Top gear is a car programme brought to you by the BBC which is one of its longest running programmes having its first episode/revival premiered in 2002. However, I am only going to be talking about Top Gear up until 2015 as those were the years when the iconic trio where the hosts of the show: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
The Target audience is incredibly obvious as it is for people who like cars. The age range however is a bit unusual, as it’s audience can range from elderly people to young teenagers. This is what made Top Gear unique in this era as they were one of the only few shows on the BBC that almost anyone of any age could sit down on the couch and enjoy an episode or 2. This is mainly thanks to the 3 presenters of the show who were the main reason for top gears success in the first place. This is because before Top Gear’s revival in 2002, the show was just a car show, talking about car reviews, new car launches, and potential accidents involving cars. With the 3 presenters on hand, fans of top gear describes this change as “people talking about cars” to “idiots talking about cars” (in a good way). This is because they added a sense of Comedy to show and enjoyment that a lot of people wanted in the first place, as most could see people talking about cars as being incredibly repetitive. With the 3 hosts though, they could put themselves in unimaginable situations involving cars, and add a sense of comedy to the show that greatly helped boost its TV ratings.
It is no wonder when people talk about the show they mention the 3 presenters as they were the ones who kept the show on its feet when it reached its prime, but how? To me its because the 3 of them represent the stereotypes and break the stereotypes of what its like to be British. It is no wonder that the shows main target audience middle aged white men, because that’s all 3 of the hosts in a nutshell but all come from different parts of England. Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson are from the Midlands, so their actions on the show will be relatable to anyone from the Midlands. This is the same case with James May and how he’s from Bristol, in the South and how his actions will relatable to that of someone from the South of England. However, even though these are 3 middle-aged men (at the time they were on Top Gear). You wouldn’t think it, as there actions on the show were always “childish”. Most people may believe that they’re being stupid but I think they are being extremely clever by tapping into a younger audience. By acting immature and fun, this gives a sense of relatability to young people who are barely represented in large budget BBC shows. (the only one I can think of at the top of my head is Doctor Who) The specials are also key to expanding Top Gears audience as they have their own perception of what it’s like to be in a unique foreign country, therefore representing the people in that country in the show that are fans of the show, because unlike most BBC shows, Top Gear is actually a worldwide show.
Even though the show is mostly about cars, most people who are new comers will have the preferred reading that the show is, to quote James May, a “fooling around show” and I think that is correct. It is no wonder that after Clarkson got sacked and Hammond and May left that Top Gears views plummeted as it shows that the programme was more than a cars shows. As someone who grew up watching the show honestly I could tell you barely anything about cars, but what I can tell you about is the crazy shenanigans that the trio got up to when the went to *insert place here* or drove *insert car here*. Most of the time when the audience remembers a car from the show, it is because they remembered it from a funny moment in the show.
This can be seen in the clip below, where Hammond grows attached to a car he called Oliver and is overcome with emotion when water starts flooding inside the vehicle as he screams to the heavens the cars name.
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