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Top Gear is credit crunched

The recession is now taking its toll on one of the BBC’s most popular entertainment programmes. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have been told by the corporation to downsize the £200,000 supercars and devote more screen time to smaller, cheaper cars.

Executive producer Andy Wilman, 48, said the show could not ignore the recession.

“This series we were going to film a road trip with a Lambo and a Porsche,” he said. “Now it will be cars like the Toyota iQ because they’re smart and clever and you can sense the mood. We’re not that thick.”

Producers also want the show to reflect the changing interests of viewers hit by the credit crunch and show “more sedate cheaper, greener” models.

Mr Wilman revealed that he would like to make a version called Boring Top Gear, featuring “down-to-earth” consumer advice rather than blowing up caravans or playing darts with scrap cars.

A BBC spokesman said: “You can rest assured that the supercars will still be there in the new series because those cars are about fantasy and escapism. But we realise money’s tight, so we’ll also be devoting screen time to smaller, cheaper cars.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .