Curious to see what a Top Gear without the iconic host trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May will be like? Well, mark your calendars on May 8, 2016, as that’s when Britain’s most popular motoring TV show, now with radio presenter Chris Evans at the helm, will make its return to the small screen, according to The Guardian.
Evans said that the first episode will be aired on the Sunday just three days after filming wraps on May 5. He added that producers had “already started making the films” and that the team will be headed to the United States to shoot the first inter-continental film, but did not reveal any other details, including who his other hosts will be. The new show will consist of 16 episodes in the first season.
It was already confirmed that the new Top Gear will ditch the three-presenter format used to great effect with Clarkson, Hammond and May, although it was unclear whether this meant that Evans would be hosting on his own, or if there will be co-presenters. The studio bits of the show will also be revamped.
“We are going to do things differently, because we have to, we want to,” Evans said. “Because they were brilliant at it, I’m not going to do that. One thing is for sure, there’s not going to be me and one guy there, and one guy there. That’s not going to happen.”
Clarkson was dismissed from the show after fracas with producer Oisin Tymon; May and Hammond decided to leave Top Gear soon after. Instead, the trio are forming a new show on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service, which will come online sometime in the autumn.
