I’ve heard it suggested that Sabine Schmitz has a role on (British) Top Gear already.
I don’t know if they’d want someone who “loves” sportscars that much…
Brian Blessed
I was going to say no one, they should end the show, until I saw this.
That would be a wonderful thing, he already voices sat-navs.
DRIVE, MY HAWKMEN!
I wouldn’t like that. The current hosts have a good-natured antagonism to each other (or pretend to), but it’s not as if one of them is always better or smarter than the others. They’re all about equally daft, and equally clever, in their own ways. I wouldn’t want it to be “the smart woman puts the stupid guys in their place” every week.
Worse yet is the two males vs. one women dynamic. You think Ofcom got complaints before, wait until the men start making fun of the woman. The show is supposed to be obnoxiously funny, not a platform for gender warfare.
Oh I agree 100%, that’s why I said a presenter who is female could be good but not A Female Presenter, but she could still be more down to earth and serious just as her personality without bringing gender dynamics into it.
But yes, that’s probably asking too much of television these days.
Especially as female drivers are basically the only group the show’s always avoided mocking.
If this whole incident hadn’t occurred and Clarkson had just left the show for some inoccuous reason, then I think they could have replaced him without any problem - maybe with some comedian. And they could have carried on taking the piss out of Clarkson even after he’d gone.
But if they try to carry on now either with one replacement or with three new people then “the incident” is going to cast a shadow over the whole show. They’ll have to avoid mentioning it. It will seem awkward. I think they have to shelve the show and maybe reboot it in five years time when it’s all water under the bridge. They could probably even use Clarkson, Hammond and May again by then.
Jay Leno. Car guy but not a professional driver, comfortable presenting in a talk show format.
j/k
StG
Despite your “j/k”, I actually think that that’s the best suggestion in this thread. I think he would have good chemistry with May and Hammond, no one can question how worthy he is to step into the role of lead presenter for the most popular show in the world, and presumably he would bring a lot of interesting knowledge and passion to the show (whereas with a lot of the other car-mad celebrities, it seems more like they have one or two cars that they’re passionate about, rather than “cars” in general).
Good point.
The “notoriously un-PC” Clarkson gets very PC indeed on the subject of female racing drivers. And he seems to mean it, too.
How about they do a “Have I Got News For You” and have a different person each episode?
Another nomination for Vicki Butler-Henderson here. I thought her stint on the original Top Gear was very good. She was both humorous and knowledgeable. Besides, I have the hots for her.
Except, of course, for all those viewers in the UK, where he’s practically unknown.
“Practically unknown” is a bit much. He’s been on the show before and most car people have probably at least heard his name, since he’s such a huge collector. Anyway, it only takes a few seconds’ googling for the people who haven’t heard of him to find out he hosted one of the world’s most popular shows* for years. That said, I don’t think Leno is a good choice.
*granted, it was only popular in the US and Canada as far as I know, but we’re a big market.
His biggest drawback wouoldn’t be that he is/could be unknown.
His problems would be that he’s American and that he’s close to 65. I can’t see him doing any of the specials or even the long races.
They have to re-invent TG in the same way that “new” TG re-invented “old” TG.
VBH is not only more than a capable host and is also very pretty, she has the best voice ever of any woman ever.
Personally, I’ve always thought the long races were stupid and unentertaining. Who wants to watch Clarkson driving to the south of France and muttering to himself again? The specials and the used buying challenges are the truly great parts of the show.
Hmm, heard Charles Dance might have an open schedule, now he can reprise his tywin lanister role on TG.
Declan