The Top Gear Circus gets set to roll into town. Paddy Comyn reports from the launch in London
WHAT IS there left for Top Gear to do? The show has long since made the transition from niche motoring programme to essential family viewing, thanks in no small part to the screen presence of Jeremy Clarkson, his chemistry with co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond, and the behind-the-scenes genius of executive producer Andy Wilman.
The show is now broadcast globally and has an estimated 500 million viewers, making it one of the most watched television programmes in the world. But with the stunts getting ever-more elaborate, one of which nearly cost Hammond his life, and an expectant audience ever-more hungry for a piece of the Top Gear pie, where else was there to go for the show to go? The answer is to take to the road and turn the Top Gear phenomenon into a live show.
And it is coming to Dublin. Clarkson, Hammond, May plus members of the Top Gear production team will bring to life elements of the TV show in what they call a "live motoring theatre experience".
"Basically it's a chance to cock about in millions and millions of pounds worth of toys," says a jaded-looking Hammond at the press conference to announce the event on Monday. Clarkson, Hammond and May had just minutes earlier crossed London's Tower Bridge in a tank, followed by a Ferrari and an Aston Martin - a fitting stunt to mark the show's invasion to its elected cities.
There is no doubt about the level of celebrity that the show's three irreverent hosts command.
All three appear to have more handlers than a US president and they are well versed in their respective roles.
Clarkson, very much the ringmaster, hurls abuse at the diminutive and still shaken-looking Hammond, while May stands around in between, still looking somewhat awkward to be thrust so far into the world of flashing camera bulbs and pushy press people.
The shows tour is due to visit 30 cities by 2011, starting in London and Birmingham, then making its way to Dublin from Thursday, November 27th to Sunday, November 30th in Dublin's RDS. Over 30,000 people are expected for the Irish event. Of the RDS event, Clarkson says: "Everything that isn't broken after London and Birmingham will make its way to Dublin." The show hopes to bring the flavour of being in the Top Gear audience to a wider audience.
"Although we're three middle-aged men, we still harbour the desire to be rock stars," says Clarkson. "With an 18-year waiting list for Top Gear, this is an opportunity for people to come and see us cocking about."
The show will comprise up to 16 different scenes or sequences, with the show's presenters playing host, including an interactive version of the Cool Wall, a chance for the audience to control a virtual car around the Top Gear test track en masse, using coloured cards and their collective volume and will also feature a new fire-breathing monster called Swampy that will be battled by the mysterious racing driver - The Stig. The event will also be home to more than 200 of the fastest cars on the plane, with exotica from the likes of Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, Shelby and TVR.
• Brown Thomas Limited edition tickets, which includes a paddock tour, go on sale today, priced from €100. Tickets can be purchased by calling 0818300275 or visiting rdsticketing.com. General release tickets, priced from €75, go on sale on September 10th. More information from topgearlive.ie