Fifth Gear
| Fifth Gear | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Episodes | 273 |
| First aired | 2002 |
| Country of origin |
 Great Britain |
| Status | No longer airing |
| Concluded | 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[1] 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 in late 2000, he would spend the successive year as an independent journalist, uncovering[2] 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[3] after 23 years on the air. In light of this news, three of Top Gear's then-current hosting team, comprised of lead presenter Tiff Needell, Vicki Butler-Henderson and Adrian Simpson all chose to defect[4] 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 premiere[5] in April of 2002 and recycle much of the format that the outgoing Top Gear had employed. Contemporary public reception[6] 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 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 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[7] 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[8] in 2012, returning to a 45 minute format from its 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 Quest, where it returned one final time for its twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth series.
For the first seven series, Fifth Gear was based at an unnamed office in Birmingham, likely near their earlier place of employ at 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 James Bond and The Italian Job, in addition to end of series compilation specials.
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | Original network | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series premiere | Series finale | |||
| 1 | 11 | 8th April 2002 | 17th June 2002 | 
|
| GC | Special | 8th September 2002 | ||
| 2 | 11 | 7th October 2002 | 16th December 2002 | |
| 3 | 10 | 12th March 2003 | 28th May 2003 | |
| IJ | Special | 26th September 2003 | ||
| 4 | 11 | 13th October 2003 | 22nd December 2003 | |
| 5 | 10 | 29th March 2004 | 31st May 2004 | |
| 6 | 11 | 11th October 2004 | 20th December 2004 | |
| 7 | 10 | 21st March 2005 | 23rd May 2005 | |
| 8 | 11 | 10th October 2005 | 19th December 2005 | |
| 9 | 15 | 27th March 2006 | 24th July 2006 | |
| 10 | 13 | 25th September 2006 | 18th December 2006 | |
| 11 | 10 | 30th April 2007 | 2nd August 2007 | |
| 12 | 8 | 3rd September 2007 | 22nd October 2007 | |
| 13 | 10 | 21st January 2008 | 24th March 2008 | |
| 14 | 8 | 11th August 2008 | 29th September 2008 | |
| 15 | 8 | 5th January 2009 | 23rd February 2009 | |
| 16 | 8 | 8th June 2009 | 27th July 2009 | |
| First cancellation | ||||
| 17 | 10 | 3rd June 2010 | 12th August 2010 | 
|
| 18 | 10 | 8th October 2010 | 10th December 2010 | |
| 19 | 10 | 15th April 2011 | 15th July 2011 | |
| 20 | 10 | 14th October 2011 | 30th December 2011 | |
| 21 | 9 | 3rd September 2012 | 29th October 2012 | 
|
| 22 | 9 | 11th February 2013 | 8th April 2013 | |
| 23 | 9 | 13th September 2013 | 11th November 2013 | |
| 24 | 9 | 24th February 2014 | 21st April 2014 | |
| 25 | 6 | 6th March 2015 | 9th April 2015 | 
|
| 26 | 6 | 2nd July 2015 | 13th August 2015 | |
| Second cancellation | ||||
| 27 | 8 | 2nd September 2018 | 25th October 2018 | 
|
| 28 | 10 | 3rd October 2019 | 5th December 2019 | |
Presenters
From the programme's inception, Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson were Fifth Gear'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 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
- ↑ Originally known as Chrysalis Television Midlands.
- ↑ BBC News - Exposed: Criminals behind huge car fraud.
- ↑ BBC News - BBC takes Top Gear off road.
- ↑ BBC News - Top Gear team switch lanes.
- ↑ BBC News - Top Gear finds a new home.
- ↑ BBC News - 5th Gear: Your views.
- ↑ AUSMotive - Fifth Gear cancelled - CONFIRMED.
- ↑ BRISKODA - Fifth Gear Returns.
