Top Gear (2002 TV series)/Series 7

Series 7 (2002 format)
Series 7 saw an increased emphasis on Clarkson's co-hosts.
Episodes	7
Originally aired	13/11/2005 - 12/02/2006
Original network	BBC Two
Resolution	576i
Aspect ratio	16:9 Widescreen
Preceded by	Series 6 (2005)
Superceded by	Series 8 (2006)

The seventh series of Top Gear premiered in the United Kingdom on the 13th November, 2005, and concluded on the 12th February, 2006, after a run of 7 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 7 attracted an average viewership rating of 4.61 million viewers per episode, with a peak of 5.22 million viewers for Winter Olympics Special, and a low of 3.74 million viewers for Episode 1.

Highlights from this series include the race between two mountain climbers and an Audi RS 4, intercontinental race from Italy to London with Clarkson racing a Bugatti Veyron against Hammond and May in a private Cessna, and what many viewers consider to be the series' greatest Cheap Car Challenge; Italian Supercars for under £10,000 in the show's fourth episode.

Owing to Clarkson's slipped disc injury and pre-existing condition of osteo-arthritis, only six episodes were filmed during the series' initial run with Clarkson partaking in fewer filmed segments. This arguably allowed his two co-presenters, Hammond and May, to develop themselves as standalone personalities in their own right. In the end, the decision was made to film a seventh episode, the Winter Olympics Special, which became the very first Top Gear Special, albeit in a different format to future installments.