Motor Week (UK)
| Motor Week (UK) | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Episodes | 235 |
| First aired | 1997 |
| Country of origin |
 Great Britain |
| Status | No longer airing |
| Concluded | 2002 |
Motor Week (later stylised as Motorweek during its final series but of no relation to the long-running American series of the same name) was the name of an automotive journalism programme created by the British Granada network, where it aired as part of their digital-only Men & Motors TV station. The programme aired from the 2nd October 1997 through to the 28th March, 2002 as a digitally-based competitor against the BBC's Top Gear. Nine series would air in total, in an unusual year-round format which saw the show on the air for all 235 weeks of the programme's duration, occasionally re-airing previously filmed content in order to make sure there was an episode every single week.
Upon its launch in 1997, Motor Week was headed by Mike Rutherford and Ginny Buckley, the latter of which would serve in her role for the first six series of the programme and can be considered a major achievement for a female automotive journalist. Ian Royle would also be a significant presence on the programme, starring in 129 episodes and becoming joint "lead" host during its third and fourth series, following the departure of Rutherford in 1998, his final film for the programme airing as the first episode of Series 3. Motor Week is perhaps best known for launching the career of Richard Hammond, who debuted on the programme in June 1998, as well as serving as a refuge for the disgraced Brendan Coogan following his July 1999 DUI[1] conviction. From February 1998 until January 2002, the programme would also see out the end of Chris Goffey's career as an automotive journalist, which begun all the way back in 1972. Following the completion of its ninth series in 2002, Motor Week was effectively cancelled due to Hammond signing on to present the relaunched Top Gear that October.
232 of the 235 episodes of Motor Week can be watched[2] on Men & Motors' post-discontinuation YouTube channel. A 233rd, the 2001 Motor Show special in Germany, can be seen on Dailymotion, whereas two others, Series 1, Episode 19 and Series 8, Episode 24, remain missing for unknown reasons.
Series overview[edit | edit source]
All series of Motor Week contained 25 episodes, apart from the final series which contained 35.
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series premiere | Series finale | ||
| 1 | 25 | 2nd October 1997 | 19th March 1998 |
| 2 | 25 | 26th March 1998 | 10th September 1998 |
| 3 | 25 | 14th September 1998 | 4th March 1999 |
| 4 | 25 | 11th March 1999 | 25th August 1999 |
| 5 | 25 | 26th August 1999 | 17th February 2000 |
| 6 | 25 | 24th February 2000 | 10th August 2000 |
| 7 | 25 | 17th August 2000 | 1st February 2001 |
| 8 | 25 | 8th February 2001 | 26th July 2001 |
| 9 | 35 | 2nd August 2001 | 28th March 2002 |
Presenters[edit | edit source]
Below is a list of presenters for Motor Week. Note that this list is not exhaustive, and only includes hosts who were credited for at least one on-screen appearance.
Italicised names indicate presenters who were credited as lead host for at least one episode, whilst Bold names signify presenters who held this status for at least 5 episodes.
| Name | Appearances | Series | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||
| Richard Hammond | 158 (100 as lead) | Minor | Major | Lead host | ||||||
| Ginny Buckley | 134 (60 as lead) | Lead host | Major | Minor | ||||||
| Ian Royle | 129 (18 as lead) | Major | Lead host | Major | ||||||
| Chris Goffey | 78 (12 as lead) | Lead host | Major | |||||||
| Ken Gibson | 74 (3 as lead) | Major | ||||||||
| Peter Baker | 43 (42 uncredited)[3] | Minor | Major | Minor | Minor | |||||
| Glenda McKay | 42 (2 as lead) | Minor | Major | |||||||
| Mike Rutherford | 39 (21 as lead) | Lead host | Major | Minor | ||||||
| Howard Stableford | 38 (4 as lead) | Minor | Major | Minor | Major | Minor[4] | ||||
| Phil Sayer | 21 (3 as lead) | Minor | Major | |||||||
| Rob Hallam | 19 (3 as lead) | Minor | Major | |||||||
| Brendan Coogan | 16 | Minor | Minor | Major | ||||||
| Elisa Portelli | 11 | Minor | Major | Minor | ||||||
| Steve Fowler | 6 (2 as lead) | Minor | Minor | |||||||
| Francesca Robinson | 4 | Minor | ||||||||
| Beverley French | 3 (1 as lead) | Minor | ||||||||
| Jeremy Taylor | 3 | Minor | ||||||||
| Louise Brady | 3 | Minor | ||||||||
| Rachel Ford | 1 | Minor | ||||||||
| Mark Lloyd | 1 | Minor | ||||||||
| Tony Zenka | 1 | Minor | ||||||||
| Helen Brumby | 1 | Minor | ||||||||
| Paul Johnston | 1 | Minor | ||||||||
Note that main host status varied on an episode-by-episode basis; Rutherford and Buckley largely alternated this role until Chris Goffey's arrival in 1998, whereupon Rutherford was demoted to secondary host. From Series 7, the role was usually Hammond's.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ BBC News - Top Gear host quits after conviction.
- ↑ Men & Motors YouTube Channel.
- ↑ As narrator, Baker only received one credit as presenter even though he made several physical appearances.
- ↑ Stableford moved to Colorado to be with his wife during this time, and returned only to present American motor shows.
