Fifth Gear Is Back To Take On The Ailing Car Show Giants
The plucky underdog of British car shows is back after a two-year absence. Fifth Gear, which was originally spun out of the ashes of Old Top Gear in 2002 after the BBC show was cancelled, is filming new content.
The news was announced by long-time host Tiff Needell in a tweet that puts the show’s hiatus at three years (by the time it airs, the gap will have been two years, four months). After being broadcast for what appeared to be the final time in May 2016, with the former Top Gear presenter citing money as the main reason why production was halted, a new series is pencilled in for September.
With the show led by Tiff, possible returns could be on the cards for facial hair experimenter Jonny Smith, who recently tweeted about an upswing in the amount of TV work he was being offered, and Vicki Butler-Henderson, who now makes up a third of Auto Trader’s all-female REV car reviews team.
It could even recruit fresh faces from the depths of YouTube, now that advertising revenue on the site has apparently fallen through the floor for many small channels. We’re sure you guys can make a few suggestions on that front.
We have to take our hats off to the producers. When you’re competing against the likes of Top Gear and The Grand Tour, with their deep pockets and epic production values, it takes guts to offer a (relatively) low-budget alternative.
Perhaps the fluctuating presenter line-up and weaker studio segments at Top Gear, plus rumours that The Grand Tour isn’t long for this world (whether for financial reasons or just the presenters’ ages and/or desire to carry on), mean that Fifth Gear’s bosses see some chinks in the armour that seemed so impenetrable a couple of years ago. Time will tell what they deliver!
Comments
I think it’d be interesting it won’t be as childish as what the grand tour is but not dull like the top gear is it’d be a more intellectual car show so probably will see explanations like you see on car sos and the mechanic side of wheeler dealers then blowing caravans up or getting 7 hosts to replace the previous 3
Zonda Pigani
It’s not like as if the letters “i” and “a” are right next to each other on the keyboard right? C’mon Fifth Gear.
I never gave fifth gear a chance, mainly because I was a lot younger then and just always said Top Gear was better, it probably was… but because of that I never watched fifth gear. If it does come back, may have to give it a chance with the other shows dwindling down.
In my case, first it was exactly the opposite. I used to like Fifth Gear more because it was a true CAR show, while Top Gear was mainly just A SHOW involving cars, often bordering on pure buffoonery.
A show reviewing cars. Good.
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
Christ, I assumed Tiff was ready for retirement, but apparently not 😂 great news though!
Seeing tiff back in his element will be brilliant for sure 😄 his sports car reviews were more interesting than most hosts, as he is an actual racing driver, so keep this going 😊
I always thought fifth gear was a little bit of an underdog
Just get Tiff to replace Matt, he’s great and has worked with Chris a few times before
As long as we get to see Tiff scaring the crap out of Jason again, I’m happy.
As long as the drift contests amd autotests make a comeback, I’m down for this