[madmusician]

Chris Harris has been doing the media rounds today, as his memoirs have been released. He said very little (in a very classy way) about the Flintoff accident on Breakfast this morning:

twitter.com 

I've just bought the Harris e-book and flicked through the Top Gear bits, hoping for some juicy gossip from the 2016 Chris Evans series, especially as Harris has hinted at various things in interviews over the years. There's not really very much there on that subject, just saying that Evans had made it clear that he didn't like him very much, and very much making it sound as though the whole production team were quite grateful that Evans had decided to stand down - and we kind of knew that already.

There's plenty of interesting stuff there, though (for example, the fact that the production team deliberately took Rory Reid out of the 'travel' films and made them two-handers from the 2018 series onwards, and that Flintoff and McGuinness were screen-tested alongside Harris who was certain to be staying in a new line-up) and I'd definitely recommend the book for anybody who's interested in the latest iterations of Top Gear. And I haven't even got into the earlier chapters about his motor journalism, which I'm very interested in reading soon!

[TMD_24]

Top Gear has been "rested" for the foreseeable future according to the BBC.

I think this is another term for being "axed".

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[nwtv2003]

I don’t think there will be many tears shed for the end of the current iteration of the show, but I think it’s still a shame after all these years. More so when the Paddy/Freddie/Chris version was finding its feet. Given the severity of Fred’s accident it’s probably the right choice.

[IanJRedman]

Horrible way for any show to go, with a series rendered part-complete - which presumably will never be seen.

[madmusician]

This isn't the most surprising news, and it's not really going to move the dial of public opinion in the same way that the Clarkson/Evans stuff did in 2015/16.

The fact that the brand continues (and that the current iteration of the UK TV show isn't really what most people think of when they hear 'Top Gear') means that I can see it returning at some point to UK TV screens, once the dust has settled on this (very saddening) incident and a new production team fancies a crack at it. I'm talking in maybe 10 years time, here - there's clearly still a strong brand there and the opportunity to make a car/travel-based factual-entertainment show around the format.

I look forward to seeing the new projects from Chris Harris, especially. He has been the break-out star, for me, of 2016+ Top Gear.

Seems like an ideal time for me to write the series of blog posts that I have in mind regarding the Chris Evans era/behind the scenes stuff from that period. Must get round to it soon...!

[Brekkie]

Is frustrating when shows are "rested" rather than channels admitting they're axed, but that probably is the truth in this case.

[VMPhil]

Both a massive shame and completely understandable. I think a lot of people slept on this version of Top Gear and didn't realise how great it actually was - certainly miles better than anything The Grand Tour put out recently.

[IanJRedman]

Meanwhile, did we know that a local Australian version has been commissioned?

deadline.com 

‘Top Gear’ Australia Is Heading To Paramount+ – Deadline
'Top Gear Australia' is heading to Paramount+ from BBC Studios
  Source: deadline.com

Coming to Paramount+.

[JAS84]

Top Gear has been "rested" for the foreseeable future according to the BBC.

I think this is another term for being "axed".

x.com 

Isn't that the same thing they said about Doctor Who in 1990? That it was only being rested and hadn't been cancelled? It came back for one US-produced episode in 1996, then didn't return properly until 2005.

[Stooky Bill]

Worth remembering that it was axed/rested in 2001, and then came back. The brand continued then as it does now so I don't see why it might not return in some form in the future