Reverse for cult show as stars quit
The format of Top Gear, as loved by millions of fans around the world, was dealt a fatal blow yesterday as its senior producer quit the BBC just hours after meeting the show’s three stars.
James May said yesterday that it would be ‘‘lame’’ for him and Richard Hammond to present Top Gear with ‘‘a surrogate Jeremy’’ and was photographed meeting his former co-hosts and Andy Wilman, the show’s executive producer, at Clarkson’s London flat.
The BBC confirmed later that Wilman, who co-created the current incarnation of Top Gear with his old schoolfriend Clarkson in 2002, had resigned, fuelling speculation the four will reunite at a rival broadcaster.
It also means the motoring show, when it returns next year, looks certain to have a totally new presenting lineup and will be missing both its key creative forces in Clarkson and Wilman.
Clarkson’s contract with the BBC was not renewed when it ran out at the end of March after he was found to have made an unprovoked attack on a junior producer. May and Hammond’s contracts expired at the same time.
‘‘Me and Hammond with a surrogate Jeremy is a non-starter,’’ said May. ‘‘It just wouldn’t work. That would be lame. It has to be the three of us. You can’t just put a surrogate Jeremy in and expect it to carry on. It would be forced. I don’t believe they would be stupid enough to try that.’’
He hinted that the trio may yet reunite on the BBC. ‘‘In the future, when all this has blown over, there might be an opportunity for three of us to get back together on the BBC to do Top Gear or a car show of some sort.
‘‘The BBC haven’t completely closed the door on Jeremy’s return. They’ve not banned him or fired him, only just not renewed his contract for the moment. It’s a subtle difference, but an important one.’’
He described it as a ‘‘bit of a daft idea’’ for May and Hammond to return to Top Gear without Clarkson and said: ‘‘I don’t think you could carry on with two people and put someone in as the new Jeremy.’’ May said there was ‘‘nothing to rule out’’ the possibility of reuniting for a motoring show on a BBC rival, with Netflix, the online streaming site, seen as a frontrunner.
Wilman sent an email to the Top Gear team last month entitled ‘‘au revoir’’, but denied at the time that it was a ‘‘resignation statement’’. He made no comment yesterday.
May, who makes other shows including James May’s Toy Stories, tweeted: ‘‘I have not quit the BBC, just so you know.’