Despite Mass Criticism, The First Episode Of ‘New’ Top Gear Was Officially A Hit

It’s pretty clear from the reactions on our live discussion that most of you guys didn’t really take to the first episode of new Top Gear. In fact, the poll we ran yesterday revealed that a whopping 24 per cent of you scored the episode as a 1 out of 10…

Twitter seemed full to the brim with complaints, too, while reviews have been less than favourable. However, in terms of raw numbers, the first episode was actually a hit.

In a series of Tweets, host Chris Evans revealed that the show enjoyed a massive 23 per cent audience share, representing a 12 per cent increase on the first episode of series 22 when the show was still presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

The caveat here is that the intrigue surrounding just what the show would be like in the post-Clarkson era will have no doubt fuelled the apparent popularity; the acid test will be the figures for the second and third episodes. However, it seems people weren’t switching off, because the audience actually grew throughout the airing. Evans also revealed this morning that iPlayer views have topped one million.