Hello CT. My name is Richard Porter and I was the script editor on Top Gear. Ask me anything.
After working on the show for 13 years, 22 series and 175 programmes, there’s quite a lot I can tell you about Top Gear. I know whose idea it was to get a dog, I was there when we got threatened by drug barons in Bolivia, I can give you the real story of that Porsche number plate.
After working on the show for 13 years, 22 series and 175 programmes, there’s quite a lot I can tell you about Top Gear. I know whose idea it was to get a dog, I was there when we got threatened by drug barons in Bolivia, I can give you the real story of that Porsche number plate. I’ve put all these things in my new book, but you can ask me about them anyway. Or something else. Up to you. I’m here all night. Try the soup in a basket.
Comments
Was there any cars that were supposed to be on the show but never ended up going on?
A few, though I can’t remember specific ones off the top of my head. We weren’t filming all year and we were on air at specific times so we had trouble sometimes working with car makers’ schedules.
Which of the trio would deviate from the script most often?
They’d all deviate. Jeremy with brilliant new ideas. Richard with killer one liners. James with sudden, whimsical flights of fancy. As a general rule.
Did Top Gear ever thought of filming a special in Singapore? Or any reason why they didn’t ?
Not great driving place is it, unless the Grand Prix is on?
Did you actually script some fights/arguments or was it real all the time?
A great deal of it was real.
Will you script the next show of the trio or produce it/…?
Don’t know yet. They’ve asked, but I’ve been busy doing my book and my flower arranging course and so on.
On issue 260 of Top Gear magazine,page 25, it is said that you know everything there is to know about cars,how true is this statement?
Favorite car review?
How many car makers complained about your show, that you said their cars were … how to say.. trash? :D I mean Top Gear was doing it quite often :D
What happened to the cool wall? I always loved that one and it hadn’t been featured in the last seasons.
Is James May so slow and has Fiat Panda?