Richard Hammond Comments On What He Thinks About New Top Gear
With both The Grand Tour and Top Gear releasing special episodes over the Christmas period, it’s opened up conversations of comparison. This is a subject for another time, but it has pushed co-presenter Richard Hammond to break his silence on the new Top Gear.
The Radio Times was first to ask about how he felt about the new Top Gear with Chris Harris, Freddy Flintoff, and Paddy McGuinness at the helm. He was surprisingly complimentary of their “good chemistry”.
“I didn’t get to see it because I was travelling the whole time the series was on.
“I gather it was well received and they’re getting into their stride, which is fantastic news.
“It sounds like they have a good chemistry. Ours took 20 years to get.”
course, this is quite a diplomatic answer, sitting in between Clarkson, who is adamant that he won’t watch another episode of Top Gear since he left, and James May, who has watched all of them.
He told Digital Spy: “Yeah. I’ve been watching it quite regularly since we stopped.
“It’s quite nice to watch Top Gear when you’re not on it, which I haven’t been able to do for, you know, 13 years or whatever.”
He added: “I think, well, it was a bit of a shaky start, if we’re honest.
“It took them a while to work out how to do it. But I think they’re doing a fairly good job now. It’s almost as good as ours.
“Occasionally, it feels a bit forced.”
What do you think? Let us know what you think of both shows in the comments below.
People seem to think top gear started with Clarkson, Hammond and May, it started in 1977 !! Don’t get me wrong I love the Treo but top gear and grand tour should be about CARS first and ok bikes trucks and well the old saying big boys toys not about Presenters and shockingly bad acting.
I think there both as good as each other I really liked the first episode of the first season
The main problem with new TopGear is that the presenters with the exception of Chris, are not knowledgable or passionate about cars. The stunts and challenges are not funny and don’t have the enthusiasm that the old TG had.
None of the replacements have ever been even close to the original three .
It’s a shame they didn’t try to make any aspect of the new Top Gear different and their own. It’s still a motoring program worth watching but the old format had developed over years suiting the chemistry of the original trio. It doesn’t quite work now as these three have or are at least developing a different chemistry. Flintoff seems the most unnatural of the three in this scenario so it needs to change and adapt his strengths to be a show of its own rather than a rehash of the Clarkson, Hammond May era.
Top Gear had a chance to break free from the old format. People forget that the last few series during the Clarkson era were on a downward trajectory and it was clearly time for a fresh start. Clinging on to the same old tired format is just wrong given it was going to be extremely difficult to substitute the well oiled machine that was Jeremy, Richard and James. The chance was well and truly missed to change it completely. I only watch the bits with just Chris in it. Shame..
I was an avid fan of the old top gear and when they left I watched the next series but it just was not the same and I have not watched since around the 4th episode of the series after they left.
It seems quiet obvious to me that a car show has to have people who have a passion and knowledge on the subject of the show there presenting. I always found it odd in the following series how not all the presenters where aloud to drive the good cars.
Replacing the on screen chemistry is one thing but why not someone like Johnny Vaughan who as the jack the lad attitude but also had a good knowledge of cars like Chris Evans did. But let the guys all have they keys for a bit.
New top gear is dreadful,I mean truly dreadful,they try to make it flow but it doesn’t,it just seems so rehearsed and forced not natural,tried to give these three a chance but I just sit and cringe
As a bit of a petrolhead I enjoyed the Top Gear programmes with presenters Clarkson, Hammond & May. Their characters, chemisty and banter portrayed was undertaken so well over many years by this trio – I doubt this could ever be duplicated. They were the programme, household names… its a ‘classic’ and it really should of been treated as such.
New Top Gear does feel a bit (or more) ‘forced’. Clarkson, Hammond, and May are, individually, very talented presenters with ‘easy’ voices and mannerisms. Together they offered a package which had a bit of something pleasant for most everyone. It was entertaining.
[Even my husband watched… and he’s not a gearhead.] Any person can be put in front of a camera with varying degrees of ‘likable’ coming through in the video. However. Talent is unique… and difficult to find. Any talent meant to replace a particular person precisely is going to fail. Very glad I got to watch “Top Gear” during the era of Clarkson, Hammond, and May.