Ladies and gentlemen, the world’s No. 2 car show, Fifth Gear, is back! As you know, the TV show was killed last year, when Channel Five decided that its ratings had reached a point that was way too far out of Top Gear’s league.
But the five executives have apparently become sensitive to the needs of the automotive aficionados and has decided to revive the show. Two episodes of the new season have already been inked and the first of them is expected to hit TV sets at the end of April.
However, the reincarnation took a two-man toll. The new show will only see Vicky Butler-Henderson, Tiff Needell, Jason Plato and Jonny Smith in action. Not only have Tom Ford and Tim Shaw been removed for the staff, but the format has been reinvented. Fifth Gear will be a car testing program, which will kill the studio scenes and will focus on the actual automotive action. So the aforementioned team will be doing its job on the road and track.
This “less talk, more action” approach isn’t necessarily a negative thing - maybe it was the old format that was too close to the one successfully used by Top Gear that got the show killed. After all, only having 20 percent of Top Gear’s audience meant that something had to be done.
The new Fifth Gear will debut next month on Channel Five and will be brought into European homes by the Discovery Channel.
But the five executives have apparently become sensitive to the needs of the automotive aficionados and has decided to revive the show. Two episodes of the new season have already been inked and the first of them is expected to hit TV sets at the end of April.
However, the reincarnation took a two-man toll. The new show will only see Vicky Butler-Henderson, Tiff Needell, Jason Plato and Jonny Smith in action. Not only have Tom Ford and Tim Shaw been removed for the staff, but the format has been reinvented. Fifth Gear will be a car testing program, which will kill the studio scenes and will focus on the actual automotive action. So the aforementioned team will be doing its job on the road and track.
This “less talk, more action” approach isn’t necessarily a negative thing - maybe it was the old format that was too close to the one successfully used by Top Gear that got the show killed. After all, only having 20 percent of Top Gear’s audience meant that something had to be done.
The new Fifth Gear will debut next month on Channel Five and will be brought into European homes by the Discovery Channel.