Top Gear creator reveals why show will 'never' come back after Flintoff crash
The creator of Top Gear has spoken out about why the show will ‘never’ come back after the Freddie Flintoff crash.
Top Gear has been off of TV since Flintoff was involved in the horror crash which he recently spoke about in an interview with Piers Morgan.
The show dates all the way back to 1977, where it was a more serious motoring-focused TV series.
Amongst the many names to present the show, Andy Wilman and Jeremy Clarkson both joined in the tail end of the BBC series and would later co-create a brand-new format for the show after its cancellation.
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While Wilman was no longer a presenter but an executive producer, Clarkson has often referred to Wilman as the secret fourth member of the Top Gear team alongside Richard Hammond and James May.
Wilman left the show in 2015 following the incident in which Clarkson punched a producer and would follow the trio to The Grand Tour and later help create Clarkson’s Farm.
Top Gear would carry on, eventually finding its groove again in the form of Freddie Flintoff, comedian Paddy McGuinness, and motoring journalist Chris Harris.
After Flintoff’s horror crash which led to serious injuries, however, the show was put on an indefinite hiatus, one which Wilman thinks it will never return from.
Speaking exclusively to LADbible following the release of his new book Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure, the show’s creator spoke about the difference between Flintoff’s crash and the two major crashes which Richard Hammond went through.
He said: “Richard's crash was definitely like of an era and it was massively dramatic.
"It was like something out of a movie… but the mood around it is ‘he survived, he lives, he's going to come in back’. It’s pretty upbeat. It's very like 'he's coming back'.
“I think come the moment when Freddie's crash [happened], how is it different? It's a horrible crash. You know, the facial injuries for the poor man… and it lingers, he's out of action. He's out of the public eye. He's off work.”
He acknowledged that Richard’s crash was horrible and he had serious injuries, but said: “Freddie's is like, lingeringly horrible. It's depressing and it's a s**tty crash, a three-wheeler turning over on a rock, kind of semi-destroying his face.”
He went on to add: “It knocks the stuffing out of the show and if it knocks the stuffing out of the show, which is now just another BBC show, it'll knock the stuffing out of the show full stop.
“Because I don't think there's anybody in the BBC who goes, right, we've got to fight for Top Gear to come back.”
When asked directly whether he thought the show would ever come back he said: “I don’t think it will.
“Because unless somebody has a will, they could. But somebody's got to be like we were, which is 'I want to take this thing by the scruff of the neck.’
“I don't think there's anybody sitting in programme planning going, ‘How do we get Top Gear back on air?’ Nobody's doing that.”
Wilman spoke as part of his promotion for the Top Gear creator’s new book Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure, which can be purchased here, and includes Wilman’s perspective on the start of Top Gear, Clarkson’s controversial punch that ended the show, as well as The Grand Tour.
Topics: Top Gear, Freddie Flintoff, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, TV, TV and Film, James May, BBC
Michael Slavin