The BBC has announced that the hit TV show Top Gear will be "rested for the foreseeable future”.
The recent news follows a car crash during filming last year when host Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff, 45, was seriously injured. Production of the show has been halted since he was taken to hospital in December 2022 after he was injured in an accident at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
Fellow presenters Take Me Out host Paddy McGuinness and automotive journalist Chris Harris, said they felt it would be “inappropriate” and that there would be a health and safety review. The UK show is currently sold to more than 150 territories and there are 11 local format versions including in the United States, France and Finland.
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In a statement given to the PA news agency, the BBC said: “Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future. The BBC remains committed to Freddie, Chris and Paddy who have been at the heart of the show’s renaissance since 2019, and we’re excited about new projects being developed with each of them. We will have more to say in the near future on this.
“We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do. All other Top Gear activity remains unaffected by this hiatus including international formats, digital, magazines and licensing.”
The BBC Studios said a health and safety production review of Top Gear, which did not cover the accident but instead looked at previous seasons, found that "while BBC Studios had complied with the required BBC policies and industry best practice in making the show, there were important learnings which would need to be rigorously applied to future Top Gear UK productions."
The statement added: “The report includes a number of recommendations to improve approaches to safety as Top Gear is a complex programme-making environment routinely navigating tight filming schedules and ambitious editorial expectations – challenges often experienced by long-running shows with an established on and off screen team.
“Learnings included a detailed action plan involving changes in the ways of working, such as increased clarity on roles and responsibilities and better communication between teams for any future Top Gear production.”
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