Top Gear (2002 TV series)
Please note that this page uses IMCDb's definition of Top Gear, and so only includes the first 22 series. For the show known as Top Gear since 2016, please see Top Gear (2016 TV series).
Top Gear is the name of a British automotive journalism programme which began airing on the 20th of October, 2002. It is a reboot of the earlier Top Gear which aired from April 1977 through to February of 2002 before its eventual cancellation and subsequent revival. The show ran for approximately 180 episodes across 22 series before lead host Jeremy Clarkson was sacked in March 2015.
Series overview
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | Average UK viewers (in millions) |
Home video release date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series premiere | Series finale | |||||
| 1 | 10 | 20th October 2002 | 29th December 2002 | 3.30 | Never released | |
| 2 | 10 | 11th May 2003 | 20th July 2003 | 3.16 | ||
| 3 | 9 | 26th October 2003 | 28th December 2003 | 4.03 | ||
| 4 | 10 | 9th May 2004 | 1st August 2004 | 3.48 | ||
| 5 | 9 | 24th October 2004 | 26th December 2004 | 4.15 | ||
| 6 | 11 | 22nd May 2005 | 7th August 2005 | 4.21 | ||
| 7 | 7 | 13th November 2005 | 12th February 2006 | 4.61 | ||
| 8 | 8 | 7th May 2006 | 30th July 2006 | 4.45 | ||
| 9 | 6 | 28th January 2007 | 4th March 2007 | 7.45 | 19th October 2012 | |
| P | 1 | 25th July 2007 | 4.50 | 3rd March 2008 | ||
| 10 | 10 | 7th October 2007 | 23rd December 2007 | 7.01 | 25th October 2010 | |
| 11 | 6 | 22nd June 2008 | 27th July 2008 | 5.94 | 25th April 2011 | |
| 12 | 8 | 2nd November 2008 | 28th December 2008 | 7.32 | 5th August 2016 | |
| 13 | 7 | 21st June 2009 | 2nd August 2009 | 7.17 | 8th August 2011 | |
| 14 | 7 | 15th November 2009 | 3rd January 2010 | 6.69 | 23rd April 2012 | |
| 15 | 6 | 27th June 2010 | 1st August 2010 | 6.25 | 20th August 2012 | |
| 16 | 8 | 21st December 2010 | 27th February 2011 | 7.19 | 1st October 2012 | |
| 17 | 6 | 26th June 2011 | 31st July 2011 | 6.42 | 1st October 2012 | |
| 18 | 8 | 28th December 2011 | 11th March 2012 | 6.07 | 24th March 2016 | |
| 19 | 7 | 27th January 2013 | 10th March 2013 | 6.58 | 9th September 2013 | |
| 20 | 6 | 30th June 2013 | 4th August 2013 | 5.31 | 9th September 2013 | |
| 21 | 7 | 2nd February 2014 | 16th March 2014 | 6.49 | 12th June 2015 | |
| 22 | 10 | 27th December 2014 | 28th June 2015 | 6.49 | 17th June 2016 | |
For home video releases, the UK release date is indicated in plain text, and may not necessarily mark the first time a series was released for home viewing. Italicised dates indicate that the series never saw a home video release in the UK, but can be imported through Mainland Europe and watched on a Region 2 DVD player.
Episodes
Main article: Top Gear (2002 TV series)/Episodes
Officially, there is no definitive episode count. Most official and semi-official sources such as Wikipedia only count seasonal episodes, meaning that Series 12, Episode 4 was considered to be the show's 100th episode, which coincidentally featured Harry Enfield as the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car, who was also the show's very first guest. However, this count deliberately omits the Polar Special, as at the time the episode was one-of-a-kind.
AlexTGRF's unofficial count
Depending on whether or not one includes the Top Gear: From A-Z two-part compilation special from December 2015 as part of the show's overall chronology, there are either 186 or 188 episodes of the 2002 format.
- Series 1, Episode 1 - Series 9, Episode 6 make up the show's first 80 episodes.
- The Polar Special is the 81st episode.
- Series 10, Episode 1 - Series 15, Episode 5 make up episodes 82 - 125, with Series 12, Episode 3 the 100th episode.
- The Christmas 2010 Specials are episodes 126 and 127, and are also the first two episodes of Series 16.
- The same applies to the following year's India Special, which is the 140th episode and the first episode of Series 18.
- The 50 Years of Bond Cars Special which aired in October 2012 is the show's 148th episode.
- Top Gear: Festival Sydney, a live crossover event from August 2013 filmed in Australia with presenters from the then-recently disbanded Top Gear Australia, is the 162nd episode despite never airing in the UK. It can be considered a "lost" episode due to this distinction.
- The first series of James May's Cars of the People, which were broadcast and distributed with the subtitle of "A Top Gear Special", make up episodes 170 - 172.
- The two-part Patagonia Special, along with the live An Evening with Top Gear special, preface Series 22 and make up episodes 173 - 175.
- After The Big Send-Off Special, the final 3 - 5 episodes include the second series of James May's Cars of the People, and may or may not include Top Gear: From A-Z.
Possible additions
Presuming that the higher count of 188 is used as a base, there are a number of other episodes which can raise this count further.
- If the two charity specials specials featuring the Top Gear name are included in the overall count, the episode count rises to 190.
- If the Stars in Fast Cars pilot is also included, the revised episode count is 191.
- From 2009 - 2014, there were 6 straight-to-DVD specials which aired on television in the United States, but not in the UK. If these are counted, the episode count is 197.
- In 2007 and 2008, there were also two interactive DVDs produced by Richard Hammond, which if counted raise the total number of episodes to 199.
- If the 2021 Top Gear: A Tribute to Sabine Schmitz tribute show is counted, the number of Top Gear episodes rises to a round figure of 200, which also coincidentally serves as Jeremy Clarkson's 400th episode since 1988.
- If the D-Motor and Top Gear Australia versions of Top Gear crossover events are counted, the number of episodes rise to 202.
- One of the 2006 Best of Top Gear specials, subtitled "The Special Guests", features new footage presented by Jimmy Carr, which could rise the number of episodes to 203.
- From 1996 - 2011, host Jeremy Clarkson released his own home videos. If only those which take place at Dunsfold Aerodrome onwards are counted, the number increases to 212.
- If only those filmed during the Top Gear revival are counted, the number rises to 213, and if all 16 home videos are counted, the number is 219.
- Penultimately, if Top Gear: Revved Up (Thrashing, Crashing and Trashing), a 2005 DVD release which features a small amount of new footage and which never aired on TV is included, the final episode count is 220.
- Finally, if all 64 other Best of Top Gear episodes are counted, the total number of episodes jumps to 284, however, these do not include any new footage and are essentially glorified repeats.
There are many more permutations featuring further compilation series such as Top Gear: Best of British and Top Gear: Top 40 which raise the count beyond 300, but these stretch the definition of what constitutes an episode of Top Gear and so have not been mentioned. There is also the 2012 Children in Need "Special" which did not feature any of the active presenters and was shown on BBC's Breakfast news programme.
Possible subtractions
There are likewise a number of episodes which can be removed.
- If only seasonal episodes of Top Gear are counted, then there are just 170 episodes. If every special which aired off-season outside of the Polar Special and Bond Special are re-instated, the number becomes 176.
- From there, the two-part specials (Africa, Burma, and Patagonia) were later folded into singular episodes for re-broadcast and home distribution, leaving just 168 or 173 episodes.
- There is also the question of the Winter Olympics Special, which may lower the count further to 175, 172, or to as low as 167 if subtracted.
