Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 32

Series 32 (1977 format)
Jeremy Clarkson with Tiff Needell and Quentin Wilson.
Episodes	14
Originally aired	22/09/1994 - 05/01/1995
Original network	BBC Two
Resolution	576i
Aspect ratio	4:3 Standard
Uncut length	363:42
Preceded by	Series 31 (1994)
Superceded by	Series 33 (1995)

The thirty-second series of Top Gear premiered in the United Kingdom on the 22nd September, 1994, and concluded on the 5th January, 1995, after a run of 14 episodes. The series' main host was Jeremy Clarkson, and he was accompanied by Tiff Needell, Quentin Willson and various other hosts as co-presenters. The series was produced at Pebble Mill Studios in Edgbaston, Birmingham, and aired on BBC Two in a 30-minute magazine format.

Highlights from this series include the unveiling of several highly-anticipated sports cars such as the Jaguar XJR and Aston Martin DB7, as well as the on-screen debut of Top Gear and later Fifth Gear stalwart Vicki Butler-Henderson.

Production

1994 was the first year which really saw the consolidation of Top Gear into a format largely dominated by Jeremy Clarkson as a personality, as opposed to a mere presenter. To help indicate that the programme had moved into a new era, a brand new title sequence was commissioned, the first since 1989. Primarily featuring the colour orange, the sequence prominently featured a few radio-controlled cars, such as a Mitsubishi Shogun and a group of Ferrari 456s, which are spray-painted black and spun on a miniature skid pan, revealing the Top Gear logo. Bob Cosford would direct this introduction, with editing done on a Quantel Henry editing suite.

Jeremy Clarkson was noticeably absent from 3 of the regular seasonal episodes, as he was largely busy filming the first series of Motorworld throughout the Summer of 1994, which premiered later on the same night the series concluded with a 15 minute-long special centred around the revival of the Klausenrennen, a Swiss hillclimb event.

Giving a written interview for the Top Gear supplement in BBC's Action, it was revealed by Clarkson that the programme's 32nd series was put together by just 11 people, 3 of whom were either working with him on Motorworld or Quentin Willson's other spin-off production titled The Car's The Star, which likewise began airing on the 25th September, three days after Top Gear. Individual items were typically filmed in areas near where the presenters lived, and taken to Pebble Mill Studios to be assembled, with 5 minutes of footage taking an average of 4 days to prepare for the eventual episodes. Tracking shots were filmed from the rear hatch of a Ford Mondeo.

Hosts

• Jeremy Clarkson - main host (10 episodes)
• Quentin Willson - used car expert (10 episodes)
• Steve Berry - motorcycling correspondent (8 episodes)
• Tony Mason - motorsports presenter (8 episodes)
• Tiff Needell - secondary host (7 episodes)

Also featuring

• Chris Goffey - tertiary host (4 episodes)
• Michele Newman - tertiary host (3 episodes)
• Vicki Butler-Henderson - tertiary host (2 episodes)
• Andy Wilman - tertiary host (1 episode)

Trivia

• This was the first series of Top Gear to air during two separate calendar years.
• Series 32 is the earliest confirmable series of Top Gear to have aired internationally on BBC World, with a fragment of Episode 8 having survived.