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

Reaction to the first episode of revamped Top Gear wasn't brilliant, but host Chris Evans has revealed that in terms of numbers, it was a huge success

Matt Robinson

31 May 2016

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.

The new Top Gear is a hit. OFFICIALLY. 23 % audience share. 12% MORE than the opening episode of the last series. These are the FACTS.;— achrisevans

Top Gear audience grew throughout the hour. FACT. Won its slot. FACT. Still number one on i Player. FACT. These are THE FACTS folks.;— achrisevans

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.

Top Gear i Player views now at 1.1 million. Rock n roll ! Thank you. Team and channel totally thrilled.;— achrisevans

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.

Comments

Wow…

Next week there will be a lot less people watching, because they now know for sure that it is crap

Clarkson et al had 150 odd episodes to work out what people liked and didn’t like. By the end of the season the viewers will pick back up, after everything is refined

FACT

Like I said, acid test will be next week’s figures…

I know I’d watch it for the cars, that’s for sure. Can’t wait for the Ken Block feature.

Exactley!!

Those 4 million were all giving it a chance.

Bet you £10 those numbers are halved next week.

Double or nothing, the show will be cancelled after this season.

I agree, but the show won’t be cancelled yet. The BBC is stubborn and will keep shoving this in your face until it becomes a moderate success

Ofcourse there were a lot of viewers, people wanted to see how it is, see how the next episode does and then we’ll talk

The second episodes studio bits were recorded last week, (before the first episode) so they won’t have been able to change what people don’t like, because nobody had seen it.