Top Gear hosts revved up for new series
MATT LeBLANC, motoring journalist Chris Harris, 42, and Rory Reid aim for full throttle as they return to TV screens for Top Gear tonight.
The BBC Two motoring show is back with the trio at the helm and an impressive line-up of engine power.
Scottish actor James McAvoy will star as the first celebrity guest in the studio segment of the show.
Harris said that with the latest offering of the series viewers would get a “sense of wow” followed by “another layer that makes you think”.
The show’s executive producer, Clare Pizey, said comparisons to the old lineup which featured Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond were inevitable.
But she added: “We have to make the best show we can. We have a job to do.”
She said of the new trio: “It is much more natural. If you put three guys on a trip with three cars, the banter starts, they laugh and they have fun.
“They are all competitive in their own ways.”
This year the celebrity guest will be given a masterclass in driving by Harris, instead of The Stig, and they will be filmed as they go along.
However, The Stig will still feature in the series, along with guest appearances from the likes of Eddie Jordan and German racing pro Sabine Schmitz.
The show’s series editor, Alex Renton, added “the scale is bigger than the last.”