The BBC provided television bosses with a sneak peek of the revamped Top Gear motoring show as part of its annual programming showcase.
A one minute and 40-second clip was played, in which Chris Evans can be seen feeling sick after a high-speed drive in an Audi R8, Sabine Schmitz races a jet fighter and Matt LeBlanc and Evans race from London to Blackpool in Reliant Rialto three-wheelers.
It also showed Chris Harris driving a Ferrari F12tdf and Rory Reid driving the Ford Mustang in Scotland. All presenters turned up in various supercars, including the Aston Martin DB10 from the James Bond movie Spectre.
One television buyer from the audience at the BBC Worldwide event, which took place at Echo arena in Liverpool, said the 700-plus crowd was impressed: “It went down a storm. The arena was packed and the clip was well received.”
The buyer added: “There was a great reaction to it.”
The BBC programming showcase had one unexpected guest. David Beckham came on to talk about his new BBC documentary, For The Love Of The Game, which shows him playing a football match on all seven continents.
Meanwhile David Attenborough was another star there to help peddle BBC shows to worldwide buyers. He has been announced as the presenter for Frozen Planet 2, which will air later in 2016.
So far, the full Top Gear roster is yet to be in the same place at the same time. Eddie Jordan welcomed LeBlanc to the team as part of a video message as he was said to be attending a charity event in South Africa.
Speaking at the show, Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc confirmed they will be Top Gear‘s main two hosts, with the other four and The Stig making appearances when needed.
The first show will feature the whole team – dubbed the “Magnificent Seven from motoring heaven” by Evans – when it airs in May 2016.
Since Evans took the helm, the show has been plagued by issues including a production team that was said to be lacking in car knowledge and the fact its lead host was unable to talk and drive (a claim later disputed by the Beeb). The show’s executive producer, Lisa Clark, also quit.
But one particular onlooker believes it’s all part of the plan. Speaking to the Radio Times, ex-Top Gear presenter James May said: “I’d like to see Chris’s Top Gear do well. It’s a ballsy call to continue it.
“I wouldn’t want to be the one presenting it when we’d just finished, but there must be a way of reinventing it. We always said it would survive beyond us.
“I think the stories about Chris’s version being in trouble might be an elaborate hoax, before it explodes onto our screens in brilliance.”
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May ended up at Amazon after the Clarkson punch-up ‘fracas’, where they are working on a new motoring show. The name of the show and release date is still unknown.
You can check out everything worth knowing about each presenter here. For more on Recombu Cars editor-in-chief, Rory Reid, give this a butcher’s.
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