Top Gear presenter Chris Evans steps down after just 6 episodes

Patrik Marek · Jul 5, 2016

to be honest, I havent' seen any of the new episodes yet, but Chris together with Eddie Jorden sounded like very strange people for such show. Also Sabine, as good as driver she is, I don't think she is suitable for such show, what she could have been was shown a little bit shown in the special episode UK vs Germans, and she wasn't that good in that one imo

Hammond, May and Clarkson had unique chemistry and that's what made the show for me. their messing about, complaining, etc.

MoerasGrizzly · Jul 5, 2016

Jon Turner said:
Does she sound pissed everytime she speaks, but for track car tests she is spot on and funny. That said so is Chris Harris.

That's just the german accent

Patrik Marek said:
to be honest, I havent' seen any of the new episodes yet, but Chris together with Eddie Jorden sounded like very strange people for such show. Also Sabine, as good as driver she is, I don't think she is suitable for such show, what she could have been was shown a little bit shown in the special episode UK vs Germans, and she wasn't that good in that one imo

Sabine Schmidt was a semi-regular on fifth gear. Her and Tiff Needell trash talking eachother whenever they do car tests is a lot of fun to watch

Heck, fifth gear in itself had a good lineup with Jason Plato and Tiff Needell in that mix. I suppose ex-racing drivers are just the best people to be around.

Patrik Marek · Jul 5, 2016

I liked Tiff a lot, in the old Top gear, but it was really more of a car show, and I have to say that I enjoy the sillyness of Clarkson, Hammond & May more

Paul Jeffrey · Jul 5, 2016

Benutzername said:
J. Villeneuve?

Now that sir, is a good idea !

Nick Milton · Jul 5, 2016

Lorenzo Bonder said:
One thing I can say.

(If confirmed) compared to what Jeremy did, it makes Jeremy the ultimate holy saint between the Top Gear lead presenters.

One does not sexually harass someone and expect to come safe and sound and undiscovered.

But back to the Top Gear matter:

The weak link has been removed. Now keep only those five AND PUSH CHRIS HARRIS AND RORY REID TO A GREATER STATUS ON THAT SHOW, HELL MAKE THEM CO-PRESENT WITH MATT THE DAMN SHOW.

Their chemistry is golden.

I agree in principle about top gear, but i would say that rock groups and tv stars get young girls flaunting arround all the time, i doubt that there isnt a rock star alive that hasnt been offered and followed through, since 1960. guilty untill proven innocent is happening, take cliff richard! no charge to answer, but the politically correct do gooders of this new world, have branded him now. forever. and many others face this also. at the end of the day, if your early 20s or most ages really, and girls ( whom look older than they are, lets face it we all know that) flirt, theyll accept, , man + women = human nature. afraid thats the only combination.

fortyfivekev · Jul 5, 2016

Would be funny to see Cameron, Boris and Farage "team-up". Like the original trio they appear to hate each other but have good chemistry anyway.

Failing that Chris Harris, Rory and Tiff would be my choice. Tiff and Chris can drive and Rory is an amusing Captain Slow replacement. Top Gear is mostly about Brits doing dumb things abroad and they should stick to that.

Grand Tourist · Jul 5, 2016

I have stated this in a reply to the introduction of the new Top Gear presentors article by RD before and I will do again now. ...
For me these 3 only will compare to the former outstanding performance of the infamous trio:

If you don't know these people do not bother to reply (I'm Belgian and even I know them) but if chemistry is what you seek, you need this. Thorough knowledge of cars is not necessarely a must, knowledge of performing and presenting however is a HUGE MUST to keep standards up there.
I saw from the trailers broadcast already Chris Evans and Matt Leblanc are forced into their character, Sabine is a excellent driver but she is as boring as German perfection can get, no offence intended.
Chris Harris I appreciated in YouTube very much, not too sure about prescript Top Gear presenting though, not his cup of tea I think, but sure the better reviewer of the lot. But do we need reviewers and good pilots when we have the Stig and the hot lap to prove the car performance?
Top Gear is all about great presenting with quality humour, bringing over chemistry to the audience and showing off fantastic cars with Professional (capital P) camera crew and ultra quality editing.
Hugh Laurie and Rowan Atkinson have so much chemistry as proven in Blackadder, Jonathan Ross is just so wicked in his radio comments and has that right face and attitude to give some in your face replies to the other duo.
But hey, who am I?

Bram Hengeveld · Jul 5, 2016

Chris should have physically abused some of the BBC staff first to earn the respect of the Top Gear viewership and he would have had more chance to succeed.

Don't get it why Clarkson is still hailed after being exposed as being a huge prick towards the people he works with. You don't hit other people, period.

There is only one suitable host for Top Gear left and that's Vicky Pollard!

They don't scare me! Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got, I'm just Vicky Pollard from round the corner from the block. V to the P to the Icky to the Ollard

cmtr · Jul 5, 2016

Evans grew as the show progressed but ultimately is not as good as the rest. I like LeBlanc, he can drive and so can Harris. Keep LeBlanc, Harris and Reid. In my view Jordan reminds me of Captain Slow in that I laugh at him, not with him. They should keep him for their journey/mission stuff. Sabine can come in and do reviews with Harris.

Andrew Harper · Jul 5, 2016

I wasn't expecting the "new" Top Gear to gel straight away. If you've seen any of the very first series on Dave it has slightly the same feel, slightly forced, still finding their way a little which is understandable.

I see the new series as still a work in progress, the articles are good and as usual well made. I managed to catch up a little last night with the series and Matt LeBlanc and his "tour of London" just wonderful to watch and allowed him to be more himself I think.

I am enjoying them and they still need to find their feet a little.

As for the team I had no issues with Chris being signed but his constant shouting did get on my nerves and yet I don't get it. On the Radio he's a brilliant host, a very different character. It's almost like he was trying to go back to Big Breakfast style again.

I will still keep watching it and still support it, simply because the market for these shows is dying. Talent and reality shows are cheaper and easier to make and I don't want any more of those!

Looking forward to the Grand Tour though, will be interesting to see how that goes.

Paul Bennett · Jul 5, 2016

Lablanc -

Harris -

Reid -

Evans -

Sabine -

Jordan -

All it needs now is a new front man, someone who has a good history of presenting. Their were a lot of big names were mentioned before it started, I think the Beeb should reconsider some of them

Lorenzo Bonder · Jul 5, 2016

And Evans won't be replaced.

My prayers have been attended.

MORE CHRIS AND RORY TIME! YAY!

And Mr.LeBlanc, batter up. You're the lead now.

Alberto Casado · Jul 5, 2016

For me Evans was just not it. Too much yelling, hardly any fun or substance.

Leblanc has a bit slow sense of humor, but he just needs some counterpart that is even able and he can be at least decent.

Harris is good as a car reviewer, should become co-presenter.

I'm half/half on Rory, its a little bit dull, but of course millions of times better that than the screaming unbearable Evans.

Sabine is OK, but probably not enough English finesse for proper banter.

I think when next season or the season after (or the one after) Button retires he would be golden in such a role. He is funny, knows about cars, and had the right amount of venom for the nasty jokes, but with tons more class than Clarkson could ever muster (sorry fans, but late years he behaves more and more like a rabid monkey).

Laurie would be also great but I doubt he has the time.

Deleted member 130869 · Jul 5, 2016

Matt was surprisingly dull at Graham Norton's show, at least the first time. The second time he was slightly looser, which is something I've noticed different from episode 3 vs 1, like he is warming up. But who knows how much actual charisma he has without a script dictating it?

This departure without replacement is good news for season 2 of the new Top Gear. I see the challenges and footage improving this season and overall being already at par of better than the past few years. It must be the nature of the rollercoaster of creativity, perhaps the show is on an upward swing.

MoerasGrizzly · Jul 5, 2016

Andrew Harper said:
I wasn't expecting the "new" Top Gear to gel straight away. If you've seen any of the very first series on Dave it has slightly the same feel, slightly forced, still finding their way a little which is understandable.

Oh yeah, if you look at the first season of the new Top Gear (Which was then called Top Gear Extra) which I once downloaded of the net for historical reasons (yes, that's my flimsy legal defence

), you'll also see the cast not really having warmed up. Crucially, James May was not part of the crew then. He was a replacement for one of the other presenters (But unfortunately not for Hammond...).

Jose Borges · Jul 6, 2016

I really don't think Chris was that bad! People pointed out that he was trying to copy Clarkson and forget that most likely he was playing a role in a show format. Chemistry can't be built right away. If we go back and watch the first episodes of Top Gear in this format, Hammond and Clarkson didn't combine that well and jokes were as forced as Chris and Leblanc were doing. This needs time and i think people are being too harsh on him.
Leblanc will always be Joey and you can see a lot of the character/actor when he hosts the show but i think that's part of the deal. With time he'll be a Top Gear presenter.
Probably this was a "let's see what happens" season.
With the new format the thing i hated the most was the rallycross stage with the guests. The car doesnt scream, looks planted, no one can make it fly and i can't focus on a single guest... 2 is too much. It should be smth like lets make the driver blind and add a copilot. MAYBE that would be interesting and sttupid and entertaining because that's what the show is all about.

Brendan Little · Jul 6, 2016

i'm still sticking by a different celebrity presenter every week that also does the challenges. So you have someone like Simon Pegg present the show with Matt and he does the challenge for that week as well. He also gets to do the other little bits but Matt does all the lap times etc.. I think it would mix it up a little and go down the route of Have I Got News For You where Angus was soo good it was hard to fill his shoes so they mixed it up every time. I reckon it would be magic.