Top Gear's long-awaited return - and Chris Evans' debut in Clarkson's vacated and disconcertingly warm driving seat - is scheduled for 22 May, but the good news is we're going to be getting another show thrown in for free.
Extra Gear, a brand new online-only spin-off show, will be broadcast online on the BBC Three site and on iPlayer immediately after Top Gear finishes on BBC Two. It promises an extra half hour of exclusive new footage, interviews, and specially recorded films.
It'll be presented not by Evans, but by Rory Reid, who says: “The Top Gear fans are some of the keenest in the world and with this show I’m giving them a chance to really get a peek behind the curtain. I’m looking forward to showing them how the show is made and what goes on behind the scenes, giving viewers a different perspective on some of the coolest cars on the planet.”
It's fair to say that Rory is probably the least well-known of the new raft of Top Gear presenters, being formerly the editor-in-chief of car and consumer technology website Recombu and the only presenter to have made it through from the open audition process, run in the wake of Clarkson, Hammond and May's depature. According to Chris Evans, his 30-second tape, “simply blew [him] away”.
You can check out the latest Top Gear preview clip, featuring Matt LeBlanc having a 'Joey moment' right here.
(Image: Rex)
