Top Gear (2002 TV series)/Series 22

Series 22 (2002 format)
Series 22: The end of an era.
Episodes	11
Originally aired	27/12/2014 - 28/06/2015
Original network	BBC Two
Resolution	1080i
Aspect ratio	16:9 Widescreen
Uncut length	687:10
Preceded by	Series 21 (2014)
Superceded by	CHM Live Pilot Shorts (2015)

The twenty-second series of Top Gear premiered in the United Kingdom on the 27th December, 2014, and concluded on the 28th June, 2015, after a run of 11 episodes. The series' main host was Jeremy Clarkson, and he was accompanied by Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig as co-presenters. The series was produced at Television Centre in Wood Lane, London, and aired on BBC Two in a 60-minute studio format. Series 22 attracted an average viewership rating of 6.49 million viewers per episode, with a peak of 7.38 million viewers for Patagonia Special Part 2, and a low of 5.84 million viewers for Episode 5.

Highlights from this series include the conclusion to the set-up of the "Holy Trinity" showdown and its associated wager, a humourous retrospective on the history of French automaker Peugeot, both in and outside the world of cars, an Australian Road Trip featuring three grand tourers, and the fallout following Clarkson's dismissal from the show in March 2015.

The total number of episodes is a debated topic. AlexTGRF's unofficial count declares it to be 11, with the An Evening with Top Gear live special preceding the series' eight seasonal episodes after the two-part Patagonia Special. This means that in spite of external factors cutting the series short, Series 22 is the longest series of Top Gear in terms of length, especially if one adds the subsequent Top Gear: From A-Z two-part special narrated by John Bishop and Ralph Ineson in December 2015, as well as the second series of James May's Cars of the People, totalling in 16 episodes.

Home video distribution

^{Main article: Top Gear (2002 TV series)/Home Video Releases/Series Box Sets/Series 22}
Series 22 would first be released on home video on 19th August, 2015 in Australia as a Region 4 release. The series would then be released in the United States and Canada on the 19th April, 2016 as a Region 1 release, before releasing in Europe as a Region 2 release on the 17th June, 2016, which also included the Patagonia Special. The series was given away for free in the December 2016 issue of Top Gear Magazine in the Netherlands in an effort to sell more copies. Likely as a complication from the fracas and the interest the series drew upon its digital syndication debut on Dave, Series 22, much like its immediate predecessor, was never distributed on home video in the United Kingdom.

All home video releases of Series 22 were on DVD only, despite the fact the series was broadcast in high definition. The initial Region 4 release features just the 8 seasonal episodes, and runs for approximately 490 minutes, 18 minutes short of the original runtime. Meanwhile, the Region 2 release runs for 564 minutes, with more than an hour of footage excised from the original episodes and specials.