So it’s official that Chris Evans is going to front the new incarnation of Top Gear. I have mixed feelings but, on balance, I think that Evans is a good, perhaps even the best, choice (though he has a very tough act to follow).
I generally (unless it’s Doctor Who) hate remakes of films/TV shows - The Italian Job, Alfie, The Sweeney, Starsky & Hutch, Knight Rider, The A Team are prime examples - because why mess with something that was perfect in the first place. New Top Gear, if it seeks to closely replicate the Clarkson/Hammond/May (CHM) era, will become a naff pastiche…
…and I would hate it.
Evan’s has his work cut out for him to do something rather different but whilst retaining some of Top Gear’s DNA (humour, irreverence, edginess, slapstick, entertainment over education). The Top Gear format under Clarkson had been consistent for some time, and arguably a little tired; so a refresh isn’t necessarily bad news for the hordes of Top Gear fans (like me).
Looking on the bright side, the BBC has a track record of pulling off significant change – think Doctor Who – Matt Smith was surprisingly good in the role that David Tennant had so comprehensively owned prior to Smith’s appointment.
So I find myself in the odd position of simultaneously mourning the passing of CHM, whilst genuinely looking forward to experiencing the Evans’ re-imagination.
Chris Evans is certainly a good presenter and entertainer, he has plenty of ideas, he is a known petrolhead and he has enough status for the gig; but he sounded a bit ropey whilst in the Ferrari with Clarkson during the TFI Friday sketch aired last week.
Is Evans a good enough driver?
Can he recruit a good enough support team?
Does he have some engineering knowledge to support his enthusiasm for the car?
Only time will tell. But I hope he pulls it off.
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I generally (unless it’s Doctor Who) hate remakes of films/TV shows - The Italian Job, Alfie, The Sweeney, Starsky & Hutch, Knight Rider, The A Team are prime examples - because why mess with something that was perfect in the first place. New Top Gear, if it seeks to closely replicate the Clarkson/Hammond/May (CHM) era, will become a naff pastiche…
…and I would hate it.
Evan’s has his work cut out for him to do something rather different but whilst retaining some of Top Gear’s DNA (humour, irreverence, edginess, slapstick, entertainment over education). The Top Gear format under Clarkson had been consistent for some time, and arguably a little tired; so a refresh isn’t necessarily bad news for the hordes of Top Gear fans (like me).
Looking on the bright side, the BBC has a track record of pulling off significant change – think Doctor Who – Matt Smith was surprisingly good in the role that David Tennant had so comprehensively owned prior to Smith’s appointment.
So I find myself in the odd position of simultaneously mourning the passing of CHM, whilst genuinely looking forward to experiencing the Evans’ re-imagination.
Chris Evans is certainly a good presenter and entertainer, he has plenty of ideas, he is a known petrolhead and he has enough status for the gig; but he sounded a bit ropey whilst in the Ferrari with Clarkson during the TFI Friday sketch aired last week.
Is Evans a good enough driver?
Can he recruit a good enough support team?
Does he have some engineering knowledge to support his enthusiasm for the car?
Only time will tell. But I hope he pulls it off.
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