TOP GEAR OR FLOP GEAR?

Before the show aired, Chris Evans said he hoped to get at least five million viewers – and given all the hype, that didn’t seem unduly optimistic. But in the event, he was disappointed, said The Daily Telegraph. Average viewing figures for the revamped Top Gear were only 4.4 million: that still made it the most-watched show at 8pm on Sunday, but it was Top Gear’s lowest rating for a season opener in a decade; and when social media users delivered their verdict, it was, in large part, merciless. Viewers complained about everything from the lack of chemistry between Evans and co-presenter Matt Leblanc and the paucity of jokes, to Evans’s shouty delivery. Some dubbed it Flop Gear; several posted old clips of the show’s former presenters – Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond – doubled up with laughter.

Let’s face it, said Andrew Billen in The Times: a lot of people were not just expecting Evans to fail, but willing him to. The press, having driven Clarkson off to Amazon, was on his case from early on. Still, it turns out that the reports of a sputtering start were not exaggerated. It’s not the format that has changed, said Sean O’grady in The Independent. Save for the “star in a reasonably priced car” segment, Top Gear retains its usual key elements: obscure cars that no one can afford, driven in exotic locations; tired jokes about Reliant Rialtos; “stupid stunts”; and clichés as “worn out as bald tyres”. (At one point, we had Leblanc informing us that driving an Ariel Nomad was “the most fun you can have with your clothes on”. Who writes this stuff?) What is missing is the sense of fun that gave the show its spark of originality. They don’t seem to be enjoying themselves much, “this new lot”.

There’s a lot riding on this for the BBC, said Jean Chalaby on The Conversation. Top Gear isn’t just a hugely successful TV show; it is a $1.5bn multiplatform entertainment franchise. With its proven format, the show should be able to survive a change in presenters – and the new line-up certainly makes commercial sense: the presence of former Friends star Leblanc and German racing driver Sabine Schmitz will help ensure that Top Gear retains viewers in “two of the world’s wealthiest media markets”. But what has gone was precious: the “extraordinary chemistry” between three friends who professed to loathe each other, which lent the show its “authenticity, intimacy and freshness”; the unpredictability wrought by Clarkson’s appetite for controversy; and the all-male perspective that so resonated with fans. Top Gear isn’t over; but it may have lost what made it distinctive.