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The following is a complete episode list of the BBC television series Top Gear that ran from April 1977 to December 2001, a total of 524 episodes. After the cancellation of the series in 2001, the BBC were convinced into running a revamped show with a new format, which became the widely popular series of the same title launched in 2002.
Top Gear was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC covering motor related issues, new car model reviews, motor show previews, fuel economy, safety, the police, speeding, insurance, consumer advice and used car sales tips among other issues. Many presenters featured over the course of the series, most notably Angela Rippon, Noel Edmonds, William Woollard, Chris Goffey, Judith Jackson, Sue Baker, Tiff Needell, Jeremy Clarkson, Quentin Willson and Vicki Butler-Henderson.
When it became a network show, it was broadcast on BBC 2 on Thursday nights for Series 1, then on Tuesday nights between Series 2 and Series 17, then reverting to the original Thursday timeslot from Series 18 to the end of its run. In all, 524 episodes (515 plus the nine regional shows) were broadcast between 1977 and 2002, with a large majority of that figure being Top Gear itself.
The original series of the Top Gear programme was broadcast in BBC Midlands region only. There were nine programmes, the first of which went out on BBC 1 Midlands, on 22 April 1977. The listing below does not include these original regional shows, it begins when the programme became a network transmission.
| Series | Editions | Start Date | End Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | 10 | 13 July 1978 | 14 September 1978 | |
| Series 2 | 10 | 1 May 1979 | 3 July 1979 | First appearance of Judith Jackson |
| Series 3 | 6 | 1 April 1980 | 20 May 1980 | |
| Series 4 | 6 | 2 September 1980 | 7 October 1980 | |
| Series 5 | 8 | 21 April 1981 | 9 June 1981 | |
| Series 6 | 7 | 3 November 1981 | 15 December 1981 | |
| Series 7 | 8 | 13 April 1982 | 1 June 1982 | |
| Series 8 | 6 | 7 September 1982 | 12 October 1982 | Last appearance of Judith Jackson |
| Series 9 | 9 | 29 January 1983 | 19 April 1983 | |
| Series 10 | 8 | 6 September 1983 | 25 October 1983 | |
| Series 11 | 8 | 28 February 1984 | 25 April 1984 | |
| Series 12 | 7 | 23 October 1984 | 11 December 1984 | |
| Series 13 | 9 | 5 March 1985 | 30 April 1985 | |
| Series 14 | 8 | 3 September 1985 | 22 October 1985 | |
| Series 15 | 10 | 8 April 1986 | 10 June 1986 | |
| Series 16 | 8 | 9 September 1986 | 28 October 1986 | |
| Series 17 | 8 | 7 April 1987 | 26 May 1987 | First appearance of Tiff Needell |
| Series 18 | 11 | 10 September 1987 | 19 November 1987 | |
| Series 19 | 8 | 7 April 1988 | 26 May 1988 | |
| Series 20 | 8 | 29 September 1988 | 17 November 1988 | First appearance of Jeremy Clarkson |
| Series 21 | 8 | 21 March 1989 | 9 May 1989 | |
| Series 22 | 10 | 14 September 1989 | 16 November 1989 | |
| Series 23 | 8 | 27 March 1990 | 15 May 1990 | |
| Series 24 | 10 | 27 September 1990 | 29 November 1990 | |
| Series 25 | 10 | 28 February 1991 | 2 May 1991 | Last appearance of William Woollard and Sue Baker |
| Series 26 | 12 | 19 September 1991 | 19 December 1991 | First appearance of Quentin Willson |
| Series 27 | 11 | 27 February 1992 | 7 May 1992 | |
| Series 28 | 12 | 24 September 1992 | 17 December 1992 | |
| Series 29 | 17 | 18 February 1993 | 10 June 1993 | |
| Series 30 | 15 | 9 September 1993 | 30 December 1993 | |
| Series 31 | 10 | 3 March 1994 | 12 May 1994 | |
| Series 32 | 12 | 22 September 1994 | 15 December 1994 | |
| Series 33 | 13 | 16 February 1995 | 11 May 1995 | |
| Series 34 | 14 | 21 September 1995 | 21 December 1995 | |
| Series 35 | 14 | 15 February 1996 | 16 May 1996 | |
| Series 36 | 14 | 5 September 1996 | 5 December 1996 | |
| Series 37 | 17 | 16 January 1997 | 15 May 1997 | First appearance of Vicki Butler-Henderson |
| Series 38 | 16 | 4 September 1997 | 18 December 1997 | |
| Series 39 | 13 | 19 February 1998 | 14 May 1998 | Last appearance of Michele Newman |
| Series 40 | 15 | 10 September 1998 | 17 December 1998 | Last appearance of Jeremy Clarkson |
| Series 41 | 12 | 18 March 1999 | 3 June 1999 | First and Last appearance of James May |
| Series 42 | 14 | 9 September 1999 | 9 December 1999 | First appearance of Kate Humble |
| Series 43 | 18 | 20 January 2000 | 25 May 2000 | |
| Series 44 | 15 | 7 September 2000 | 14 December 2000 | First appearance of Jason Barlow and Adrian Simpson Last appearance of Kate Humble |
| Series 45 | 35 | 22 February 2001 | 17 December 2001 | Last appearance of Tiff Needell, Quentin Willson, Andy Wilman, Vicki Butler-Henderson, Jason Barlow and Adrian Simpson |
Note: The timeslots for Series 45 varied, so not all episodes were broadcast consecutively each week.
Rally Report was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC dedicated to broadcasting previews, highlights and reports of the Lombard RAC Rally of the United Kingdom, and latterly, the final round of the World Rally Championship. William Woollard presented in studio segments, whilst Sue Baker, or Tony Mason in later years, presented the location reports on the stages. There are sixty five episodes in all, produced between 1984 and 1998, including all specials, but excluding the preview of the 1995 RAC Rally, as the total episodes for that series is unknown.
| Series | Editions | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | 6 | 24 November 1984 | 29 November 1984 |
| Series 2 | 1 | 30 November 1985 | |
| Series 3 | 1 | 20 November 1986 | |
| Series 4 | 1 | 26 November 1987 | |
| Series 5 | 1 | 26 November 1988 | |
| Series 6 | 1 | 23 November 1989 | |
| Series 7 | 1 | 12 May 1990 | |
| Series 8 | 8 | 21 November 1992 | 25 November 1992 |
| Series 9 | 1 | 1 January 1993 | |
| Series 10 | 8 | 20 November 1993 | 24 November 1993 |
| Series 11 | 1 | 23 December 1993 | |
| Series 12 | 9 | 19 November 1994 | 23 November 1994 |
| Series 13 | 1 | 26 December 1994 | |
| Series 14 | 1 | 17 November 1995 | 22 February 1996 |
| Series 15 | 7 | 19 November 1995 | 22 November 1995 |
| Series 16 | 1 | 25 December 1995 | |
| Series 17 | 5 | 22 November 1996 | 25 November 1996 |
| Series 18 | 1 | 9 January 1997 | |
| Series 19 | 5 | 22 November 1997 | 25 November 1997 |
| Series 20 | 1 | 31 December 1997 | |
| Series 21 | 4 | 21 November 1998 | 24 November 1998 |
| Series 22 | 1 | 20 December 1998 | |
Top Gear Motorsport was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC covering various forms of motorsport such as the World Rally Championship, the British Rally Championship, British Formula Three, Formula Renault and Formula Vauxhall Junior racing, as well as British Superbike and Eurocar challenges. Tiff Needell presented the show throughout the show's run. The programme was broadcast weekly on a Friday timeslot. The show was broadcast between 1994 and 1998, and ninety four episodes were produced in all, including specials.
| Series | Editions | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | 1 | 10 November 1994 | |
| Series 2 | 9 | 24 March 1995 | 19 May 1995 |
| Series 3 | 15 | 27 October 1995 | 2 February 1996 |
| Series 4 | 1 | 20 December 1995 | |
| Series 5 | 12 | 5 April 1996 | 21 June 1996 |
| Series 6 | 8 | 30 September 1996 | 20 December 1996 |
| Series 7 | 2 | 10 March 1997 | 17 March 1997 |
| Series 8 | 11 | 31 March 1997 | 21 June 1997 |
| Series 9 | 10 | 29 August 1997 | 14 November 1997 |
| Series 10 | 25 | 6 April 1998 | 16 November 1998 |
Top Gear Take 2 was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC looking back on previous segments of Top Gear over the years. Each programme ran for fifteen minutes on BBC Two, with repeats surfacing in 1997, on the then new UK Horizons. Presenters included Quentin Willson, Steve Berry, Jeremy Clarkson and Tiff Needell. The show was broadcast between 1992 and 1999, with fifty six episodes being produced.
| Series | Editions | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | 5 | 23 July 1992 | 14 September 1992 |
| Series 2 | 11 | 6 January 1993 | 22 September 1993 |
| Series 3 | 6 | 8 January 1994 | 4 October 1994 |
| Series 4 | 10 | 31 May 1995 | 8 September 1995 |
| Series 5 | 4 | 17 January 1996 | 16 June 1996 |
| Series 6 | 1 | 31 July 1997 | 31 July 1997 |
| Series 7 | 8 | 13 July 1998 | 17 August 1998 |
| Series 8 | 11 | 1 February 1999 | 23 December 1999 |
Top Gear Waterworld was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC covering water based vehicles, and various activities related to them, such as Citroën 2CV river racing in Brittany, and how to ease traffic congestion in London by using water transport on the River Thames. The series was presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Tiff Needell and Julia Bradbury. The show was broadcast in 1998, with five episodes being produced.
| Series | Editions | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | 5 | 20 July 1998 | 20 August 1998 |
Top Gear GTi was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC covering a variety of features such as car reviews, special features such as attending a driving school and motor shows. Essentially, GTi is an expansion on the main programme. The series was mainly presented by Vicki Butler-Henderson, although Steve Berry and Jason Bradbury appeared on the show at times. The show was the last of the spin off series' of Top Gear to be broadcast, airing between September 1999 and May 2001, with more than one hundred episodes in its name. Unlike any other spin off, Top Gear GTi was broadcast on a near daily timeslot on the UK Horizons channel.
| Series | Editions | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | Unknown | September 1999 | December 1999 |
| Series 2 | Unknown | January 2000 | May 2000 |
| Series 3 | Unknown | September 2000 | December 2000 |
| Series 4 | Unknown | January 2001 | May 2001 |
Various specials of Top Gear were produced during the show's initial run, each of them having a particular theme to the show.
| Title | Release Date | Featured |
|---|---|---|
| Top Gear Turns Back The Clock | 21 October 1980 | |
| Top Gear Special: A Ring Around London | 3 November 1982 | |
| Top Gear Special: Belt Up | 29 January 1983 | |
| Top Gear Special: Rust | 13 March 1984 | |
| Top Gear on the Grid | 3 June 1988 | |
| Top Gear Car of the Decade | 22 September 1988 | |
| Top Gear: Motor Show Special | 22 October 1992 | |
| Top Gear: Reverse Gear | 24 December 1992 | |
| Top Gear: Rolls-Royce Alpine Challenge | 20 December 1993 | |
| Top Gear: Christmas Special 1994 | 22 December 1994 | |
| Top Gear: Klausen Run | 5 January 1995 | |
| Top Gear: Classic and Sportscar Show | 7 May 1995 | |
| Top Gear: The Oh So Beautiful Bugatti | 1995 | |
| Top Gear Special: The Search for the Silver Arrow | 22 April 1996 | |
| Top Gear Live | 20 July 1996 | |
| Top Gear: London to Brighton | 19 December 1996 | |
| Top Gear Special: Ferrari – The Italian Legend | 1996 | |
| Top Gear Special: Aston Martin | 1997 | |
| Top Gear Live | 15 May 1997 | |
| Top Gear: The TVR Story | 22 December 1997 | |
| Top Gear Live | 23 May 1998 | First Time Live Broadcast on BBC Two |
| Top Gear: Blood, Salt and Tears – 100 Years of the Land Speed Record | 21 December 1998 | Evolution of Top Speed Car |
| Top Gear: Motor Show 1999 | 24 October 1999 | |
| Top Gear: 21 Years of Top Gear | 16 December 1999 | Looking Back for The Great Cars and Events in The Past 21 Years |
| Top Gear Awards | 10 February 2000 | Best & Worst Cars of 1999 |
| Top Gear Awards | 11 February 2001 | Best & Worst Cars of 2000 |
| Top Gear: Value Special | 26 July 2001 | Buying and Choosing the Right Car, Maintenance Works, Mythical Cars & Oil Price Hikes |
| Top Gear Awards | 4 February 2002 | Best & Worst Cars of 2001 |
Timothy Richard "Tiff" Needell is a British racing driver and television presenter. He is a presenter of Lovecars, and formerly served as co-presenter of Top Gear and Fifth Gear.
The Stig is a character from the British motoring television show Top Gear. Created by former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman, the character is a play on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, with the running joke that nobody knows who or what is inside the Stig's racing suit. The Stig's primary role is setting lap times for cars tested on the show. Previously, he would also instruct celebrity guests, off-camera, for the show's "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment.
Fifth Gear is a British motoring television magazine series which has been broadcast since 2002. Originally shown on Channel 5 from 2002 to 2011, it began as a continuation of the original version of the BBC show Top Gear, which ran from 1977 until being cancelled in 2001. It moved to the Discovery Channel in 2012, then in 2015 to History; since 2018 it has been broadcast on Quest. Following a 2021 relaunch, with an emphasis on electric cars, it has been branded as Fifth Gear Recharged. The show is currently presented by Vicki Butler-Henderson, Sid North, Karun Chandhok and Jason Plato with Grace Webb and engineer Jimmy de Ville also involved in reports. Its former presenters include Quentin Willson, Adrian Simpson, Rory Reid, Jonny Smith, former racing driver Tiff Needell and Car SOS host Tim Shaw.
Top Gear is a British automobile magazine, owned by BBC Worldwide, and published under contract by Immediate Media Company. It is named after the BBC's Top Gear television show. It was first published in October 1993 and is published monthly at a price of £5.99. As of December 2022, there have been a total of 360 issues published in the UK. The major presenters of the television series — Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May — were regular contributors, along with the series' production staff. "Tame racing driver" The Stig also regularly features in their car tests, though only communicates his thoughts and feelings through the articles of others. It is Britain's leading general interest car magazine in sales terms, with over 150,000 copies distributed each month in 2012, a drop of 50,000 from 2007. Previous columnists have included former Top Gear presenters Quentin Willson, Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson.
Rally Report was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC covering the Lombard RAC Rally of Great Britain – then the last round of the World Rally Championship.
Top Gear was a British motoring magazine programme created by the BBC and aired on BBC Two between 22 April 1977 and 17 December 2001. The programme focused on a range of motoring topics, the most common being car reviews, road safety and consumer advice. Originally presented by Angela Rippon and Tom Coyne, the show saw a range of different presenters and reporters front the programme's half-hourly slots, including Noel Edmonds, Jeremy Clarkson, Tiff Needell, William Woollard and Quentin Willson. The programme proved popular during the late 80s and early 90s, and launched a number of spin-offs, including its own magazine entitled Top Gear Magazine.
Top Gear Motorsport is a British television programme, covering various forms of motor racing, broadcast on BBC Two from 1994 to 1998. It was a spin-off programme from the popular motoring series Top Gear. The programme was presented by former Formula One driver and Top Gear presenter Tiff Needell. Other presenters were Penny Mallory, Tony Mason, Steve Berry, Mark James and Bob Constanduros.
Stars in Fast Cars was a motoring-themed celebrity game show, in which celebrities compete in motoring challenges, including recreating movie stunts and racing modified armchairs. The series was first broadcast on BBC Three, in 2005, and repeated on BBC One in 2006.
Steve Berry is a British media presenter, best known as a member of the presenting team for the BBC Two motoring programme Top Gear from 1993 to 1999, where he reviewed motorcycles and made features relating to them.
Top Gear of the Pops was a one-off special programme that aired for BBC Two on 16 March 2007, as part of Red Nose Day 2007. The episode combined the elements of Top Gear, with that of BBC music chart show Top of the Pops, the latter of which was cancelled by the BBC in 2006. In the episode, presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May hosted their own version of the chart show in their studio at Dunsfold, including discussions about music-related news topics, and performed as a band for the final number alongside Justin Hawkins; although it was mentioned, the 'Cool Wall' did not feature in the episode's broadcast.
Series 13 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2009, consisting of seven episodes that were aired between 21 June and 2 August. As a publicity stunt, the series also had Michael Schumacher disguise himself as "The Stig", primarily due to the fact that a car they reviewed could not be driven by anyone but Schumacher for a timed lap of the programme's test track. Alongside this, this series' highlights included a 1940s styled race, a motoring challenge involving rear-wheeled cars, and the presenters entering a classic car rally. The thirteenth series received criticism over two elements - one for an advert designed by Jeremy Clarkson as part of a film for an episode; the other for the use of a word deemed offensive.
Adrian James Simpson, is an English television presenter, presenting on Sky News on the overnight programme.
Victoria Jemma Butler-Henderson is a British racing driver, former presenter of Top Gear and current presenter of Fifth Gear.
Tom Ross is a Scottish journalist and television producer who worked for the BBC from 1971 until 1996.
Series 22 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2015, consisting of eight episodes - seven of these were aired between 25 January and 8 March, while the eighth was aired on 28 June following a disruption in production; two additional episodes were planned but never produced. The series was preceded by a two-part special focused on the presenters conducting a road trip across Argentina, titled Top Gear: Patagonia Special, and aired during 2014 on 27–28 December. This series' highlights included the presenters conducting a race across St. Petersburg, creating home-made ambulances, a recreation of a famous Land Rover Defender advert, and a road trip across Australia in GT cars.
Top Gear is a British motoring magazine and entertainment television programme. It is a revival by Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman of the 1977–2001 show of the same name for the BBC, and premiered on 20 October 2002. The programme focuses on the examination and reviewing of motor vehicles, primarily cars, though this was expanded upon after the broadcast of its earlier series to incorporate films featuring motoring-based challenges, special races, timed laps of notable cars, and celebrity timed laps on a course specially-designed for the relaunched programme. The programme drew acclaim for its visual and presentation style since its launch, which focused on being generally entertaining to viewers, as well as criticism over the controversial nature of its content. The show was also praised for its occasionally-controversial humour and lore existing in not just the automotive community but in the form of internet memes and jokes. The programme was aired on BBC Two until it was moved to BBC One for its twenty-ninth series in 2020.
The Grand Tour is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman, made for Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November 2016. The programme was conceived in the wake of the departure of Clarkson, Hammond, May and Wilman from the BBC series Top Gear and was originally contracted with 36 episodes over three years.
Series 23 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2016, consisting of six episodes between 29 May and 3 July; an additional four episodes were planned but not produced. Following the dismissal of Jeremy Clarkson, and the subsequent departures of Richard Hammond and James May in the previous series, the BBC hired Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc as the new hosts, with Sabine Schmitz, Chris Harris, Rory Reid and Eddie Jordan as their co-presenters, but appearing only when required for an episode.
Series 28 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2020, consisting of six episodes between 26 January and 1 March; the series' studio segments were filmed prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. The series was preceded by a feature-length special, involving a road trip by the presenters across Nepal, that was aired on 29 December 2019.