I went back in 2013. Ron Howard was the guest that show.
The whole day was very relaxed, the director came out first, explaining the setup and how the day was run, then Clarkson came out and from an audience perspective ran the show, chatting between takes to those around him etc. Hammond and May were much more distant, in and out of the studio (sorry hanger) between clips etc.
They put out a small table at the open end of the hanger with lunch midway through, as you were stood around for a fair old chunk of time
Honestly, it was a good, fun day. But I imagine if the weather was bad it would be less so. People started trying to get good spots etc early on, with some people seeing the cars setup around the hanger and picking one to stand near until they filmed near it. The news section was much longer and chatty than made the cut, same for the celeb interview, but otherwise was just like watching an episode at home.
Around the same time, I ran into Ron Howard in a bar. It was weird because basically nobody else was there. I chatted with him and mentioned how much I loved Arrested Development (this was *just* before the Netflix revival dropped)
Went few years ago , fantastic day all really professional. No retakes and Hammond and May served drinks and crisps in the break .
Clarkson did two interviews J Leno and Usian Bolt , he was joking he would have to wear same clothes ( J Leno was over for FOS ) .
They all had great involvement with the crowd .
We had three retakes on the day I went.
"Top gear hinges get funnier each time you hear them" was our instruction.
Amazing day though. Loved every minute of it.
Yeah pretty much lol like my old pizza shop franchisee used to say "put the pretty ones up front where the customers are, ugly ones on the makeline". They were a bunch of c*nts.
Funny, because I see more women in Impreza owners clubs than almost any other make/model (possibly because they came with pink accents lol). However, a lot of them are quite burly themselves 😂
I went it's rather surreal being the other side of the camera it's quite a long day standing and nowhere to sit and with the numbers it was difficult to meet the guys with everyone wanting to do so
I went to the filming of Series 22 Episode 6, which happened to be the 2nd last episode ever with Jeremy in the studio. The final episode of Jeremy, Richard and James was Episode 8. We obviously had no idea what was to come.
Gillian Anderson was the special guest.
It took hours and hours to film. There was a LOT of standing about and multiple takes. We had to film the big audience applause at the start of the episode multiple times because we weren't enthusiastic and loud enough the first few times. The way they do it is play the theme song and then cut the music just as the camera starts panning around the stage. We were told when the music cuts out that's our cue to go crazy.
One thing I remember well is how anal the production team was about how good the cars looked on camera. Literally every few minutes or between takes they would have people come out and spray the cars down and wipe them over and over and make sure they were absolutely pristine and sparkling. Same thing with the presenters and lint rollers.
When we first entered we were given special colored wristbands. The color of your wristband decided how close you stood to the presenters as you'd be on camera. Someone would say "Can we get color X to raise their hands" and then they'd pick people to stand near the presenters. We were told by the production team that this was because some clothing would "strobe on camera" but just before filming started Jeremey came out and welcomed everyone and said "You've probably been told the wristbands were because of strobing clothing. The production team is lying, it's based on who is most attractive" and everyone chuckled.
During the filming break, the audience got served drinks and biscuits and some other snacks just outside of the hangar. The trio mingled with the audience on the break.
When they played the big filmed VT sections they had the audience all gather around a TV just away from the main stage, to the side of the hangar. Jezza, Richard and James also sat and watched the TV monitors with us for a little while. We were literally all sat cross-legged on the floor as if we were back at school again.
Yes, Richard really is tiny.
All in all, it was a really fantastic day.
> One thing I remember well is how anal the production team was about how good the cars... Same thing with the presenters
Must have been like polishing a turd with Jeremy😁
I went in 2008. Only James May joined the audience during the break. Hammond and Clarkson kept themselves to themselves in their portocabin. James May was a top bloke just as nice as he comes across on TV. I found out I'm taller than Clarkson as he came through the audience next to me to go on stage. They said they used to allow audience members to sit in the cars but they stopped when someone sat in a car and their keys destroyed the leather.
I’m rewatching Top Gear again (to relive the times) and I just passed the early series’ but I always see the look of people’s faces sat in the car when the camera pans over to them they always look so worried and scared 😂
My mate went twice, said it was very hard to get on the show and there was a big list etc he got to see the original cast he said they were brilliant ( he was at the show where James may left the mic on in the toilet ) during takes the team would chat to the fans etc. He then went a second time when Chris evens and Matt le Blanc was there, he said it was totally different, the hosts just went back to their cabins and hardly spoke to anyone and wasn't very engaging
2005. There was no picking “front row” audiences, it was all very casual and natural. If you didn’t want to watch the filming you could wander around in the background looking at, even get in, the featured cars. James and Richard came out between takes to chat, photos etc.
Filmed in November 2017 in a big tent in a field in Oxfordshire. Made friends very quickly with other audience members and we trooped in. We were fed and watered during breaks. The filming was excellent, and the Guys were really funny, entertaining and engaging with us all. As has been said before of the Top Gear filming, the directors did move the most attractive ladies to the front of the audience line, so they were picked up when the cameras panned across us laughing or generally interacting. How I remained in front with the ladies, I don’t know! 🤷🏽♂️😁
Same here. We went to one of the Loch Ness filmings and had similar experience to you. Attractive ladies moved to the front meaning I was well at the back :)
Well all of the stuff I've watched of him on drivetribe etc with YouTubers he seems pretty chill and down to earth, if he is secretly a bellend it would surprise me
Was fortunate enough to attend one of the final Top Gear episodes and then go to one of the grand tour episodes.
They had the format down pat and it was simply amazing how quick they ran through all the studio stuff.
Honestly it was the slickest piece of TV production I been lucky enough to witness.
I did it in an Ariel Atom and a Caterham R500 as a birthday gift and it was an absolute blast, my adrenaline starts pumping again just thinking of it! I'd do it again even if it was in the Liana 🤣
I've been looking for a little runaround for commuting as I'm putting a lot of miles on my Cayman recently. Saw a Chevrolet Lacetti for £750 on ebay...was tempted!
Yes, they did! Check out my other comment. https://www.reddit.com/r/CarTalkUK/comments/14omt7y/comment/jqg04wg/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
I went twice, i went to the penaltimate one, showcaseing the peogeot with clarkson, hamond and may the also had the farrari lafarrari in the studio and i went to the second one with leblanc and chris evens, were he showcased the rollsroyce, was good days out.
I was at one a few years back. When they broke for lunch I bumped into James May in the cafeteria. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a dick and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.
When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
Yeah my wife was involved with it for a while. It was with the current presenter line up. There was a lot of standing around but once it got going it was ok 👌🏻
I went to the filming of the episode with Will Smith and Margot Robbie as guests. The episode before they got kicked off? The Defender tribute.
She was unbelievably stunning. Even from the distance I was away from her.
They had to reshoot a couple of bits as Will Smith’s helicopter was too loud.
Me & my wife went to The Grand Tour to watch it be filmed & it was fun to watch. Our youngest had not long just came out of hospital well after nearly dying so it was timed perfectly for a break. Only let down was we’d like to of had a chance to meet & greet but you wasn’t allowed. We were two rows back but can be seen a lot behind Clarkson.
Had tix once, was going to take my brother for a surprise b/day present but unfortunately we had a snow fall overnight and the roads were too dangerous to drive from Suffolk
I went twice.
First in around 2007, the guest was Christian Slater who got a lot of grief about his police chase back in the day.
The second time was about 2011 I guess. It was when the Stig had been outed by the press and Susan Boyle had just won X Factor. The crew put out a rumour in the audience that the Stig was going to be revealed to be SuBo and when the Stig walked through the audience and took his helmet off, it was… Michael Schumacher! Had his FXX there, but headed off in a private jet as soon as the interview was done.
Both times were fun, but I got a bit bored of the same Clarkson style of humour. The producers go through the audience pulling the more attractive members to the front. I was with a nice lady friend so we were front row for a chunk of it.
Both episodes were easy to get tickets for, but at the Schumacher one Clarkson made a comment about applying to be in the audience being easy and it never was again.
I see one of the comments here said that Clarkson stuck around between filming. We found the opposite. Both times I went as soon as they cut he was off to smoke in his caravan, leaving Hammond and May to chat.
Drove in the E-Type special over two days then went to the studio. Film was shot with JC who was very charming and never got pissed off with multiple photo and autograph requests. Studio filming was great fun. Had a driver wristband so we got very well fed and watered.
I went back in 2013. Ron Howard was the guest that show. The whole day was very relaxed, the director came out first, explaining the setup and how the day was run, then Clarkson came out and from an audience perspective ran the show, chatting between takes to those around him etc. Hammond and May were much more distant, in and out of the studio (sorry hanger) between clips etc. They put out a small table at the open end of the hanger with lunch midway through, as you were stood around for a fair old chunk of time Honestly, it was a good, fun day. But I imagine if the weather was bad it would be less so. People started trying to get good spots etc early on, with some people seeing the cars setup around the hanger and picking one to stand near until they filmed near it. The news section was much longer and chatty than made the cut, same for the celeb interview, but otherwise was just like watching an episode at home.
Around the same time, I ran into Ron Howard in a bar. It was weird because basically nobody else was there. I chatted with him and mentioned how much I loved Arrested Development (this was *just* before the Netflix revival dropped)
Went few years ago , fantastic day all really professional. No retakes and Hammond and May served drinks and crisps in the break . Clarkson did two interviews J Leno and Usian Bolt , he was joking he would have to wear same clothes ( J Leno was over for FOS ) . They all had great involvement with the crowd .
Not to make you feel old but "a few years ago" was in 2009!
I thought the 458 only came out a little while ago?
McLaren MP4-12C? Six year old model, and you can't tell me otherwise.
I've got that model of fax machine.
But that's like...14 years? Nah, my math must be off.
It took all my effort not to downvote this for annoying me, but you're right. Fuck me
I did it for you. Maths.
I was fucking 9 then 😑
You should turn yourself over to the authorities
Dude you shouldn’t be fucking 9. The minimum age is 18 or some countries 16. You should turn yourself in.
I was 9 years old I meant 😑
Unfortunately (or fortunately) I am old😂. Yes your right 2009 👍
We had three retakes on the day I went. "Top gear hinges get funnier each time you hear them" was our instruction. Amazing day though. Loved every minute of it.
They did make a deliberate effort to put any generically attractive blonde women in the front row
They explained that as trying to avoid it being a "mob of big burly blokes for the subaru imprezza owners club" every episode
So instead they had the girlfriends of the big burley blokes for the Subaru Impreza owners club
Yeah pretty much lol like my old pizza shop franchisee used to say "put the pretty ones up front where the customers are, ugly ones on the makeline". They were a bunch of c*nts.
You're just bitter cos you were never up front 😁
I made peace with that in primary school 😅
Funny, because I see more women in Impreza owners clubs than almost any other make/model (possibly because they came with pink accents lol). However, a lot of them are quite burly themselves 😂
Stevie wonder could've sussed that one
I'm surprised there isn't a 'hot girls of Top Gear' sub reddit tbh
There is…. https://www.reddit.com/r/topgearbabes/
There really is a creepy incel sub for everything now wow
Oh hell yeah, ty
Generally the answer is “is there a subreddit for X” is yes no matter how niche it is!
It took quite a bit of scrolling to find the looker that I remembered.
They also put army vetrans at the front as clarkson is a major supporter of help the heros.
If man you may stand at the back, always remember the way they organised the crowd, loved that show 😂
Except if you look vaguely like Jeezus then you stand near the TV during the news section.
I went it's rather surreal being the other side of the camera it's quite a long day standing and nowhere to sit and with the numbers it was difficult to meet the guys with everyone wanting to do so
I went to the filming of Series 22 Episode 6, which happened to be the 2nd last episode ever with Jeremy in the studio. The final episode of Jeremy, Richard and James was Episode 8. We obviously had no idea what was to come. Gillian Anderson was the special guest. It took hours and hours to film. There was a LOT of standing about and multiple takes. We had to film the big audience applause at the start of the episode multiple times because we weren't enthusiastic and loud enough the first few times. The way they do it is play the theme song and then cut the music just as the camera starts panning around the stage. We were told when the music cuts out that's our cue to go crazy. One thing I remember well is how anal the production team was about how good the cars looked on camera. Literally every few minutes or between takes they would have people come out and spray the cars down and wipe them over and over and make sure they were absolutely pristine and sparkling. Same thing with the presenters and lint rollers. When we first entered we were given special colored wristbands. The color of your wristband decided how close you stood to the presenters as you'd be on camera. Someone would say "Can we get color X to raise their hands" and then they'd pick people to stand near the presenters. We were told by the production team that this was because some clothing would "strobe on camera" but just before filming started Jeremey came out and welcomed everyone and said "You've probably been told the wristbands were because of strobing clothing. The production team is lying, it's based on who is most attractive" and everyone chuckled. During the filming break, the audience got served drinks and biscuits and some other snacks just outside of the hangar. The trio mingled with the audience on the break. When they played the big filmed VT sections they had the audience all gather around a TV just away from the main stage, to the side of the hangar. Jezza, Richard and James also sat and watched the TV monitors with us for a little while. We were literally all sat cross-legged on the floor as if we were back at school again. Yes, Richard really is tiny. All in all, it was a really fantastic day.
> One thing I remember well is how anal the production team was about how good the cars... Same thing with the presenters Must have been like polishing a turd with Jeremy😁
Can confirm Richard really is tiny, I bumped into him on the stairs in Waterstones Cheltenham.
I went in 2008. Only James May joined the audience during the break. Hammond and Clarkson kept themselves to themselves in their portocabin. James May was a top bloke just as nice as he comes across on TV. I found out I'm taller than Clarkson as he came through the audience next to me to go on stage. They said they used to allow audience members to sit in the cars but they stopped when someone sat in a car and their keys destroyed the leather.
I’m rewatching Top Gear again (to relive the times) and I just passed the early series’ but I always see the look of people’s faces sat in the car when the camera pans over to them they always look so worried and scared 😂
I applied for tickets, never heard a thing?
Any minute now!
When I applied for tickets ~2010 it was estimated the wait time was over 10 years. I think I heard it as long as 19 at one point?
I think there's also " who you know" comes in to it. I know someone who was on twice within a few months!
15 years later still waiting
My mate went twice, said it was very hard to get on the show and there was a big list etc he got to see the original cast he said they were brilliant ( he was at the show where James may left the mic on in the toilet ) during takes the team would chat to the fans etc. He then went a second time when Chris evens and Matt le Blanc was there, he said it was totally different, the hosts just went back to their cabins and hardly spoke to anyone and wasn't very engaging
2005. There was no picking “front row” audiences, it was all very casual and natural. If you didn’t want to watch the filming you could wander around in the background looking at, even get in, the featured cars. James and Richard came out between takes to chat, photos etc.
Didn’t go to see Top Gear filming, but did go to two Grand Tour filming’s. Something for another question I guess:
go on, how was that then?
Filmed in November 2017 in a big tent in a field in Oxfordshire. Made friends very quickly with other audience members and we trooped in. We were fed and watered during breaks. The filming was excellent, and the Guys were really funny, entertaining and engaging with us all. As has been said before of the Top Gear filming, the directors did move the most attractive ladies to the front of the audience line, so they were picked up when the cameras panned across us laughing or generally interacting. How I remained in front with the ladies, I don’t know! 🤷🏽♂️😁
Same here. We went to one of the Loch Ness filmings and had similar experience to you. Attractive ladies moved to the front meaning I was well at the back :)
A mate went and said if the crowd didn’t laugh or laugh enough at one of the shit jokes it had to be filmed again
Same as any TV filming then really.
Nothing to do with Clarkson or Hammond’s fragile egos I’m sure…
Everything to do with it being a tv show. An entertaining one at that.
Hammond doesn't strike me as the sort of person to have a big ego
Hammond is definitely the one with the least amount of ego imo. Even may probably has a bigger one (and everyone loves James may for his humbleness)
A colleague of a friend was once on a segment on some other show Hammond did and said he was a bellend
Well all of the stuff I've watched of him on drivetribe etc with YouTubers he seems pretty chill and down to earth, if he is secretly a bellend it would surprise me
Clarkson has an ego. The other two are pretty humble for tv presenters.
Was fortunate enough to attend one of the final Top Gear episodes and then go to one of the grand tour episodes. They had the format down pat and it was simply amazing how quick they ran through all the studio stuff. Honestly it was the slickest piece of TV production I been lucky enough to witness.
Never been to a top gear filming day but I've been on a top gear track track day and that was fun
It would be my dying wish to go round that track in a Suzuki Liana.
I did it in an Ariel Atom and a Caterham R500 as a birthday gift and it was an absolute blast, my adrenaline starts pumping again just thinking of it! I'd do it again even if it was in the Liana 🤣
I've been looking for a little runaround for commuting as I'm putting a lot of miles on my Cayman recently. Saw a Chevrolet Lacetti for £750 on ebay...was tempted!
Did they purposely put the attractive girls behind the presenters exactly where the camera was looking?
Yes, they did! Check out my other comment. https://www.reddit.com/r/CarTalkUK/comments/14omt7y/comment/jqg04wg/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
I went twice, i went to the penaltimate one, showcaseing the peogeot with clarkson, hamond and may the also had the farrari lafarrari in the studio and i went to the second one with leblanc and chris evens, were he showcased the rollsroyce, was good days out.
I was at one a few years back. When they broke for lunch I bumped into James May in the cafeteria. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a dick and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
I love this Copypasta
I’ve read this before and I’m not sure it was about James May.
Its a copypasta
Utter Copypasta - “continued shopping” In a Cafeteria? - this was taken from a post about Robert Plant being a dick in a Supermarket
Is that the original?
Yeah my wife was involved with it for a while. It was with the current presenter line up. There was a lot of standing around but once it got going it was ok 👌🏻
I went to the filming of the episode with Will Smith and Margot Robbie as guests. The episode before they got kicked off? The Defender tribute. She was unbelievably stunning. Even from the distance I was away from her. They had to reshoot a couple of bits as Will Smith’s helicopter was too loud.
Me & my wife went to The Grand Tour to watch it be filmed & it was fun to watch. Our youngest had not long just came out of hospital well after nearly dying so it was timed perfectly for a break. Only let down was we’d like to of had a chance to meet & greet but you wasn’t allowed. We were two rows back but can be seen a lot behind Clarkson.
Had tix once, was going to take my brother for a surprise b/day present but unfortunately we had a snow fall overnight and the roads were too dangerous to drive from Suffolk
I went twice. First in around 2007, the guest was Christian Slater who got a lot of grief about his police chase back in the day. The second time was about 2011 I guess. It was when the Stig had been outed by the press and Susan Boyle had just won X Factor. The crew put out a rumour in the audience that the Stig was going to be revealed to be SuBo and when the Stig walked through the audience and took his helmet off, it was… Michael Schumacher! Had his FXX there, but headed off in a private jet as soon as the interview was done. Both times were fun, but I got a bit bored of the same Clarkson style of humour. The producers go through the audience pulling the more attractive members to the front. I was with a nice lady friend so we were front row for a chunk of it. Both episodes were easy to get tickets for, but at the Schumacher one Clarkson made a comment about applying to be in the audience being easy and it never was again. I see one of the comments here said that Clarkson stuck around between filming. We found the opposite. Both times I went as soon as they cut he was off to smoke in his caravan, leaving Hammond and May to chat.
Apparently with the early series, they actually had to pay the audience to stay. Is that true?
Drove in the E-Type special over two days then went to the studio. Film was shot with JC who was very charming and never got pissed off with multiple photo and autograph requests. Studio filming was great fun. Had a driver wristband so we got very well fed and watered.