Top Gear, that weird and wonky little motoring show from somewhere smack dab in the middle of England, will still be filmed with a live audience.
“But,” we hear you saying, “how is that possible with social distancing and the coronavirus pandemic?!” Fear not, Top Gear tweeted out their quite ingenious solution.
Lights🚦camera 📸 action 🎬
Brand new #TopGear, coming soon with a socially distanced twist. Yep, the audience are still here, and we’re still at Dunsfold. Just outside, hoping that for once the British weather commits to the forecast.
Coming soon to @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer pic.twitter.com/rEoTN6q9yd
— Top Gear (@BBC_TopGear) September 9, 2020
The solution? Taking an age-old American idea, the drive-in cinema, and turning it into a drive-in audience! And, because of the history of the Top Gear Live! tours, they already have a stage and setup ready!
Hosted by the excellent Chris Harris, joined this season by Paddy McGuiness and Andrew Flintoff, the “live studio” segments will instead be filmed outside on the grass of the Dunsfold Aerodrome.
The Dunsfold Aerodrome may not be a familiar name, but it’s the area that holds the Top Gear lazy-figure-8 test track, as well as all the production offices, garages, and other Top Gear necessities.
The only thing we hope is that the unique British weather decides to cooperate on filming days. Of course, knowing Top Gear, they’d probably spin a bit of rain into some joke about a car or the quality of a review segment!
As Richard Hammond said nearly a decade and a half ago while he was one of the hosts: “American power, safely in British hands.” We approve of using the drive-in idea to make the quirky little motoring show go on!
