Top Gear

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Top Gear

TG Logo 2002.JPG The Top Gear logo as used from 2002 until early 2013.

TG Logo 1977.JPG Top Gear logo used in 1977.

TG Logo 1983.JPG Top Gear logo as used from 1983 until 1985.

TG Logo 1994.JPG Top Gear logo as used from 1993 until 2002.

TG Logo 2013.jpg Top Gear logo as used starting from 2013.


Episodes 869
First aired 1977
Country of origin Flaguk.png Great Britain
Status Ongoing
Concluded

For a particular version of Top Gear, please see Top Gear (disambiguation).

Top Gear is the name of an automotive-themed intellectual property created by Derek Smith in 1977. 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. A successful magazine of the same name was established in 1993, subsequently diversifying into foreign markets, and a live show was created in 1996 and ran twice, before being revived in 2003, with Top Gear (and later Fifth Gear) host Tiff Needell alongside Jeremy Clarkson transforming the basic format into a smaller-scale version that could be adapted for the stage.

Series overview[edit | edit source]

As of February 2022, 870 episodes of Top Gear have aired across 76 series. Traditionally, the first 550 of these are considered distinct from the latter 320, but further distinctions do exist.

Presenters[edit | edit source]

Since 1977, the British version of Top Gear has had 12 main hosts, who have served 13 tenures in total:

The longest serving main host by a considerable margin is Jeremy Clarkson, serving a combined tenure of 20 years and 7 months, during which he would present over 400 episodes of Top Gear. The shortest serving main host, by a factor of mere days, is Jason Barlow, who served as interim main host from Tiff Needell's departure in December 2001 through to Clarkson's re-appointment as lead host in March 2002, presenting just one episode in February 2002 before being vetoed as a host.

Timeline of presenters[edit | edit source]

Placeholder.

Page roadmap[edit | edit source]

To be a complete summary of the Top Gear intellectual property, the following is to be added to this page, which is otherwise very much a work-in-progress at this time:

  • International television adaptations
  • Expansion into other franchises (e.g. Motorsport, Waterworld etc.)
  • Merchandising and non-audiovisual media (i.e. games, trading cards etc.)

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. Unofficially until 22nd January, 1999.