CHANGES AND GROWING POPULARITY

In early 2006, the BBC made plans to move the programme’s film site
from Dunsfold to Enstone, Oxfordshire, in preparation for its eighth series.
These were later cancelled, after West Oxfordshire council strongly objected
to the planned move, on the basis of noise and pollution concerns.[14] As
a direct result, the broadcaster ordered that filming continued at Dunsfold
during May of that year, despite having no permit to do so,[15] with the
eighth series unveiling a revamped studio set. In addition, the ”Star in a
Reasonably Priced Car” segment was modified with new rules along with a
new car, while Hammond included one of his dogs for the series throughout
its studio segments, along with a number of films made for this series and
the next.
On 20 September, during production for the ninth series, Hammond was
seriously injured while driving a Vampire turbojet drag racing car at up to
314 miles per hour (505 km/h), as part of a planned feature, leading the
BBC to postpone the broadcast of Best of Top Gear until a later date, and
delaying production on the series until the presenter had recovered. Both the
BBC and the Health and Safety Executive carried out inquiries into the acci-
dent,[16] with filming later resuming on 5 October.[17] The opening episode
of the ninth series, aired on 28 January 2007, included footage of Hammond’s
crash;[18] while it was not repeated like other episodes in the programme, it
attracted higher ratings than the finale of Celebrity Big Brother,[19] provid-
ing one of the highest ratings for BBC Two for a decade, alongside the series
finale, which attracted around 8 million viewers.
Later that summer, on 25 July, the BBC aired a special edition episode
entitled Top Gear: Polar Special. It was one of the first episodes of the pro-
gramme to be shown in high-definition, and the third special to be produced,
focusing on a race to the North Magnetic Pole, at its recorded location in
1996, between a ”polar modified” Toyota Hilux and a dog sled. Considerable
planning and co-ordination for the filming of the episode was conducted by
both Top Gear’s production team and Toyota, with both Clarkson and May,
driving the Hilux, being the first people to reach the recorded location of the
North Magnetic Pole by car. It was one of a number of challenges in which
the presenters had to be focused and serious, despite the comedic scenes
shown, with another being on 9 September, when the presenters, including
The Stig, participated in the 2007 Britcar 24-hour race at Silverstone, using
a race-prepared, second-hand diesel BMW 330d, fuelled by biodiesel refined
from crops they had sown as part of an earlier feature.

1
 With popularity for the show rising to considerable levels, the waiting
list to get a ticket for a recording became extensive an individual seeking
a ticket, found that they would be required to wait for 21 years before se-
curing a place.[20] On 17 June 2008, Hammond and May revealed during
an interview on BBC Radio 1’s The Chris Moyles Show, that the eleventh
series would feature a new ”host” in the line-up,[21] who was later revealed
on the programme as ”Top Gear Stunt Man”, an individual who made few,
occasional appearances on the programme. From the twelfth series, feature-
length specials were created for the show, each visiting a different part of the
world for a road trip using second-hand cars, with a number produced to be
aired as a Christmas special. Despite growing popularity, an interview made
with the Radio Times by Wilman revealed that future programmes would
have less time devoted to big challenges, stating the following:[22]
”We’ve looked back at the last two or three runs and noticed that a
programme can get swallowed up by one monster film a bit like one of
those Yes albums from the 1970s where side one is just one track so we’re
trying to calm down the prog-rock side. We’ll inevitably still have big films,
because it’s the only way you can enjoy the three of them cocking about
together, but they’ll be shorter overall, and alongside we’ll be inserting two-
or three-minute punk songs.”
The success of the programme soon led to a live-version format being cre-
ated called Top Gear Live; produced by a former producer of the programme,
Rowland French,[23] the touring show aimed to attempt to ”bring the TV
show format to life... featuring breath-taking stunts, amazing special effects
and blockbusting driving sequences featuring some of the world’s best pre-
cision drivers”.[24] The Live tour began on 30 October 2008 in Earls Court,
London, moving on to Birmingham in November before being performed in
at least 15 other countries worldwide.
As the 14th series was being broadcast in late 2009, the programme be-
gan to attract criticism from some viewers, over its predictability through the
over-reliance on stunts and forced humour at the expense of serious content.
On 13 December 2009, controller of BBC Two Janice Hadlow appeared on
the BBC’s Points of View to reject such comments, purely on the evidence
of Top Gear’s ratings and audience appreciation figures.[25] However, a week
later on 20 December, Wilman admitted that the three presenters were now
”playing to their TV cartoon characters a bit too much”. His statement
included referring to ”this incarnation of Top Gear” being close to its end,
and that the production team would be working towards keeping its ”dig-

2
nity still intact”, while experimenting with new ideas for the programme.[26]
Nevertheless, a one-off special of the long-running US news programme 60
Minutes featuring Clarkson, Hammond, and May, attracted 16 million view-
ers in October 2010.[27]