Top Gear has become unobtrusive – it’s time to end this car accident

The BBC is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022 and it seems like yes The best equipment (BBC One) there are already at least 250 of them. When the limousine chair, conductor, penny farthing and the first internal combustion engine needed a road test check, you know they were three joshing guys there they trade fraternities and plunder like a billio for easel or daguerreotype.

“WOOAAAHHH!” they will shout when one or the other face is planted in a pond or off a cliff. »DID YOU SEE THIS OR WHAT?!? FRIEND! “Maybe Ye Stig took part in the topper. And the gurning claque gathered in a circle to huzzah their script replay.

Either way, it’s back. I won’t claim to be an outdated follower, but long after the departure of what Fleetwood Mac scientists might call a classic cast, emptiness now seems to be at the heart of the charisma brand.

It’s not about tarnishing Freddie (born Andrew) Flintoff, whose documentaries on depression and bulimia revealed someone who is pleasant with quiet vulnerability. But for years he has been competently moving through noisy formats and it makes no sense to have his heart in cars. At the other end of the track is Chris Harris, who can reach high speeds but is not a performer. The current trio is complemented by Paddy McGuinness, essentially a driver’s license fog lamp.

They were in Florida this week to compete in some crazy races. Do I have to tell you about cars? No, I don’t think so. Not even alligators. They arrived at a motorhome that ate gas. The camera on the dashboard captured every Socratic joy. They got stuck in the mud. Then Harris twisted his ankle and ended the show on crutches. As if Top Gear can’t help itself to metacriticism.

That’s really awful, isn’t it? Unfortunately, it is not possible to improve what was once a car show – say by involving women or a responsible attitude towards global warming – without fatally hybridizing all that is, which ensures its mysterious popularity. Maybe we could all go farming. Apparently this works.