I’ll be doing a rundown of stuff that’s coming in another blog, but first we must take care of some very important housekeeping, because for this series only, we’re moving to 9pm on November 15. We had no choice really: X Factor on at the same time with the Results Show, Cowell on storming form, the whole nation glued – we know when to bravely bugger off and wait until the storm passes.

I’ve updated the counter to reflect the new air time.

EDIT: Counter fixed for DST as well.

Top Gear Moving To 9PM For Season 14 originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Thu, 5 November 2009 at 22:00 GMT.

Here’s something for the proper Top Gear fan — our executive producer Andy Wilman at the Edinburgh Festival talking about the telly show.

It was a Five Live interview with newsreader (and former Star in a Reasonably Priced Car) Kate Silverton, covering searching topics such as secrets to the success of the show and why men like sheds.

At 13 minutes, it’s a decently long interview and is worth listening to. You can download the interview or stream it here:

Click here to view the embedded media.

Andy Wilman Interviewed On The Radio originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Tue, 1 September 2009 at 22:31 GMT.

Andy Discusses Top Gear Season 13 originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Mon, 8 June 2009 at 18:52 GMT.

State-funded organisations are being ordered to boost the proportion of female, black and gay staff to reflect the make-up of the UK population under plans unveiled by Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman.

This could potentially mean that Top Gear would have to introduce a female host as the law doesn’t have an exclusion for broadcasters. Top Gear’s executive producer Andy Wilman wrote his opinions about that particular potential change in a recent blog post:

I also do believe that this sort of claptrap is very patronising to women, because it assumes women can’t enjoy a show’s presenters on merit, but can only appreciate a programme if spoken to by one of their own sex.

His post in full is worth a read.

Andy Weighs In On Women On Top Gear originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Mon, 4 May 2009 at 05:17 GMT.

[...] personally I think the Summer run was patchy – didn’t find its feet until the Shit Alfas film in show 3, but rocked from then on – I mean Japan, TG versus the Germans – quality stuff there. As for this just finished Autumn run, I was crapping myself going into it cos we only had eight weeks to prepare, but in the end I’m very happy with it.

I think Star in a Car found its feet again after the less than successful “Two at a Time” experiment. All it takes is good guests really, and people of Boris’s calibre are just that. So we’ll continue SIARPC in this vein for a while (probably should change the car though) and I know that will annoy some of the Final Gearheads, but lads, we can’t make all of this show for you, and whilst I am genuinely interested to know what a 19 year old Skyline fanatic in Oregon thinks of the Japan race, at the end of the day I’m not that bothered about his opinion on Harry Enfield.

Make sure to read the full article for the rest.

Andy Reflects On This Past Year Of Top Gear And What’s To Come originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Wed, 31 December 2008 at 01:27 GMT.

Oh, and don’t worry, we’ll be having plenty of “bits and torrents” this Sunday. ;)

Andy Wilman Blogs About Upcoming Vietnam Special originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Mon, 22 December 2008 at 16:11 GMT.

So anyway, Andy Wilman, the executive producer of Top Gear, has written a new blog post on this season of Top Gear as a whole. He talks about the past episodes as well as what’s to come. He also mentions (and links!) to us as well as the obsessed girls over at Hammond Heaven.

His post is well worth a read and I highly recommend you read it.

Thanks to all who sent in tips.

Andy Wilman Blogs On What’s To Come originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Wed, 26 November 2008 at 04:05 GMT.

He also mentioned that while they hadn’t gotten the Top Gear Stuntman right, he would be returning in future episodes.

You can read more about what Andy talked about in MadeBackwards’ thread and buried throughout the tickets thread on our forums.

Next Season Of Top Gear To Have Eight Episodes! originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Mon, 28 July 2008 at 22:57 GMT.

He starts by addressing the people who posted in our episode discussion thread for last Sunday’s episode complaining that the Diahatsu Terios’ exhaust sound was dubbed over with sounds from a V8:

Firstly, if the boys on Final Gear are reading this – WE DID NOT DUB A BLOODY V8 ON THE DAIHATSU TERIOS. Promise, chaps.

We like to do our best with the Jerry Bruckheimer noises, but we have our standards, and one of those standards is to not upset car dweebs – we like them too much.

I asked the director the same question about the engine when I saw the first cut of the film and he said you can hear the V8 camera car in the background, but the Terios still makes its own rorty little sound.

He also addresses the people who were concerned that we might be being weened off James May since there hasn’t been too much of him this season.

Secondly, if Final Gear boys are still tuned in, one of you wrote a couple of weeks ago that James hadn’t been in the series much, and that we therefore must be grooming the viewers for him leaving. Pleeeeeese. Go and put that fertile conspiracy theory brain of yours to better use. Find out if Kennedy was shot in Dallas, or during a faked moon landing.

I think you’re right, there’s not been enough James and Richard solo films this run – it’s a bit of a Rubik’s Cube putting a show together and that’s the way the cards have fallen. Hopefully we’ll sort it in the next series, but no, James isn’t going. He’ll go when he gets grumpy and fed up with the show, and to my memory he’s been grumpy and fed up with the show since the day he started.

He finishes by talking about this coming Sunday’s episode, but I’ll let you read the details of that for yourself to avoid spoilers.

Andy Blogs About This Coming Sunday’s Episode And Us originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Mon, 21 July 2008 at 23:24 GMT.

During our race to Oslo, the poor cameraman in the back of the tracking car had to pee in a bottle. We do not stop.

In the Ferrari versus plane race to Verbier, I actually overtook the tracking car, leaving me with nothing but the on board mini cams. I was that desperate to get there first.

And we get back to be accused of fakery by some internet dweeb. It makes my effing teeth itch with rage.

Of course, once the race is run and the result in the bag, the camera crews stay behind to pick up the shots needed to make the whole thing work on television. The details. The icing. But that doesn’t affect the outcome.

And apparently Sunday’s race is “the best film we’ve ever made.” Sunday cannot get here quick enough.

Clarkson Defends Big Race Outcomes originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Fri, 11 July 2008 at 23:43 GMT.

[...] we’re all excited because we’ve got one of our big races to show you.

Now the last time we did one was a couple of years ago with the Veyron against the plane, and to be honest it wasn’t the film it could have been because it all got a bit silly side up – too big and overblown – and it didn’t have the purity of the run to Verbier or Monaco.

Anyway, we shelved the whole idea of big races until we could think of another one that made sense, and then this year Nissan very kindly decide to launch the GT-R, and the clouds parted.

Sunday’s episode should be epic.

Andy On This Sunday’s Big Race originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Fri, 11 July 2008 at 13:05 GMT.

Andy does a good job of explaining the whole situation in his latest blog post:

Just for the record, Richard and James’s contracts are up soon – no big deal, contracts do end – and their agents are negotiating new ones.

They want an amount, the BBC wants to pay a different amount – again, no surprises there, that’s how business works every minute of every day – and there’ll be horse trading until a number is reached.

But let me also say Richard and James have never ever ever asked to be on equal pay to Jeremy. They are the first to admit that he came up with the new show, and that he does nothing but this show and is the engine room of it, whereas they, quite understandably, like to do other projects as well as Top Gear, and therefore the pay should reflect that.

He talks more about it as well as Sunday’s show, but I’ll let you read the rest of his post yourself.

Rumor Killing: No, Richard And James Aren’t Leaving originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Sat, 5 July 2008 at 23:15 GMT.

[...] and Top Gear stuntman gets his second outing.

Now let me just dwell on him for a second. People watched him last week, and we knew what would happen – nobody got the point of him.

But stick with him, because hopefully he gets funnier with repetition. Think back to the Fast Show – Jessie’s diets or Unlucky Alf only got funny after they did the same thing 20 times.

I remember during the first series of Top Gear in 2002, the crashing sound of uncomprehending silence from the audience as we introduced the Stig. And now, where would we all be without that lovely backward speedy fellow?

Andy Defends Top Gear Stuntman originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Fri, 27 June 2008 at 12:59 GMT.

The big problem is the nature of the show itself. If you’re setting up a foreign The Weakest Link or Millionaire, it’s quite straightforward – you need to copy the set and more or less copy the structure of the show, get a decent Chris Tarrant or a fierce redhead and you’re there.

But Top Gear is much harder because it’s essentially about those three and the way they do what they do, rather than just what they do.

The answer has to be to (a) alter the show to suit – so don’t force the Aussies to do their own Cool Wall if you’re going to watch Jeremy and Richard deliver a tour de force a week later, think of something else to do. And (b) each show must acknowledge the other one exists, so they can take the piss out of each other.

The amount of care and effort he and the other Brits are putting into the two shows is really giving me high hopes that they won’t turn out to be crap. Of course time will tell.

He also mentions all of us here a Final Gear:

In America the issue is different, because although our show isn’t well known there, the ones who do know it are hardcore fans – particularly the peeps on Final Gear. They are very strict about our output and performances, and I noticed quite a few even slating us for Top Gear Ground Force. Actually I’m with them, because we’re not great when we have to be performing monkeys, but it was a bit of a party piece for charity so you’ll have to forgive us.

Now although Final Gear live in fear of BBC lawyers cos they always nick the show, I know that NBC would be as chuffed as nuts if they liked the US version, which is sort of an indicator as to how seriously NBC are taking the issue. Mostly networks just aim for the broad audience and forget the hardcore.

He also goes on to what I’ve been trying to stress ever since the American version of Top Gear was announced:

So will we satisfy the US diehards? Dunno, but partly it’s up to them. If they just compare everything in the US show to what Jeremy, Richard and James do, they’ll be disappointed, because those three did get their first and they are the bollocks at it.

If, on the other hand, they take Top Gear US for what it is – a bunch of guys, hopefully with their own proper relationship, just looking at car stuff in America, but in the Top Gear way – they may like it. And our version will always be there anyway.

I honestly cannot wait for either import, although hopefully the Australian version will come with subtitles. :P

Andy On The Foreign Top Gears And On Us! originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Wed, 4 June 2008 at 12:26 GMT.

Another quiet week at Top Gear. We’ve just finished shooting our Cheap Alfa Romeos Challenge, Top Gear vs The Germans is also in the can, our new character has just shot his or her films, and in the edit suite I’m very happy with our We Can Make Better Police Cars piece.

Richard’s just shot a birthday tribute to Touring Cars, and Jeremy’s fiddling with his CLK Black film, cos he’s not happy with the structure. There was a scary moment when he said he’d found some music that would improve it, but fortunately this time it wasn’t a 16 minute keyboard solo from the 1970s, and it actually has improved it, not that any of us in the edit will ever tell him.

Elsewhere Lord Stig has come out of suspended animation and whacked in his first lap time of the new run. It’s for the F430 Scuderia and bugger me, glue down any ornaments on top of your telly.

Just over 19 days to go!

More Top Gear News originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Tue, 3 June 2008 at 11:42 GMT.

The post is a must read, but here’s some highlights about the upcoming season with links I’ve added to threads on our forums about the subjects:

Most exciting for me is that we’ve finally come up with another big race – you know, car versus something or other.

The last time we did one was a couple of years ago, with the plane against the Veyron, and in hindsight we lost the plot in that one – too pompous, too overblown and preposterous, too much work on the scripting to make it funny. This one is back to basics, more hardcore, mega car, mega opponent, with a solid premise. And a clue for the geeks: we did it in Japan.

Elsewhere, we’ve tackled rural issues such as the fox hunting ban and fascist ramblers. With the ingenious use of cars, we go to war, literally, with a German version of Top Gear (which incidentally means Sabine is back) and there’s a very exciting shootout with the RS6 against the most suicidal of skiers.

Jeremy also reckons he has an ingenious plan for improving British police cars, so we’ll be testing that theory, and we’ve always said you can’t be a true petrolhead until you’ve owned an Alfa, so now it’s time to put our money where our mouth is.

There’s some good metal too – new Evo X against the Impreza, CLK Black and hopefully the Mazda Furai. Overall though, the other thing we’re going to do is try and speed up a bit.

I can’t wait.

Tons Of News On What’s To Come In Season 11 originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Tue, 20 May 2008 at 11:28 GMT.

Also new is 11 images taken at the rehearsal for this Sunday’s episode. Check them out if you want a sneak peak.

Andy Wilman Blogs On Hamilton Plus Episode Preview Photos originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Fri, 30 November 2007 at 23:54 GMT.

Telegraph Interview With Andy Wilman originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Fri, 2 November 2007 at 07:53 GMT.

Tuesday Is The New Monday originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Sun, 7 October 2007 at 18:40 GMT.

Yet you never really get a sense of whether you’ve pulled it off until you’re at home watching it on the box at the same time as everybody else.

Afterwards I made my usual masochistic trip to the computer and logged on to Final Gear to see what our harshest, fairest, sharpest and most loyal critics had to say. I love the spirit of that gang, and they are superb at spotting where you’ve made a horlicks of things, but they seemed to like this one.

If only they’d known what a bitch it was to make. We came back from the Pole with over 180 hours of rushes to condense into one hour, and after about three weeks in the edit we started to go a bit mental.

Andy, I think I speak for all of us when I say well done, mate. Wednesday’s episode was just staggeringly awesome. Keep up the awesome work.

You can read the rest of Andy’s article at TopGear.com.

Andy Wilman Plugs FinalGear Once Again originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Thu, 26 July 2007 at 19:52 GMT.

Well today, Top Gear’s Executive Producer Andy Wilman revealed on the TopGear.com blog that he is a usual reader of our forums. At the end of his article about this Sunday’s US special is this:

Personally, the American film is one of my favourites because it’s such a charmer, but I’m 44, so we’ll see. Whatever happens, I will as usual be logging onto our mates at Final Gear on Monday for a masochistic kicking.

It makes me very happy that the Top Gear production team value viewer responses and use our humble little forums as a resource. I’m such a proud daddy. :)

There’s a discussion on our forums if you want to chime in on this.

TG’s Executive Producer Andy Wilman Reads Our Forums originally appeared on FinalGear.com on Fri, 9 February 2007 at 14:15 GMT.