Hello CT. My name is Richard Porter and I was the script editor on Top Gear. Ask me anything.
After working on the show for 13 years, 22 series and 175 programmes, there’s quite a lot I can tell you about Top Gear. I know whose idea it was to get a dog, I was there when we got threatened by drug barons in Bolivia, I can give you the real story of that Porsche number plate.
After working on the show for 13 years, 22 series and 175 programmes, there’s quite a lot I can tell you about Top Gear. I know whose idea it was to get a dog, I was there when we got threatened by drug barons in Bolivia, I can give you the real story of that Porsche number plate. I’ve put all these things in my new book, but you can ask me about them anyway. Or something else. Up to you. I’m here all night. Try the soup in a basket.
Comments
Can I get an autograph?
Depends who you want it from.
how much does an average top gear episode costs?
I think the technical term was ‘shitloads’.
Who’s the funniest person off camera (between Clarkson, James, and Hammond)?
That’s very tricky. They’re all extremely funny. Jeremy tells good stories, Richard is good at one-liners, James has the most absurd sense of humour. And then you put them together and you get extra funny.
Since I’m not sure if this is fake or not:
What are you gonna do now with your life?
Oh this is real, my friend. At least I hope so, otherwise I’m having a very vivid hallucination.
What do you plan on doing since Top Gear is no more?
Gardening, tapestry, prostitution.
What was worse, the drug dealers in Bolivia, the nationalists in Argentina or the ultra right wing people in America that chased you?
I wasn’t there for the Argentina thing but it sounded very scary. Although, for quiet and simmering menace, you can’t beat a Bolivia drug lord.
Are you going to be the script editor for the new show?
Haven’t decided yet. They’ve asked, which is nice, but so have the other lot.
Who came up with the idea for TG dog and what happened to the dog?
Also will we see the rest of series 22?
It was James’s idea but she was Richard’s dog and she still lives with him and his family.
How much of Top Gear was actually scripted and how much was ad-lib?
Very hard to say but many things people thought were scripted were ad libs and vice versa. A heady blend of the two, usually.
what are the 2 facts that the Stig knows about ducks?
You might recall, the Stig knows two facts about ducks and both of them are wrong. As follows;