3''' usually being the lowest.

==Television shows==
Much of what can be included has already been mentioned on the [[Main_Page|main page]]. As a result, any television programme connected to the ''[[Top Gear]]'' intellectual property is an automatic '''Tier 1''' inclusion.

*'''Tier 2''' programmes are any other series unrelated to ''Top Gear'', but have a good majority or even entirety of their runs available for online streaming, such as ''[[Motorweek]]'', ''[[Best Motoring]]'' and ''[[Autofil]]''.
*'''Tier 3''' programmes are all other car-related series which have indeterminable or unknown runs, such as NBC Super Channel's ''[[Go (TV series)|Go]]'', Eurosport's ''[[Motors (TV series)|Motors]]'', and STV's ''[[Wheel Nuts]]''.

===Individual episodes===
*'''Tier 1''' episode articles are Unabridged pages for episodes of major television series which last significantly more than 30 minutes and can be indefinitely long.
*Programmes that last significantly more than 30 minutes get a '''Tier 2''' page, which splits non-essential information such as the soundtrack, featured cars, and trivia into separate sub-articles. Should be not much more than 20,000 bytes.
*Programmes that last up to or around the region of 30 minutes get a '''Tier 3''' page, that is to say, an Unabridged page by default, typically around 10 - 15,000 bytes in size.

==Personalities==
*'''Tier 1''' personalities are hosts for highly well-known television series or people who have otherwise contributed a lot to the world of automotive journalism, such as [[Jeremy Clarkson]], [[Tiff Needell]] and [[Keiichi Tsuchiya]].
*'''Tier 2''' personalities are major presenters for long-running television series regardless of notability and long-term lead editors on magazines, such as [[Carl-Ingemar Perstad]], [[Akihiko Nakaya]], and [[Charlie Turner]].
*'''Tier 3''' personalities are co-presenters for long-running television series regardless of notability. They should have at least 20 - 30 credits spread out over a minimum of 2 - 3 shows.
*'''Tier 4''' personalities are presenters who presented at least 5 episodes of a Tier 1 and/or Tier 2 TV show, crew members who worked on at least 15 - 20 episodes of a Tier 1 TV show, or crew members who worked on a majority of a Tier 2 programme's run.
*'''Tier 5''' personalities do not get their own article, but are instead included on list-based articles. These include presenters who presented fewer than 5 episodes of a Tier 1 TV show or crew members who worked on fewer than 15 episodes.

==Publications==
*'''Tier 1''' publications must have some connection to either the ''[[Peformance Car Magazine|Performance Car]]'' or ''[[Top Gear Magazine|Top Gear]]'' magazine lineages. This includes ''[[Evo (magazine)|evo]]'', as well as books related to the ''[[Top Gear]]'' TV programme.
*'''Tier 2''' publications are major international magazines with a fully documentable history, such as ''[[Autocar (magazine)|Autocar]]'', ''[[Car (magazine)|Car]]'', and ''[[Best Motoring (magazine)|Best Motoring]]''.
*'''Tier 3''' publications are newspapers or books which feature the minor involvement of a Tier 1 personality, or magazines which ran for at least 2 full years.

==Example pages==
*[[Fifth Gear/The Greatest Cars in The World Special]] - Example of a Tier 3 episode page.
*[[Tiff Needell]] - Example of a Tier 1 personality page.
*[[Chris Goffey]] - Example of a Tier 2 personality page.
*[[Jason Barlow]] - Example of a Tier 3 personality page.
*[[Elisa Portelli]] - Example of a Tier 4 personality page.

GearKnob

2024-07-04T20:47:16Z

AlexGRFan97: Protected "GearKnob" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

'''GearKnob''' is the name of a website founded in February 2022, and hosts this Wiki.

==Name==
The name "GearKnob" is a compromise. It sounds odd because it was originally intended to be ''GearKnobs'', however, a firm representing [[Andy Wilman]] has owned<ref>[https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003113115 Intellectual Property Office - Gear Knobs]</ref> that particular name as a trademark since June 2015, and a game of legal Russian Roulette does not sound particularly appealing. Otherwise, the two-worded "Gear Knob" is in the English dictionary, and so should be safe from any legal challenges.

==History==
The following is a very abridged story concerning why the change to a whole new domain was not only necessary, but also inevitable from an informal, first person perspective. If you'd like to read a passive-aggressive tome of a diatribe, then read [[Main Page/Leaving Fandom]] for further information.

===Top Gear Wiki on Fandom===
The [https://topgear.fandom.com Top Gear Wiki] had existed since [http://web.archive.org/web/20080803013954/http://topgear.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page 2008], and in its first decade of existence, the amount of activity on it rose and fell, particularly following Clarkson's 2015 fracas. In that time there were a lot of low quality, odd, and ill-fitting additions which took a lot of time to sort out and even by the beginning of 2020, were far from finished.

====Implementation of Wiki Specialists====
Though I'd enjoyed my time on the service for the first month or so, it was not to last. Wikia/Fandom implemented one of many controlling totalitarian-esque measures by basically stripping the owner of their right to decide what's best for their wiki, deferring it to one guy who had about 500 other wikis under his belt. All this really did was construct an extra wall between me and the sysops who added back in certain features. Eventually it got to a point where I'd contact my assigned specialist, wait a couple days for an answer to whatever request I asked of him, and get a predictable, yet nonetheless disappointing "no" from those he was in contact with. This got old fast.

====May 2020 Raid====
The final deciding factor for the move occurred in May 2020. A group of internet trolls, chiefly TheAldroid and NootOfRoses, for whatever mind-addled reason, decided to target the wiki because their 15-viewer stream was lacking in content.
Other than pointlessly dragging their name through the mud, what their lacklustre raid proved is that no-one really '''cared''' about the old wiki. The specialist ought to have noticed and mitigated it before I returned from my brief hiatus, but nothing happened. This made it plain that raids could happen at any time with zero means to negate them. This is particularly bad if you want your Wiki to become an accredited source of information.

===Financing and creation===
I had the idea for a breakaway Wiki since late 2019, but it could not happen until 2022 as I lacked the financial means to bring it online. With the release of my two-part documentary on ''Top Gear'', I was able to pay for hosting and achieve my goal 2 years behind schedule, but as they say, better late than never. Through sustained donations, you will help to keep this source of information online.

==References==

Main Page/Mission Statement

2024-07-04T20:45:00Z

AlexGRFan97: Protected "Main Page/Mission Statement" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

All around the internet, there are concise, insanely-detailed resources for just about any type of media you can think of, likewise representing just about every media franchise you can think of. Passionate fans breaking down every single molecule of their chosen franchise down to its base components, so that the layperson has a resource to get reliable facts from rather than hearsay.

But for ''Top Gear'', this has never been the case. There are no websites that allow you to go through, episode by episode, and list everything you could possibly want to know about them from an encyclopedic perspective. Granted, there are ''some'' that tell you from a more formal point-of-view, and of course Wikipedia gives the basic facts, but there is otherwise '''nothing'''. There certainly isn't any online resource available for the pre-2002 version of the show. Until 2020, there wasn't even an episode guide available. Though the show did considerably change in tone between 2001 and 2002, it is not something that should ever be omitted.

Top Gear Wiki? Nope. Some pages are/were more fleshed out than others, but it was never even close to being finished and it likely never would have been under [[Main Page/Leaving Fandom|Fandom's godawful leadership]].

What the ''GearKnob'' Wiki sets out to do is to document '''every single episode''' of Top Gear from its 1977 inception through to the present, incorporating each and every little facet that accompanied it along the way. Wheelbase. Fifth Gear. The Grand Tour. The Top Gear Magazine, and all its foreign variants. Every single car. Every single star. Every single inch of tar. Though this Wiki launches with a mere handful of articles, by the time our work is finished, it will house tens of thousands of pages worth of content on everything to do with automotive journalism and its related media.

Why?

Because fans of ''Top Gear'' and its general sphere of influence deserve a well-developed internet resource that accurately documents ''Top Gear'' without the egos that have plagued Fandom for many years.

==Aims (to be added to in the future)==
*The first and main aim of the ''GearKnob'' Wiki is to feature pages on all 180 or so episodes of the 2002 format of ''Top Gear''. These pages will each feature an in-depth look into each episode, the production that went behind them, and all the little idiosyncracies they might possess.
*The second, which will likely be finished first, is to then feature pages on the 1977 format of ''Top Gear'', which no online resource currently documents.
*After that will come secondary shows, such as spin-offs and spiritual successors like ''Fifth Gear'' and ''The Grand Tour''.
*Meanwhile, Nik will primarily help with Japanese programming and magazines, such as ''Best Motoring'' and ''Hot Version'', among many others.
*Over a long period of time, this Wiki will continually grow to accommodate more and more shows, so that it becomes a general home for car journalism programmes.

Main Page

2024-07-04T20:44:36Z

AlexGRFan97: Protected "Main Page" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__
<table style="width:100%;background-color:#fcfcfc;border:1px solid #cccccc">
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<td style="text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;color:#000">
<h1 style="font-size:100%;border:none;margin:0;padding:.1em;color:#000">
<div style="font-size:large;">'''Welcome to The [[GearKnob|GearKnob Wiki]]'''</div>
<div style="font-size:small;">Home of [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles about automotive journalism programmes and counting. Officially opened to the public on 25/09/2022.</div>
</h1>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%; margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#FFDDDD;border:1px solid #EA8A8A">
<tr>
<td class="box_tgen" style="text-align:center;color:#000;font-size:90%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;">
<big>'''To help continue this site's quest in documenting ''Top Gear'' and other similar topics, please consider donating via the [https://ko-fi.com/alextgrf62537 Ko-Fi] and/or [https://www.patreon.com/user?u=67242317 Patreon] links.'''</big>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%; margin-top:+.7em;background-color:#F0F0FA;border:1px solid #8663A8">
<tr>
<td class="box_tgen" style="text-align:center;color:#000;font-size:90%;border:none;margin: 0;padding:.1em;">
'''Quick Links:''' [[Top Gear]] ''([[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|1977]], [[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|2002]])'' | [[The Grand Tour]] | [[Fifth Gear]] | [[Best Motoring]]
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<br>
This Wiki [[Main Page/Mission Statement|aims]] to be a '''complete''' resource for all things televisual and written in the world of cars.<br>

In order to classify for inclusion, the programme must satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
*Present some form of journalistic automotive content in a serious and factual manner
*Feature road testing and reviews of then-new vehicles
*Air on television or on a major streaming service
*Have a direct lineage to the ''[[Top Gear]]'' concept created by [[Derek Smith]] (i.e. ''[[Fifth Gear]]'', ''[[Panic Mechanics]]'', ''[[The Grand Tour]]'') - this automatically '''overrules''' any other rule
*Accompany a magazine or other regular publication (i.e. ''[[Hot Version]]'', ''[[Motorweek_(American_TV_series)|Motorweek]]'')

Programs cannot:
*Be exclusively satirical or farcical in nature
*Be internet-exclusive (otherwise this Wiki would be flooded with poorly-made, mass-produced Vlogs)
*Be exclusively focused on the re-building, restoration, or modification of cars (e.g. ''Car SOS'', ''Wheeler Dealers'', ''Pimp My Ride'' etc.)
*Be exclusively focused on the purchase and sale of classic cars (e.g. ''Chasing Classic Cars'', ''Bangers & Cash'' etc.)
*Be exclusively focused on motorsport unless the show is a child program of ''[[Top Gear]]'' or a related programme (i.e. ''[[Rally Report]]'', ''[[Top Gear Motorsport]]'', Grand Prix reports hosted on ''[[Wheelbase]]'' etc.)
*Orignate outside Europe, Russia, North America, Brazil, East Asia (Japan, Korea etc.) or Australia, otherwise there'd be hundreds of low-budget, likely lost automotive programs this Wiki would have to list<br><br>

Please take a look at the [[Main Page/Welcome|rules]] before submitting an application, so that you are familiar with them.<br><br>

<table style="width:100%;background-color:#F0F0FA;border:1px solid #8663A8">
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center;color:#000;padding:.1em;font-size:90%;margin: 0;">'''[https://www.topgear.com Top Gear Official Website]'''
</tr>
</table>

<table style="width:100%;">
<tr>
<td style="text-align:left;">Leave suggestions for this page [[Talk:Main Page|here]].</td>
<td style="text-align:right;" class="plainlinks">[{{fullurle:{{PAGENAME}}|action=purge}} Refresh] this page.</td>
</tr>
</table>
[[Category:Main Page]]

Fifth Gear/Series 1

2022-12-20T23:41:33Z

AlexGRFan97: Can now confirm Speed/Viasat versions are exactly the same apart from the dub.

{{Infobox Series
| name = 5th Gear: Series 1
| front_image = FG_S1_Main.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = The original ''5th Gear'' team in late 2001
| epcount = 11
| airdates = 08/04/2002 - 17/06/2002
| network = Channel 5
| res = 576i
| aspect = 16:9 Widescreen
| length = 244:16
| superc = [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Series 2|Series 2 (2002)]]
}}

{{Default Series|number=first|progname=Fifth Gear|country=United Kingdom|date=8th April|year=2002|date2=17th June|year2=2002|eps=11|host=Tiff Needell|pronoun=he|otherhosts=[[Vicki Butler-Henderson]], [[Quentin Willson]] and [[Adrian Simpson]]|studio=Fifth Gear's original offices|studioinfo=[[Birmingham]]|channel=Channel 5|mins=23|format=magazine|num=1|mil=1|hunthou=13|mil2=1|ht2=35|mostviewed=[[{{PAGENAME}}/Episode 8|Episode 8]]|mil3=0|ht3=99|leastviewed=[[{{PAGENAME}}/Episode 9|Episode 9]]}} Note that this is based on only partially-available ratings, with 4 of the 11 aired episodes falling outside the BARB's weekly Top 30 for Channel 5.

Highlights of ''5th Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s inaugural series include lead host Needell driving several exotic supercars, such as the [[Lamborghini Murciélago]] and [[Pagani Zonda]], as well as breaking the first of several records ''Fifth Gear'' would either break or set; the fastest ever recorded 0-60 time, which Needell would achieve<ref>[https://tigerracing.com/kit/tiger-z100#:~:text=Most%20have%20now%20seen%20Tiff%20Needell%20officially%20break%20the%20world%20record%20with%20this%20car%20on%20TV%E2%80%99s%205th%20gear%20programme%20at%202.9%20seconds. Tiger Racing - Tiger Z100.]</ref> in a [[Tiger Z100]] kit car, setting a time of 2.9 seconds against the then-previously standing record held by a [[Ford RS200]]. At the end of the series, Tiff, along with Vicki, would participate in a 2 hour long endurance race in a [[Radical Sportscars|Radical]] sports car.

==International broadcasts==
Series 1 of ''5th Gear'' began airing<ref>[https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/996-turbo-gt2/12769-reminder-fifth-gear-now-speed-channel.html 6SpeedOnline thread talking about ''Fifth Gear''.]</ref> in the United States on the [[Speed Channel]] in July 2004, more than two years after its initial broadcast in the UK. The programme would then subsequently be picked up by Viasat for its ''Explorer'' television service, which then broadcast ''Fifth Gear'' throughout the entire Eastern Bloc from August<ref>[http://www.tvp.netcollect.ru/prog.php?id=149126 tvp.netcollect.ru - Russian TV guide for 23/08/2004.]</ref> 2004, one month after it was picked up in the US. The first series would be sold to these countries alongside the subsequent five in a [[Fifth Gear/International version|block comprised of 48 programmes]], which would then constantly repeat all the way through to June 2007.

===International version===
{{Main Article|name=International version}}
When the programme began airing internationally, the episodes were resampled and rearranged, most likely to better appeal to non-British viewers and shortening the series down to just 9 episodes. This meant films from other episodes were placed earlier in the series to replace certain films, particularly those that were largely irrelevant to a wider viewerbase, such as reports exclusively concerning the United Kingdom. This resampling was not disclosed upon its sale to these countries, and this led to quite some confusion during the early days of internet-based file sharing.

==References==
<references/>

Main Page/Talk

2022-12-20T22:27:24Z

AlexGRFan97: AlexGRFan97 moved page Main Page/Talk to Talk:Main Page: Standardisation.

#REDIRECT [[Talk:Main Page]]

Talk:Main Page

2022-12-20T22:27:24Z

AlexGRFan97: AlexGRFan97 moved page Main Page/Talk to Talk:Main Page: Standardisation.

This is the talk page for the Wiki's main page.

To create a suggestion, please write a heading (two equals signs either side of your request, ==like so==) with your request underneath, before signing it with four tildes (<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>).

==Example suggestion==
I believe this Wiki should cover (X), as it is an integral part of (Y) and without it, the latter article lacks some necessary context. [[User:AlexGRFan97|AlexGRFan97]] ([[User talk:AlexGRFan97|talk]]) 11:37, 21 February 2022 (CET)

'''Admin response''': Well said. Feel free to make this page. [[User:AlexGRFan97|AlexGRFan97]] ([[User talk:AlexGRFan97|talk]]) 11:37, 21 February 2022 (CET)

Fifth Gear/Title sequence

2022-12-20T22:01:31Z

AlexGRFan97: Started this page, will now check on other updates.

A title sequence, otherwise known as the introduction or opening credits, is typically the first segment of a television programme designed to inform viewers of the programme that has started airing.

The following is a list containing all known ''Fifth Gear'' introductory sequences.

==Title sequences==

===2002 sequence===
Title card: Episodes 1 - 23

5th Gear's very first introduction sequence was highly reminiscent of the [[Top Gear/Title sequence#1999 sequence|1999 ''Top Gear'' title sequence]], which involved various shaky shots surrounding an [[BMW M3 (E46)|E46 BMW M3]] as it drove across various locations in the wet.

====2003, first update====
Title card: Episodes 24 - 33

Starting from [[Fifth Gear/Series 3|Series 3]], the programme's name was changed to ''Fifth'' Gear.

====2003, second update====
Title card: Episodes 34 - 66

[[Fifth Gear/Series 4|Series 4]] saw the first significant changes made to the introduction sequence, which now replaced some of the original footage with brief excerpts from the programme, namely the [[Lamborghini Murciélago]] and [[Pagani Zonda]] road tests from Series 1, the hot hatch and [[Ferrari Enzo]] track tests from Series 2, and a clip of [[Tiff Needell]] drifting a [[Subaru Impreza (Second generation)/WRX|Subaru Impreza WRX]] from [[Fifth Gear/Series 3/Episode 6|Series 3, Episode 6]].

====2005 update====
Title card: Episodes 67 - 76
Finally, for [[Fifth Gear/Series 7|Series 7]], the introduction sequence was massively shortened to just 10 seconds long, and included scenes that had been recorded in advance, such as [[Vicki Butler-Henderson]] driving her own mother around a circuit in a Lamborghini Murciélago.

Fifth Gear/Series 1

2022-12-20T11:06:58Z

AlexGRFan97: Added reference to Speed Channel version of FG S1, also downloading some of the Russian version so I can figure out how the episodes were structured and if they're the same as the US version.

{{Infobox Series
| name = 5th Gear: Series 1
| front_image = FG_S1_Main.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = The original ''5th Gear'' team in late 2001
| epcount = 11
| airdates = 08/04/2002 - 17/06/2002
| network = Channel 5
| res = 576i
| aspect = 16:9 Widescreen
| length = 244:16
| superc = [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Series 2|Series 2 (2002)]]
}}

{{Default Series|number=first|progname=Fifth Gear|country=United Kingdom|date=8th April|year=2002|date2=17th June|year2=2002|eps=11|host=Tiff Needell|pronoun=he|otherhosts=[[Vicki Butler-Henderson]], [[Quentin Willson]] and [[Adrian Simpson]]|studio=Fifth Gear's original offices|studioinfo=[[Birmingham]]|channel=Channel 5|mins=23|format=magazine|num=1|mil=1|hunthou=13|mil2=1|ht2=35|mostviewed=[[{{PAGENAME}}/Episode 8|Episode 8]]|mil3=0|ht3=99|leastviewed=[[{{PAGENAME}}/Episode 9|Episode 9]]}} Note that this is based on only partially-available ratings, with 4 of the 11 aired episodes falling outside the BARB's weekly Top 30 for Channel 5.

Highlights of ''5th Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s inaugural series include lead host Needell driving several exotic supercars, such as the [[Lamborghini Murciélago]] and [[Pagani Zonda]], as well as breaking the first of several records ''Fifth Gear'' would either break or set; the fastest ever recorded 0-60 time, which Needell would achieve<ref>[https://tigerracing.com/kit/tiger-z100#:~:text=Most%20have%20now%20seen%20Tiff%20Needell%20officially%20break%20the%20world%20record%20with%20this%20car%20on%20TV%E2%80%99s%205th%20gear%20programme%20at%202.9%20seconds. Tiger Racing - Tiger Z100.]</ref> in a [[Tiger Z100]] kit car, setting a time of 2.9 seconds against the then-previously standing record held by a [[Ford RS200]]. At the end of the series, Tiff, along with Vicki, would participate in a 2 hour long endurance race in a [[Radical Sportscars|Radical]] sports car.

==International broadcasts==
Series 1 of ''5th Gear'' began airing<ref>[https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/996-turbo-gt2/12769-reminder-fifth-gear-now-speed-channel.html 6SpeedOnline thread talking about ''Fifth Gear''.]</ref> in the United States on the [[Speed Channel]] in July 2004, more than two years after its initial broadcast in the UK. The programme would then subsequently be picked up by Viasat for its ''Explorer'' television service, which then broadcast ''Fifth Gear'' throughout the entire Eastern Bloc from August<ref>[http://www.tvp.netcollect.ru/prog.php?id=149126 tvp.netcollect.ru - Russian TV guide for 23/08/2004.]</ref> 2004, one month after it was picked up in the US. The first series would be sold to these countries alongside the subsequent three in a block comprised of 48 programmes, which would then constantly repeat all the way through to June 2007.

===US Version===
{{Main Article|name=Speed Channel Version}}
In the United States, for the programme's distribution on Speed Channel, Series 1 was arranged differently, most likely to better appeal to American viewers. This meant films from other episodes were placed earlier in the series to replace other films, particularly those that were largely irrelevant to the viewerbase, such as reports concerning the United Kingdom.

==References==
<references/>

Fifth Gear

2022-12-18T10:05:07Z

AlexGRFan97: Added Fifth Gear Web TV.

{{Infobox Show
|image =<tabs plain style="margin:0;padding:0;" container="text-align:center;">
<tab name="Default">
[[File:FG Logo 2005.jpg|300px]]
The ''Fifth Gear'' logo used since 2005.
</tab>
<tab name="2002">
[[File:FG Logo 2002.png|300px]]
Numeral ''5th Gear'' logo used only during 2002.
</tab>
<tab name="2003">
[[File:FG Logo 2003.png|300px]]
''Fifth Gear'' logo used during the 30 minute episode era.
</tab>
</tabs>
|year=2002
|epcount=273
|origin=British
|airstatus=No longer airing
|year2=2019}}
''For the programme which has aired since 2021, see [[Fifth Gear: Recharged]].''

'''''Fifth Gear''''' is the name of an automotive-themed intellectual property created by [[Richard Pearson]] in 2001 and aired during three separate tenures between 2002 and 2019, produced by [[North One Television]]<ref>Originally known as ''Chrysalis Television Midlands''.</ref> since its inception. It has been adapted to a television format multiple times in its native [[United Kingdom]], in addition to subsequent international versions that were made once the programme had proven itself a success in the early 2000s.

After original host [[Quentin Willson]] departed ''[[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|Top Gear]]'' in late 2000, he would spend the successive year as an independent journalist, uncovering<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1456337.stm BBC News - Exposed: Criminals behind huge car fraud.]</ref> a major international car fraud involving the sale of Japanese cars in the UK by proxy of Dubai. That August, ''Top Gear'' would announce its cancellation<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1480197.stm BBC News - BBC takes ''Top Gear'' off road.]</ref> after 23 years on the air. In light of this news, three of ''Top Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s then-current hosting team, comprised of lead presenter [[Tiff Needell]], [[Vicki Butler-Henderson]] and [[Adrian Simpson]] all chose to defect<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1657807.stm BBC News - ''Top Gear'' team switch lanes.]</ref> to rival broadcaster [[Channel 5]], the team meeting up with former ''Top Gear'' producer Pearson after the latter had successfully persuaded the estranged Willson on the idea. The resultant programme, rechristened as ''Fifth Gear'', would [[Fifth Gear/Series 1|premiere]]<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1918330.stm BBC News - ''Top Gear'' finds a new home.]</ref> in April of 2002 and recycle much of the format that the outgoing ''Top Gear'' had employed. Contemporary public reception<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1918681.stm BBC News - ''5th Gear'': Your views.]</ref> to this new series was largely positive.

Later on, the programme was joined by two-time BTCC champion [[Jason Plato]], who had previously worked for [[Channel 4]]'s since-cancelled ''[[Driven]]'', along with the presenting duo of [[Jonny Smith]] and [[Tom Ford]]. Simpson and Willson would eventually depart the series, and [[Tim Shaw]] would also briefly join the presenting team for the programme's [[Fifth Gear/Series 14|fourteenth series]] in 2008.

==Format==
Originally, ''Fifth Gear'' was very similar to ''Top Gear'', but as time progressed, developed more distinct characteristics, such as its famed [[Fifth Gear/Shoot-Outs|Shoot-Outs]] between two cars of a similar type. For the first seven series, the show aired in a 23 minute format, before doubling to a 45 minute format in 2005. ''Fifth Gear'' then lasted through to its sixteenth series in 2009 in this format, before Channel 5 cancelled<ref>[http://www.ausmotive.com/2009/10/19/fifth-gear-cancelled.html AUSMotive - ''Fifth Gear'' cancelled - CONFIRMED.]</ref> the programme at the end of that year. This cancellation was brief, and the programme was relaunched the subsequent Summer back in its original 23 minute format, with less time spent on more dramatic stunts and a heightened focus on automotive journalism. ''Fifth Gear'' lasted four series in this format as part of a renewed two-year contract with the network, until late 2011, when the programme was shuttled off to [[Discovery]]<ref>[https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/247672-fifth-gear-returns/ BRISKODA - ''Fifth Gear'' Returns.]</ref> in 2012, returning to a 45 minute format from its [[Fifth Gear/Series 21|twenty-first]] series onwards. The programme would move once again to the [[History Channel]] in 2015, before being cancelled. ''Fifth Gear'' went into hiatus for three years before being revived in 2018 by Discovery channel [[Discovery (network)/Quest|Quest]], where it returned one final time for its [[Fifth Gear/Series 27|twenty-seventh]] and [[Fifth Gear/Series 28|twenty-eighth]] series.

For the first seven series, ''Fifth Gear'' was based at an [[Fifth Gear's original offices|unnamed office]] in [[Birmingham]], likely near their earlier place of employ at [[Pebble Mill Studios|Pebble Mill]], and was otherwise filmed on-location. From Series 8, the programme became partly studio-based at the [[Ace Cafe]] near Wembley in [[London]].

==Series overview==
273 episodes would air in total between 2002 and 2019 across 28 total series, including specials such as those made for ''[[Fifth Gear/Series 2/James Bond's Cars Special|James Bond]]'' and ''[[Fifth Gear/Series 4/Italian Job Special|The Italian Job]]'', in addition to end of series compilation specials.

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 8px;" |Series
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 8px;" |Episodes
! colspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 80px;" |Originally aired
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 80px;" |Original network
|-
! scope="col" |Series premiere
! scope="col" |Series finale
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 1|1]]
|11
|8th April 2002
|17th June 2002
| rowspan=18 | [[File:Five Logo 2002.png|100px]]
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/The Greatest Cars in The World Special|GC]]
|Special
| colspan=2 | 8th September 2002
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 2|2]]
|11
|7th October 2002
|16th December 2002
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 3|3]]
|10
|12th March 2003
|28th May 2003
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Italian Job Special|IJ]]
|Special
| colspan=2 | 26th September 2003
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 4|4]]
|11
|13th October 2003
|22nd December 2003
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 5|5]]
|10
|29th March 2004
|31st May 2004
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 6|6]]
|11
|11th October 2004
|20th December 2004
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 7|7]]
|10
|21st March 2005
|23rd May 2005
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 8|8]]
|11
|10th October 2005
|19th December 2005
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 9|9]]
|15
|27th March 2006
|24th July 2006
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 10|10]]
|13
|25th September 2006
|18th December 2006
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 11|11]]
|10
|30th April 2007
|2nd August 2007
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 12|12]]
|8
|3rd September 2007
|22nd October 2007
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 13|13]]
|10
|21st January 2008
|24th March 2008
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 14|14]]
|8
|11th August 2008
|29th September 2008
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 15|15]]
|8
|5th January 2009
|23rd February 2009
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 16|16]]
|8
|8th June 2009
|27th July 2009
|-
| colspan=5 style="padding:0 80px; background: #EAECF0;" | '''First cancellation'''
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 17|17]]
|10
|3rd June 2010
|12th August 2010
| rowspan=4 | [[File:Five Logo 2008.png|100px]]
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 18|18]]
|10
|8th October 2010
|10th December 2010
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 19|19]]
|10
|15th April 2011
|15th July 2011
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 20|20]]
|10
|14th October 2011
|30th December 2011
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 21|21]]
|9
|3rd September 2012
|29th October 2012
| rowspan=4 | [[File:Discovery Logo 2009.png|100px]]
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 22|22]]
|9
|11th February 2013
|8th April 2013
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 23|23]]
|9
|13th September 2013
|11th November 2013
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 24|24]]
|9
|24th February 2014
|21st April 2014
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 25|25]]
|6
|6th March 2015
|9th April 2015
| rowspan=2 | [[File:HUK Logo 2008.png|50px]]
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 26|26]]
|6
|2nd July 2015
|13th August 2015
|-
| colspan=5 style="padding:0 80px; background: #EAECF0;" | '''Second cancellation'''
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 27|27]]
|8
|2nd September 2018
|25th October 2018
| rowspan=2 | [[File:Quest HD Logo.png|50px]]
|-
|[[{{PAGENAME}}/Series 28|28]]
|10
|3rd October 2019
|5th December 2019
|}

==='''Fifth Gear Web TV'''===
{{Main Article|name=Fifth Gear Web TV}}
Beginning in June 2009, ''Fifth Gear'' would produce an extremely low-budget online miniseries, with Vicki Butler-Henderson as lead host and series producer [[Graham Smiles]] (always referred to on-screen as "Graham from the Office") as co-presenter.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 8px;" |Series
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 8px;" |Episodes
! colspan="2" scope="col" style="padding:0 80px;" |Originally aired
|-
! scope="col" |Series premiere
! scope="col" |Series finale
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 1|1]]
|14
|5th June 2009
|29th November 2009
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 2|2]]
|30
|4th December 2009
|29th June 2010
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 3|3]]
|12
|12th August 2010
|10th December 2010
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 4|4]]
|8
|17th January 2011
|18th March 2011
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 5|5]]
|7
|14th April 2011
|16th June 2011
|-
|[[Fifth Gear Web TV/Series 6|6]]
|14
|1st July 2011
|20th December 2011
|}
Episodes initially aired on a fortnightly basis, running from June through to November of 2009. With ''Fifth Gear'' then subsequently off the air due to its original cancellation, ''Web TV'' became the programme's main base of operations heading out of 2009 and into the following decade. The original concept of 10 - 15 minute long minisodes was ditched in favour of shorter, 5 minute long individual reviews. Occasionally, installments would consist of Smiles informing the viewer of the latest ''Fifth Gear''-related developments, news concerning an upcoming motoring event, or outtakes from the televised version of the show (in much a similar vein to the function that [[Top Gear/Website|''Top Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s website]] served) and these have been discounted from the overall episode count.

==Presenters==
From the programme's inception, Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson were ''Fifth Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s joint lead hosts, with Quentin Willson the first to officially join. Tom Ford would be the programme's first new hire, debuting in the fifth episode. From there, the team of five would stabilise, with the occasional on-screen appearance from producer Jon Bentley, before Simpson's departure at the end of Series 6 and Willson following not long thereafter. The team would then continue to operate as a quintet thanks to the addition of former ''Driven'' host Jason Plato through to 2006's Series 10, where they were then joined by Jonny Smith and [[Tim Lovejoy]]. Lovejoy's role on the programme wouldn't last long, and in Series 14, Tim Shaw joined until the programme's 2009 cancellation. Both Shaw and Ford would be absent from the 2010 revival, Ford in order to fully focus on his obligations for BBC's ''Top Gear'', eventually being "rewarded" as lead host for the shortlived BBC America run of ''[[Top Gear America]]''.

From 2010 through to the first year of its 2018 revival, a period comprising 11 series and 96 episodes, the presenting team did not change between Needell, Butler-Henderson, Smith or Plato. Of the programme's hosts, Vicki Butler-Henderson remained the only host to have starred in every series. Tiff Needell appeared in the first 27 series until his unexpected firing a year into Discovery's ownership of the IP. In his place arrived [[Jimmy de Ville]] and former F1 driver [[Karun Chandhok]] for the [[Fifth Gear/Series 28|final series]] of traditional ''Fifth Gear'' in 2019.

An unusually high proportion of presenters with the male given name "Timothy" would serve as host throughout; it is both the original birth name of Tiff Needell and Jason Plato (with Jason being the latter's middle name), in addition to being the names of later hires Tim Lovejoy and Tim Shaw.

===Timeline of presenters===
Placeholder.

==References==
<references/>

User talk:ArtLev

2022-12-17T23:05:50Z

AlexGRFan97: Welcome!

User:ArtLev

2022-12-17T23:05:49Z

AlexGRFan97: Creating user page for new user.

Second account. I am signed up for GearKnob to continue provide car pages.

User talk:Lanxtot

2022-12-17T23:05:02Z

AlexGRFan97: Welcome!

User:Lanxtot

2022-12-17T23:05:02Z

AlexGRFan97: Creating user page for new user.

Working on lost media preservation since 2019.

GearKnob Wiki:Notability

2022-12-17T01:21:50Z

AlexGRFan97: Fleshed out page a bit more.

GearKnob Wiki:Notability

2022-12-16T23:36:38Z

AlexGRFan97: Added publications.

McLaren F1/Notable cars

2022-12-16T22:27:00Z

AlexGRFan97: Created page for notable McLaren F1s.

The following is a list of McLaren F1s notable for their appearances in various automotive journalism programmes:

*[[McLaren F1/XP3 Prototype|XP3 Prototype/K50 BAT]] - Silver prototype used as the original 1992 show car. Converted into a road car for its designer Gordon Murray.
*[[McLaren F1/XP4 Prototype|XP4 Prototype/K6 MCL]] - Blue-coloured prototype converted into a road car for customer Roger Bhatnagar.
*[[McLaren F1/XP5 Prototype|XP5 Prototype/K8 MCL]] - Dark green prototype converted into a road car and used to set a speed record at [[Millbrook Proving Ground]] in 1999.
*[[McLaren F1/Chassis 016|Chassis 016/M700 BHP]] - Orange GTR-spec race car converted into a road car for owner Chris Palmer.
*[[McLaren F1/Chassis 020|Chassis 020/13 MAC]] - Car once owned by Tony Smith, who managed the band Genesis, and was later bought back by McLaren and turned into an LM-spec car.
*[[McLaren F1/Chassis 024|Chassis 024/M1 MAC]] - Black F1 once owned by banking figure Paul Burdell.
*[[McLaren F1/Chassis 061|Chassis 061/P380 GJM]] - Aubergine-coloured car famously owned and crashed by English actor and comedian [[Rowan Atkinson]].

GearKnob Wiki:Notability

2022-12-16T21:58:22Z

AlexGRFan97: Elaborated further.

Top Gear (2002 TV series)/Series 1/Episode 1/Credits

2022-12-16T18:45:02Z

AlexGRFan97: Added links to significant crew members.

==Credits==
Below is the credits list for Series 1, Episode 1 of ''Top Gear''. Major crew members with more than a few credits have their own pages. Otherwise, consult [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/List of minor crew members|this list]].
{{TG 2002 Credits|MainHost = Jeremy Clarkson|Host2 = Jason Dawe|Host3 = Richard Hammond|RecAtTypo = Dunsfold Park|OutsideBroadcast = BBC Resources|EngManager = Steve Chapman|CameraSupervisor = [[Neil McLintock]]|Cameras = [[James Ramsay]]<br>[[Phil Piotrowsky]]<br>[[Rob McDonald]]|Floor = Nick Keene|Vision = [[Hilary Briegel]]|Lighting = [[Stuart Gain]]|SoundSup = Keith Gunn|Design = Simon Kimmel|FCameras = [[John Couzens]]<br>[[Ben Joiner]]<br>Paul Kirkham<br>[[Casper Leaver]]<br>Rob MacDonald ''[sic]''|FSound = Kirsten Jones<br>[[Chris Lebert]]<br>Laurie Rose<br>Stuart MacDonald ''[sic]''|FEditors = Dave Austin<br>Gavin Douglas|FDirectors = [[Richard Heeley]]<br>Chris Hook ''[sic]''<br>Simon Ludgate<br>[[Nigel Simpkiss|Nigel Simkiss]] ''[sic]''|OLEditor = [[Joe Orr]]|Dubbing = Dan Gable|PTeam = [[Liz Campbell]]<br>[[Rowland French]]<br>[[Michelle Julier]]<br>Bethanie Roser<br>Poppy Ross<br>Yonni Usiskin<br>[[James Wiseman]]|ScriptSup = [[Richard Porter]]|PExec = Mel Hoffman|PManager = Jacqui Moore|Producers = Maggi Gibson<br>Kate Shiers-Ghellere|MainDirector = [[Brian Klein]]|CDirector = [[Andy Batten-Foster]]}}</font>

Top Gear (2002 TV series)/Series 1/Episode 1/Credits

2022-12-16T17:31:49Z

AlexGRFan97: Created credits for S01E01 of 2002-format Top Gear. Will need to learn how to import fonts.

==Credits==
{{TG 2002 Credits|MainHost = Jeremy Clarkson|Host2 = Jason Dawe|Host3 = Richard Hammond|RecAtTypo = Dunsfold Park|OutsideBroadcast = BBC Resources|EngManager = Steve Chapman|CameraSupervisor = Neil McLintock|Cameras = James Ramsay<br>Phil Piotrowsky<br>Rob McDonald|Floor = Nick Keene|Vision = Hilary Briegel|Lighting = Stuart Gain|SoundSup = Keith Gunn|Design = Simon Kimmel|FCameras = John Couzens<br>Ben Joiner<br>Paul Kirkham<br>Casper Leaver<br>Rob MacDonald ''[sic]''|FSound = Kirsten Jones<br>Chris Lebert<br>Laurie Rose<br>Stuart MacDonald|FEditors = Dave Austin<br>Gavin Douglas|FDirectors = Richard Heeley<br>Chris Hook<br>Simon Ludgate<br>Nigel Simkiss ''[sic]''|OLEditor = Joe Orr|Dubbing = Dan Gable|PTeam = Liz Campbell<br>Rowland French<br>Michelle Julier<br>Bethanie Roser<br>Poppy Ross<br>Yonni Usiskin<br>James Wiseman|ScriptSup = Richard Porter|PExec = Mel Hoffman|PManager = Jacqui Moore|Producers = Maggi Gibson<br>Kate Shiers-Ghellere|MainDirector = Brian Klein|CDirector = Andy Batten-Foster}}</font>

Template:TG 2002 Credits

2022-12-16T17:29:08Z

AlexGRFan97:

<div id="tg02crew">
<font size=3%>
{|valign="top" style="text-align:left;padding:5px;line-height:110%;"
!width="33%"|
!width="33%"|
!width="33%"|
|-valign="top"
|<big>'''Presented by'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{MainHost|}}}| *{{{MainHost}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host2|}}}| *{{{Host2}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host3|}}}| *{{{Host3}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host4|}}}| *{{{Host4}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host5|}}}| *{{{Host5}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host6|}}}| *{{{Host6}}}}}{{#if:{{{AndHost|}}}|*and {{{AndHost}}}}}
<big>'''Filming locations'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{RecAt|}}}| *Recorded at - {{{RecAt}}}}}{{#if:{{{RecAtTypo|}}}| *recorded at ''[sic]'' - {{{RecAtTypo}}}}}
<big>'''Other roles'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{Guest|}}}| *Special Guest - {{{Guest}}}}}{{#if:{{{Guests|}}}| *Special Guests -<br>{{{Guests}}}}}{{#if:{{{Thanks|}}}| *With thanks to -<br>{{{Thanks}}}}}{{#if:{{{OutsideBroadcast|}}}| *Outside Broadcast - {{{OutsideBroadcast}}}}}{{#if:{{{EngManager|}}}| *Engineering Manager - {{{EngManager}}}}}
<big>'''Studio crew'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{CameraSupervisor|}}}| *Camera Supervisor - {{{CameraSupervisor}}}}}{{#if:{{{Cameras|}}}| *Cameras -<br>{{{Cameras}}}}}{{#if:{{{CamAssist|}}}| *Camera Assistants -<br>{{{CamAssist}}}}}{{#if:{{{Grips|}}}| *Grips -<br>{{{Grips}}}}}{{#if:{{{Floor|}}}| *Floor Manager - {{{Floor}}}}}{{#if:{{{Vision|}}}| *Vision Mixer - {{{Vision}}}}}{{#if:{{{Lighting|}}}| *Lighting Director - {{{Lighting}}}}}{{#if:{{{SoundSup|}}}| *Sound Supervisor - {{{SoundSup}}}}}{{#if:{{{Design|}}}| *Design - {{{Design}}}}}{{#if:{{{Music|}}}| *Music arranged by - {{{Music}}}}}
||<big>'''Film crew'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{FCameras|}}}| *Film Cameras -<br>{{{FCameras}}}}}{{#if:{{{FSound|}}}| *Film Sound -<br>{{{FSound}}}}}{{#if:{{{FEditors|}}}| *Film Editors -<br>{{{FEditors}}}}}{{#if:{{{FDirectors|}}}| *Film Directors -<br>{{{FDirectors}}}}}
<big>'''Other film roles'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{OLEditor|}}}| *Online Editor - {{{OLEditor}}}}}{{#if:{{{Dubbing|}}}| *Dubbing Mixer - {{{Dubbing}}}}}
||<big>'''Production crew'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{PTeam|}}}| *Production Team -<br>{{{PTeam}}}}}{{#if:{{{Researchers|}}}| *Researchers -<br>{{{Researchers}}}}}{{#if:{{{ScriptEd|}}}| *Script Editor - {{{ScriptEd}}}}}{{#if:{{{ScriptSup|}}}| *Script Supervisor - {{{ScriptSup}}}}}{{#if:{{{PExec|}}}| *Production Executive - {{{PExec}}}}}{{#if:{{{PManager|}}}| *Production Manager - {{{PManager}}}}}{{#if:{{{Producer|}}}| *Producer - {{{Producer}}}}}{{#if:{{{Producers|}}}| *Producers -<br>{{{Producers}}}}}
<big>'''Directors'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{MainDirector|}}}| *Director - {{{MainDirector}}}}}{{#if:{{{CDirector|}}}| *Creative Director - {{{CDirector}}}}}
|}
</font>
<font size=2%>
{| style="text-align:center; padding:5px"
!
|-align=center
|style="text-align:center;line-height:110%; font-size:90%; 0.8px black;"|Note that the above list may be incomplete due to a lack of crediting, and does not necessarily mean that a particular crew member did not work on this episode. This list is taken from the visible end credits and does not rely on IMDb or any other source. Spelling mistakes are indicated with ''[sic]''.
|}
</font>

Template:TG 2002 Credits

2022-12-16T17:14:13Z

AlexGRFan97:

<div id="tg02crew">
<font size=3%>
{|valign="top" style="text-align:left;padding:5px;line-height:110%;"
!width="33%"|
!width="33%"|
!width="33%"|
|-valign="top"
|<big>'''Presented by'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{MainHost|}}}| *{{{MainHost}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host2|}}}| *{{{Host2}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host3|}}}| *{{{Host3}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host4|}}}| *{{{Host4}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host5|}}}| *{{{Host5}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host6|}}}| *{{{Host6}}}}}{{#if:{{{AndHost|}}}|*and {{{AndHost}}}}}
<big>'''Filming locations'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{RecAt|}}}| *Recorded at - {{{RecAt}}}}}{{#if:{{{RecAtTypo|}}}| *recorded at ''[sic]'' - {{{RecAtTypo}}}}}
<big>'''Other roles'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{Guest|}}}| *Special Guest - {{{Guest}}}}}{{#if:{{{Guests|}}}| *Special Guests -<br>{{{Guests}}}}}{{#if:{{{Thanks|}}}| *With thanks to -<br>{{{Thanks}}}}}{{#if:{{{OutsideBroadcast|}}}| *Outside Broadcast - {{{OutsideBroadcast}}}}}{{#if:{{{EngManager|}}}| *Engineering Manager - {{{EngManager}}}}}
<big>'''Studio crew'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{CameraSupervisor|}}}| *Camera Supervisor - {{{CameraSupervisor}}}}}{{#if:{{{Cameras|}}}| *Cameras -<br>{{{Cameras}}}}}{{#if:{{{CamAssist|}}}| *Camera Assistants -<br>{{{CamAssist}}}}}{{#if:{{{Grips|}}}| *Grips -<br>{{{Grips}}}}}{{#if:{{{Floor|}}}| *Floor Manager - {{{Floor}}}}}{{#if:{{{Vision|}}}| *Vision Mixer - {{{Vision}}}}}{{#if:{{{Lighting|}}}| *Lighting Director - {{{Lighting}}}}}{{#if:{{{SoundSup|}}}| *Sound Supervisor - {{{SoundSup}}}}}{{#if:{{{Design|}}}| *Design - {{{Design}}}}}{{#if:{{{Music|}}}| *Music arranged by - {{{Music}}}}}
||<big>'''Film crew'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{FCameras|}}}| *Film Cameras -<br>{{{FCameras}}}}}{{#if:{{{FSound|}}}| *Film Sound -<br>{{{FSound}}}}}{{#if:{{{FEditors|}}}| *Film Editors -<br>{{{FEditors}}}}}{{#if:{{{FDirectors|}}}| *Film Directors -<br>{{{FDirectors}}}}}
<big>'''Other film roles'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{OLEditor|}}}| *Online Editor - {{{OLEditor}}}}}{{#if:{{{Dubbing|}}}| *Dubbing Mixer - {{{Dubbing}}}}}
||<big>'''Production crew'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{PTeam|}}}| *Production Team -<br>{{{PTeam}}}}}{{#if:{{{Researchers|}}}| *Researchers -<br>{{{Researchers}}}}}{{#if:{{{ScriptEd|}}}| *Script Editor - {{{ScriptEd}}}}}{{#if:{{{ScriptSup|}}}| *Script Supervisor - {{{ScriptSup}}}}}{{#if:{{{PExec|}}}| *Production Executive - {{{PExec}}}}}{{#if:{{{PManager|}}}| *Production Manager - {{{PManager}}}}}{{#if:{{{Producer|}}}| *Producer - {{{Producer}}}}}{{#if:{{{Producers|}}}| *Producers -<br>{{{Producers}}}}}
<big>'''Directors'''</big><br>{{#if:{{{MainDirector|}}}| *Director - {{{MainDirector}}}}}{{#if:{{{CDirector|}}}| *Creative Director - {{{CDirector}}}}}
|}
{| style="text-align:center; padding:5px"
!
|-align=center
|style="text-align:center;line-height:110%; font-size:90%; 0.8px black;"|Note that the above list may be incomplete due to a lack of crediting, and does not necessarily mean that a particular crew member did not work on this episode. This list is taken from the visible end credits and does not rely on IMDb or any other source. Spelling mistakes are indicated with ''[sic]''.
|}
</font>

Template:TG 2002 Credits

2022-12-16T16:54:55Z

AlexGRFan97: Copied 2002 TG credits template from offline text file, I believe I used this on Fandom and may need to modify it for further MW usage, including category binds.

<div id="tg02crew">
<font size=2%>
{|valign="top" style="text-align:left;padding:5px;line-height:110%;"
!width="33%"|
!width="33%"|
!width="33%"|
|-valign="top"
|'''Presented by'''<br>{{#if:{{{MainHost|}}}| *{{{MainHost}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host2|}}}| *{{{Host2}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host3|}}}| *{{{Host3}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host4|}}}| *{{{Host4}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host5|}}}| *{{{Host5}}}}}{{#if:{{{Host6|}}}| *{{{Host6}}}}}{{#if:{{{AndHost|}}}|*and {{{AndHost}}}}}
'''Filming locations'''<br>{{#if:{{{RecAt|}}}| *Recorded at - {{{RecAt}}}}}{{#if:{{{RecAtTypo|}}}| *recorded at [sic] - {{{RecAtTypo}}}}}
'''Other roles'''<br>{{#if:{{{Guest|}}}| *Special Guest - {{{Guest}}}}}{{#if:{{{Guests|}}}| *Special Guests -<br>{{{Guests}}}}}{{#if:{{{Thanks|}}}| *With thanks to -<br>{{{Thanks}}}}}{{#if:{{{OutsideBroadcast|}}}| *Outside Broadcast - {{{OutsideBroadcast}}}}}{{#if:{{{EngManager|}}}| *Engineering Manager - {{{EngManager}}}}}
'''Studio crew'''<br>{{#if:{{{CameraSupervisor|}}}| *Camera Supervisor - {{{CameraSupervisor}}}}}{{#if:{{{Cameras|}}}| *Cameras -<br>{{{Cameras}}}}}{{#if:{{{CamAssist|}}}| *Camera Assistants -<br>{{{CamAssist}}}}}{{#if:{{{Grips|}}}| *Grips -<br>{{{Grips}}}}}{{#if:{{{Floor|}}}| *Floor Manager - {{{Floor}}}}}{{#if:{{{Vision|}}}| *Vision Mixer - {{{Vision}}}}}{{#if:{{{Lighting|}}}| *Lighting Director - {{{Lighting}}}}}{{#if:{{{SoundSup|}}}| *Sound Supervisor - {{{SoundSup}}}}}{{#if:{{{Design|}}}| *Design - {{{Design}}}}}{{#if:{{{Music|}}}| *Music arranged by - {{{Music}}}}}
||'''Film crew'''<br>{{#if:{{{FCameras|}}}| *Film Cameras -<br>{{{FCameras}}}}}{{#if:{{{FSound|}}}| *Film Sound -<br>{{{FSound}}}}}{{#if:{{{FEditors|}}}| *Film Editors -<br>{{{FEditors}}}}}{{#if:{{{FDirectors|}}}| *Film Directors -<br>{{{FDirectors}}}}}
'''Other film roles'''<br>{{#if:{{{OLEditor|}}}| *Online Editor - {{{OLEditor}}}}}{{#if:{{{Dubbing|}}}| *Dubbing Mixer - {{{Dubbing}}}}}
||'''Production crew'''<br>{{#if:{{{PTeam|}}}| *Production Team -<br>{{{PTeam}}}}}{{#if:{{{Researchers|}}}| *Researchers -<br>{{{Researchers}}}}}{{#if:{{{ScriptEd|}}}| *Script Editor - {{{ScriptEd}}}}}{{#if:{{{ScriptSup|}}}| *Script Supervisor - {{{ScriptSup}}}}}{{#if:{{{PExec|}}}| *Production Executive - {{{PExec}}}}}{{#if:{{{PManager|}}}| *Production Manager - {{{PManager}}}}}{{#if:{{{Producer|}}}| *Producer - {{{Producer}}}}}{{#if:{{{Producers|}}}| *Producers -<br>{{{Producers}}}}}
'''Directors'''<br>{{#if:{{{MainDirector|}}}| *Director - {{{MainDirector}}}}}{{#if:{{{CDirector|}}}| *Creative Director - {{{CDirector}}}}}
|}
{| style="text-align:center; padding:5px"
!
|-align=center
|style="text-align:center;line-height:110%; font-size:90%; 0.8px black;"|Note that the above list may be incomplete due to a lack of crediting, and does not necessarily mean that a particular crew member did not work on this episode. This list is taken from the visible end credits and does not rely on IMDb or any other source. Spelling mistakes are indicated with ''[sic]''.
|}
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