Top Gear is in trouble. Again.

Although details are scarce, filming of the next series has been canned after presenter Freddie Flintoff was hurt driving a Morgan Super 3. At present, it’s only known he was airlifted to hospital for treatment and his son has revealed that he’s “lucky to be alive”. The expectation is he’ll make a full recovery, but there are plentiful suggestions in the tabloids that he may also have decided to call time on presenting the show.

As well we know, a change in presenter doesn’t have to spell the end of the franchise, but in television more than most aspects of life, momentum is everything. Some will argue otherwise (often, I find, while claiming to never watch the show in the same breath), but the combination of Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris, together since 2019, has been occasionally spellbinding, usually entertaining and never less than compelling.

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Any change risks that dynamic, and while plenty of shows have thrived seemingly no matter who’s at the helm (I’m thinking Doctor Who; you might be thinking Great British Bake Off), anyone who had to sit through the aftermath of Jeremy Clarkson not getting his steak dinner can attest to the fact that star quality doesn’t always translate into televisual success, and that Top Gear’s chemistry seems more sensitive than some.

Why does this matter to an Autocar reader? Beyond the fact that many will watch it (even if they deny it), the truth is that the entire automotive industry benefits enormously from Top Gear’s existence. Figures suggest each episode is watched by around 350 million people across approximately 200 countries globally. What’s more, Guinness World Records has ratified it as the world’s most watched factual TV programme.

While we may raise a slightly cynical eyebrow at the use of the word ‘factual’, Top Gear showcases cars, motoring and automotive culture, just as we do, but differently. It captures the excitement, the creativity, the ingenuity and the essential fact that cars are the fulcrum around which most of the memorable moments of our lives happen, even if most of us have to settle for a road trip to Aberystwyth rather than an expedition across Africa. It’s why every car maker will jump to give the programme a car to test, even in the knowledge that its reputation might be trashed on a presenter’s whim. With Top Gear, it’s always worth the risk.

In a world where even driving is becoming potentially divisive, yet where the car itself needs more explaining and understanding than it has for 120 years, it’s a delight to find it can still be celebrated in the mainstream. The papers will lap up this latest drama – but we should all hope that Top Gear comes out the other side thriving.