Like most productions across the UK, Top Gear has had to rethink its filming strategy as coronavirus continues to wreak havoc around the world. And ahead of the popular BBC motoring show’s latest series, which begins on Sunday, they have had to cut a major component out altogether.
In a recent interview, hosts Chris Harris, Paddy McGuinness and Freddie Flintoff addressed what viewers can expect to see in season 29, and what they can’t.
The Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment will be completely eradicated, but Chris won’t miss it.
“It wasn’t my favourite element,” he admitted.
“It was deemed to be an important component of the show, but in the wake of recent events it was the obvious thing to go.”
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The element saw famous guests try their hand at racing a road car around the Top Gear track, taking on the infamous twists and turns that former host Jeremy Clarkson loved so much.
The celebrities were assessed on speed alone and placed in order of the fastest to slowest lap on the leaderboard.
Alas it’s no more, but Chris reassured fans that guests will still appear on the show in the future.
“That’s not to say that there won’t be any guests on the show in the future,” he said.
“Our own country is beautiful,” he told Radio Times.
“We sometimes forget that, so it was nice to be rooted here.
“Bizarrely, in some ways lockdown created more opportunities as we got to go to venues we would never get access to otherwise, so I don’t think we get any less from this series, it was just different.”
Paddy chimed in with an alternative view: “In a funny way, it wasn’t that strange,” he said.
“We’re all used to sitting in our cars with our microphones, so it wasn’t that different.”
This series will see the boys take on more zany stunts, such as an adrenaline pumping Wall of Death, racing around an eerily empty Alton Towers theme park and a car slalom down a ski run in Cyprus.
The full Top Gear interview is available to read now in Radio Times.
Top Gear returns on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.