‘I worked with Jeremy Clarkson – we had to fire Top Gear star after brutal realisation’
Top Gear producer Andy Wilman has reflected on the show’s turbulent early days and the moment the team realised a key change in direction was unavoidable
Top Gear producer Andy Wilman has revealed the team eventually decided to part ways with an original presenter after realising the show was heading in a very different direction.
The television producer, who worked alongside Jeremy Clarkson, 66, for decades and helped transform Top Gear into a global hit, looked back on the programme’s early struggles during an appearance on the High Performance podcast with Jake Humphrey.
Asked whether he could now watch the early episodes with pride, Andy admitted he has little affection for the show’s first run. In fact, he said he once insisted the BBC bury the first series of Top Gear because it was so poor.
Recalling the BBC’s habit of repeating old episodes, he said: “Well, that first series, I forbade the BBC, when I had the power to do it, to show series one, you know, because they put them on repeat. I was like, ‘No, that one goes into like a vault.’”
When Jake asked whether that was true, the producer replied: “Yeah. I said, ‘Cuz it’s so s***.’”
Jake then wondered whether the series could still be seen anywhere, prompting him to add: “Couldn’t see it anywhere. Now, as soon as it all went t**s up and we were all shown the door, they started punting it out, but it was so c***compared to later series.”
Andy explained that the programme had not yet found the formula that would later make stars of Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. During the first series, motoring journalist Jason Dawe handled the news section, reflecting a greater focus on consumer advice.
“Jason was good, but that was a hangover of us going ‘people need consumer news’ and we’ll give them that because you help people save a few quid,” he said.
However, as the programme evolved, the team found themselves gravitating towards increasingly unusual and entertaining challenges rather than practical buying advice.
“Once again, organically as we start to go, ‘Hey, can a granny do a donut? Hey, can a nun jump a monster truck?’ And, these are little fill-in things that we’re doing to amuse ourselves, and the Stig starts to become a character that kids are loving.”
It was during that shift that the production team concluded the show no longer needed to focus on used-car bargains and consumer tips.
“You start to realise quite quickly that there’s no point in us talking about, you know, deals on used Citroëns. We’ll leave that to someone else,” he said.
As a result, the team “kind of parted company” with Dawe and brought in May, whom they had wanted from the start but “hadn’t been allowed to have”.
The producer’s comments came as he reflected on his long-running partnership with Clarkson. Andy is now executive producer of the hit Amazon series Clarkson’s Farm, which follows Clarkson’s attempts to run Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds.
Speaking on the podcast, the veteran TV producer discussed the challenge of moving from the fast-paced world of motoring television to a programme centred on the everyday realities of farming, a transition that has proved hugely successful with viewers.