Editing Jason Barlow

|fullname=Jason Barlow|origin=uk|sex=Male|occ=Presenter|media=Driven|occ2=Presenter|media2=Top Gear (1977 TV series)|occ3=Presenter|media3=Wrong Car, Right Car|occ4=Editor|media4=Car (magazine)|occ5=Writer|media5=Top Gear Magazine (UK)|debut=Driven/Series 1/Episode 1|debshort=Driven: Series 1, Episode 1|year=1998|final=Wrong Car, Right Car/Series 2/Episode 15|finshort=WCRC: Blowout|year2=2003}}

Born in 1971<ref>[https://www.nmplive.co.uk/jason-barlow NMP Live - Jason Barlow.]</ref> in Newtownards<ref>[https://www.thefreelibrary.com/I+was+Driven+to+make+a+marque+on+television;+MOTOR+MAD+JASON+BARLOW...-a060959276 The Free Library - Jason Barlow Interview.]</ref>, County Down, before moving to Bangor, Jason Barlow would study law at Manchester University before obtaining a post-graduate diploma in periodical journalism from Cardiff University in 1993. Barlow would present [[Channel 4]]'s ''[[Driven]]'' from its inception in 1998 until 2000<ref>[https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b843b5ea5 BFI - Driven (08/02/2000).]</ref>, when he was picked up by the [[BBC]] for ''[[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|Top Gear]]'', following in the footsteps of fellow former ''Driven'' alumnus [[James May]].

Barlow would make his [[Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 44/Episode 1|inaugural appearance]] on ''Top Gear'' in September 2000 for the programme's [[Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 44|44th series]], which had recently seen the joint departures of [[Quentin Willson]] and [[Kate Humble]]. He would go on to make 53 appearances in total, and very briefly become ''Top Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s lead host from December 2001 until March 2002, presenting one episode in this capacity, the [[Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 45/2002 Awards Special|2002 Awards Special]]. This happened after previous lead host [[Tiff Needell]], along with co-hosts [[Vicki Butler-Henderson]] and [[Adrian Simpson]] all left<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1918330.stm BBC News - ''Top Gear'' finds a new home.]</ref> ''Top Gear'' to present Channel 5's ''[[Fifth Gear]]'' at the behest of former editor [[Richard Pearson]]. Barlow did not have this luxury, as his contract with the BBC kept him locked to the station until 2003. He would present ''[[Wrong Car, Right Car]]'' with [[Dominic Littlewood]] for two series<ref>[http://www.pebblemill.org/blog/wrong-car-right-car/ What Was Pebble Mill? - Wrong Car, Right Car.]</ref> until April 2003 as the programme's "specialist". He had first been introduced to Littlewood as part of the BBC's [[BBC Motor Show TV Specials/Motor Show 2002|final]] motor show special in October 2002, alongside [[Suzi Perry]], which was the last in a line of programmes that had been running uninterrupted on the network for 50 years.

Though expected to continue as ''Top Gear'' host due to his commitment to working for the BBC, Barlow's role on the show would be unexpectedly terminated by [[Jeremy Clarkson]] not long after the latter's return<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1888721.stm BBC News - ''Clarkson Back in'' Top Gear.]</ref> to ''Top Gear'' in March 2002. Despite a meeting<ref>[https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/jeremy-clarkson-and-i-simply-didnt-gel-and-suddenly-my-dream-job-on-top-gear-was-no-more-reveals-jason-barlow-35020411.html Belfast Telegraph - Jason Barlow Interview.]</ref> at a restaurant in Notting Hill in addition to a screen-test which seemed to go well, Clarkson and Barlow did not get along well with each other, and his role on the show would be replaced by [[Richard Hammond]]. Barlow would make the decision to retire from television in 2007, after presenting a pair of car-themed documentaries for [[Sky/Sky One|Sky One]] in August of 2005 and December the year prior, a role in which he was ironically also replaced by Hammond for the "series" third-installment, ''Greatest Ever Screen Chases''<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499030/ IMDb - ''Greatest Ever Screen Chases''.]</ref>, in December 2005. Barlow would then return to his old employers at Channel 4 to present an episode of ''Dispatches'', as well as interviewing famed movie director David Lynch<ref>[https://www.bafta.org/media-centre/transcripts/bafta-television-lecture-david-lynch BAFTA - David Lean Lecture: David Lynch.]</ref> following his 2007 BAFTA win.

Starting from July 2004, Barlow would be appointed<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061110054235/http://www.emap.com/press-office-item.asp?Resource=2474 Emap Press Office - Emap Automotive Appoints Jason Barlow as Editor of CAR.]</ref> as editor of ''[[Car (Magazine)|Car]]'' magazine, a role which he would hold<ref>[https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/author/jason-barlow/ Car Magazine - Jason Barlow.]</ref> until 2006. After that, he would continue to work for the BBC and its associated ''Top Gear''-themed [[Top Gear Magazine/UK|magazine]] thereafter, and occasionally present videos for its website, including an interview of Formula 1 driver [[Michael Schumacher]] in 2009. In August 2021, he would make an appearance<ref>[https://play.acast.com/s/sold-as-seen/with-jason-barlow-gq-top-gear Acast - Sold As Seen With Jason Barlow (GQ, Top Gear).]</ref> for RMS Motoring's "Sold As Seen" podcast, where he talked about his career. That same year, Barlow would also briefly make a return to television after a fourteen-year hiatus by appearing in three episodes of ex-colleague Vicki Butler-Henderson's [[The Car Years (2019 TV series)/Series 2|second series]] of her ''[[The Car Years (2019 TV series)|Car Years]]'' TV programme as a judge.