List of Top Gear (1977 TV series) episodes

The following is a complete episode list of the BBC television series Top Gear that ran from April 1977 to December 2001, a total of 524 episodes. After the cancellation of the series in 2001, the BBC were convinced into running a revamped show with a new format, which became the widely popular series of the same title launched in 2002.

Episodes

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Top Gear was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC covering motor related issues, new car model reviews, motor show previews, fuel economy, safety, the police, speeding, insurance, consumer advice and used car sales tips among other issues. Many presenters featured over the course of the series, most notably Angela Rippon, Noel Edmonds, William Woollard, Chris Goffey, Judith Jackson, Sue Baker, Tiff Needell, Jeremy Clarkson, Quentin Willson and Vicki Butler-Henderson.

When it became a network show, it was broadcast on BBC 2 on Thursday nights for Series 1, then on Tuesday nights between Series 2 and Series 17, then reverting to the original Thursday timeslot from Series 18 to the end of its run. In all, 524 episodes (515 plus the nine regional shows) were broadcast between 1977 and 2002, with a large majority of that figure being Top Gear itself.

The original series of the Top Gear programme was broadcast in BBC Midlands region only. There were nine programmes, the first of which went out on BBC 1 Midlands, on 22 April 1977. The listing below does not include these original regional shows, it begins when the programme became a network transmission.

Series Editions Start Date End Date Comments
Series 1 10 13 July 1978 14 September 1978
Series 2 10 1 May 1979 3 July 1979 First appearance of Judith Jackson
Series 3 6 1 April 1980 20 May 1980
Series 4 6 2 September 1980 7 October 1980
Series 5 8 21 April 1981 9 June 1981
Series 6 7 3 November 1981 15 December 1981
Series 7 8 13 April 1982 1 June 1982
Series 8 6 7 September 1982 12 October 1982 Last appearance of Judith Jackson
Series 9 9 29 January 1983 19 April 1983
Series 10 8 6 September 1983 25 October 1983
Series 11 8 28 February 1984 25 April 1984
Series 12 7 23 October 1984 11 December 1984
Series 13 9 5 March 1985 30 April 1985
Series 14 8 3 September 1985 22 October 1985
Series 15 10 8 April 1986 10 June 1986
Series 16 8 9 September 1986 28 October 1986
Series 17 8 7 April 1987 26 May 1987 First appearance of Tiff Needell
Series 18 11 10 September 1987 19 November 1987
Series 19 8 7 April 1988 26 May 1988
Series 20 8 29 September 1988 17 November 1988 First appearance of Jeremy Clarkson
Series 21 8 21 March 1989 9 May 1989
Series 22 10 14 September 1989 16 November 1989
Series 23 8 27 March 1990 15 May 1990
Series 24 10 27 September 1990 29 November 1990
Series 25 10 28 February 1991 2 May 1991 Last appearance of William Woollard and Sue Baker
Series 26 12 19 September 1991 19 December 1991 First appearance of Quentin Willson
Series 27 11 27 February 1992 7 May 1992
Series 28 12 24 September 1992 17 December 1992
Series 29 17 18 February 1993 10 June 1993
Series 30 15 9 September 1993 30 December 1993
Series 31 10 3 March 1994 12 May 1994
Series 32 12 22 September 1994 15 December 1994
Series 33 13 16 February 1995 11 May 1995
Series 34 14 21 September 1995 21 December 1995
Series 35 14 15 February 1996 16 May 1996
Series 36 14 5 September 1996 5 December 1996
Series 37 17 16 January 1997 15 May 1997 First appearance of Vicki Butler-Henderson
Series 38 16 4 September 1997 18 December 1997
Series 39 13 19 February 1998 14 May 1998 Last appearance of Michele Newman
Series 40 15 10 September 1998 17 December 1998 Last appearance of Jeremy Clarkson
Series 41 12 18 March 1999 3 June 1999 First and Last appearance of James May
Series 42 14 9 September 1999 9 December 1999 First appearance of Kate Humble
Series 43 18 20 January 2000 25 May 2000
Series 44 15 7 September 2000 14 December 2000 First appearance of Jason Barlow and Adrian Simpson
Last appearance of Kate Humble
Series 45 35 22 February 2001 17 December 2001 Last appearance of Tiff Needell, Quentin Willson, Andy Wilman, Vicki Butler-Henderson, Jason Barlow and Adrian Simpson

Note: The timeslots for Series 45 varied, so not all episodes were broadcast consecutively each week.

Spin-offs

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Top Gear Rally Report

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Rally Report was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC dedicated to broadcasting previews, highlights and reports of the Lombard RAC Rally of the United Kingdom, and latterly, the final round of the World Rally Championship. William Woollard presented in studio segments, whilst Sue Baker, or Tony Mason in later years, presented the location reports on the stages. There are sixty five episodes in all, produced between 1984 and 1998, including all specials, but excluding the preview of the 1995 RAC Rally, as the total episodes for that series is unknown.

Series Editions Start Date End Date
Series 1 6 24 November 1984 29 November 1984
Series 2 1 30 November 1985
Series 3 1 20 November 1986
Series 4 1 26 November 1987
Series 5 1 26 November 1988
Series 6 1 23 November 1989
Series 7 1 12 May 1990
Series 8 8 21 November 1992 25 November 1992
Series 9 1 1 January 1993
Series 10 8 20 November 1993 24 November 1993
Series 11 1 23 December 1993
Series 12 9 19 November 1994 23 November 1994
Series 13 1 26 December 1994
Series 14 1 17 November 1995 22 February 1996
Series 15 7 19 November 1995 22 November 1995
Series 16 1 25 December 1995
Series 17 5 22 November 1996 25 November 1996
Series 18 1 9 January 1997
Series 19 5 22 November 1997 25 November 1997
Series 20 1 31 December 1997
Series 21 4 21 November 1998 24 November 1998
Series 22 1 20 December 1998

Top Gear Motorsport

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Top Gear Motorsport was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC covering various forms of motorsport such as the World Rally Championship, the British Rally Championship, British Formula Three, Formula Renault and Formula Vauxhall Junior racing, as well as British Superbike and Eurocar challenges. Tiff Needell presented the show throughout the show's run. The programme was broadcast weekly on a Friday timeslot. The show was broadcast between 1994 and 1998, and ninety four episodes were produced in all, including specials.

Series Editions Start Date End Date
Series 1 1 10 November 1994
Series 2 9 24 March 1995 19 May 1995
Series 3 15 27 October 1995 2 February 1996
Series 4 1 20 December 1995
Series 5 12 5 April 1996 21 June 1996
Series 6 8 30 September 1996 20 December 1996
Series 7 2 10 March 1997 17 March 1997
Series 8 11 31 March 1997 21 June 1997
Series 9 10 29 August 1997 14 November 1997
Series 10 25 6 April 1998 16 November 1998

Top Gear Take 2

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Top Gear Take 2 was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC looking back on previous segments of Top Gear over the years. Each programme ran for fifteen minutes on BBC Two, with repeats surfacing in 1997, on the then new UK Horizons. Presenters included Quentin Willson, Steve Berry, Jeremy Clarkson and Tiff Needell. The show was broadcast between 1992 and 1999, with fifty six episodes being produced.

Series Editions Start Date End Date
Series 1 5 23 July 1992 14 September 1992
Series 2 11 6 January 1993 22 September 1993
Series 3 6 8 January 1994 4 October 1994
Series 4 10 31 May 1995 8 September 1995
Series 5 4 17 January 1996 16 June 1996
Series 6 1 31 July 1997 31 July 1997
Series 7 8 13 July 1998 17 August 1998
Series 8 11 1 February 1999 23 December 1999

Top Gear Waterworld

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Top Gear Waterworld was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC covering water based vehicles, and various activities related to them, such as Citroën 2CV river racing in Brittany, and how to ease traffic congestion in London by using water transport on the River Thames. The series was presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Tiff Needell and Julia Bradbury. The show was broadcast in 1998, with five episodes being produced.

Series Editions Start Date End Date
Series 1 5 20 July 1998 20 August 1998

Top Gear GTi

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Top Gear GTi was a series of programmes broadcast by the BBC covering a variety of features such as car reviews, special features such as attending a driving school and motor shows. Essentially, GTi is an expansion on the main programme. The series was mainly presented by Vicki Butler-Henderson, although Steve Berry and Jason Bradbury appeared on the show at times. The show was the last of the spin off series' of Top Gear to be broadcast, airing between September 1999 and May 2001, with more than one hundred episodes in its name. Unlike any other spin off, Top Gear GTi was broadcast on a near daily timeslot on the UK Horizons channel.

Series Editions Start Date End Date
Series 1 Unknown September 1999 December 1999
Series 2 Unknown January 2000 May 2000
Series 3 Unknown September 2000 December 2000
Series 4 Unknown January 2001 May 2001

Top Gear Specials

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Various specials of Top Gear were produced during the show's initial run, each of them having a particular theme to the show.

Title Release Date Featured
Top Gear Turns Back The Clock 21 October 1980
Top Gear Special: A Ring Around London 3 November 1982
Top Gear Special: Belt Up 29 January 1983
Top Gear Special: Rust 13 March 1984
Top Gear on the Grid 3 June 1988
Top Gear Car of the Decade 22 September 1988
Top Gear: Motor Show Special 22 October 1992
Top Gear: Reverse Gear 24 December 1992
Top Gear: Rolls-Royce Alpine Challenge 20 December 1993
Top Gear: Christmas Special 1994 22 December 1994
Top Gear: Klausen Run 5 January 1995
Top Gear: Classic and Sportscar Show 7 May 1995
Top Gear: The Oh So Beautiful Bugatti 1995
Top Gear Special: The Search for the Silver Arrow 22 April 1996
Top Gear Live 20 July 1996
Top Gear: London to Brighton 19 December 1996
Top Gear Special: Ferrari – The Italian Legend 1996
Top Gear Special: Aston Martin 1997
Top Gear Live 15 May 1997
Top Gear: The TVR Story 22 December 1997
Top Gear Live 23 May 1998 First Time Live Broadcast on BBC Two
Top Gear: Blood, Salt and Tears – 100 Years of the Land Speed Record 21 December 1998 Evolution of Top Speed Car
Top Gear: Motor Show 1999 24 October 1999
Top Gear: 21 Years of Top Gear 16 December 1999 Looking Back for The Great Cars and Events in The Past 21 Years
Top Gear Awards 10 February 2000 Best & Worst Cars of 1999
Top Gear Awards 11 February 2001 Best & Worst Cars of 2000
Top Gear: Value Special 26 July 2001 Buying and Choosing the Right Car, Maintenance Works, Mythical Cars & Oil Price Hikes
Top Gear Awards 4 February 2002 Best & Worst Cars of 2001

References

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