Its critics said it had become too closely associated with its motormouth star. But after Jeremy Clarkson and his entourage left Top Gear[1], his on-air replacement has emerged as even more firmly in the driving seat.
Chris Evans[2] has become the chief creative force at the BBC2 programme following the departure of two programme insiders, executive producer Lisa Clark and script editor Tom Ford, and controller of the channel, Kim Shillinglaw, prompting questions as to whether the BBC is in danger of letting Evans run too much of the show.
A series of leaks to two newspapers in the Murdoch stable, the Times and the Sun on Sunday, have not helped. Some sources have noted that Murdoch's News UK, coincidentally, is the home of Clarkson's columns – in the Sunday Times and the Sun.
The picture the Sun on Sunday had on 17 January was of Evans being sick after doing a test drive. What the story failed to mention was that a number of presenters and professional drivers have been sick in the past doing similar test drives due to the forces created by travelling at such high speeds.
Never mind that, the die was cast. "Does new Top Gear presenter Chris Evans suffer from car sickness? Amid claims he won't live up to predecessor Jeremy Clarkson, the new Top Gear presenter was forced to get out of the car to be sick during filming," the Daily Telegraph reported in a piece which is likely to to have made Clarkson chuckle.
Evans will be the dominant presence on screen. Although Evans is the only name released by the BBC, Sabine Schmitz[6] has been pictured driving with Evans. But it is thought that in total there may be three or four co-presenters, who will be announced soon.
The programme is due to air in May, and programme insiders say the location filming is almost complete.
Contrary to some previous reports, the Top Gear audience shows will not be live but some twists to the previous format are expected. The Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment will continue but again, potentially with some changes to make it Evans's own.
At the root of the BBC's worries, said one senior television executive, was the feeling that the new team would produce a car show – reviewing cars – without the humour of Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May that helped make it the BBC's most lucrative programme, with rights sold around the world.
What may be the saving grace for the show, though, is that despite the executive departures, sources say Evans and the BBC[7] have not exchanged cross words and relations are said to be harmonious. Evans has also gone down well at the various international events he has attended, particularly in America.
But undoubtedly the exits have detracted from the show. Last year the BBC's director general, Tony Hall, was keen to point out on a number of occasions that Shillinglaw was overseeing the relaunch of Top Gear. Evans is, however, said to get on with her replacement Charlotte Moore.
Questions though still remain as to why Clark went. A source said she "wasn't afraid to stand up to him [Evans]. They should have recognised that really". But after her departure Evans and his team asked if they could not replace Clark and instead rely on the show's long-term series editor Alex Renton to continue overseeing things.
Such is Evans influence that he would normally be named executive producer but the BBC has banned stars from doing so following the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand Sachsgate furore. Instead Evans will take a job title with the word "creative" in it.
Production differences are not unusual on entertainment shows and the pressure on Evans is immense due to the weight of expectation that he will rescue the BBC's money-making machine. Evans is a man who defied his critics to make a success of Radio 2's morning show following the departure of Terry Wogan.
Clarkson, Hammond, May and executive producer Andy Wilman took years to build up the on-screen rapport and style of the presenting trio. Evans, however, does not have the luxury of time and as the man steering the show into a new era, he will be thrust into the spotlight from the start.
