The eighth series of the BBC motoring show Top Gear, starring presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, premiered on the 7th of May, 2006 and concluded on the 30th of July, 2006. Due to the 2006 FIFA World Cup taking place that same year, the show took a month-long hiatus between the 5th and 6th episodes.
This series marked the gradual departure away from semi-serious road testing into more imaginative, expensive segments, such as the second game of Car Football, the Convertible People Carrier, and the Amphibious Car Challenge.
Viewing figures were slightly reduced over its immediate predecessor, seeing just 4.45 million viewers per episode on average. Nonetheless, the show was renewed for a ninth series that was due to start airing in late 2006, but was ultimately put on hold due to Hammond's crash in September. Series 9 would premiere in January 2007 following his recovery.
Episodes[]
| Episode | Film(s) | Track Test | SIARPC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (67) | The presenters attempt to turn a Renault Espace into a Convertible being set a number of Challenges to test their creation. Elsewhere James reviews the new Honda Civic whilst Richard refuses to review the Nissan Micra C+C. The old Liana is replaced by the new Chevrolet Lacetti. | Koenigsegg CCX (Jeremy) | Misc. |
| 2 (68) | The presenters have a go at hosting a 3-hour block for BBC Southern Counties Radio, Jeremy reviews the new Jaguar XK in the Yorkshire Moors and Richard races a Tomcat 4x4 against a Jet Propelled Kayak. | Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (Jeremy) | Gordon Ramsay |
| 3 (69) | The presenters attempt to build amphibious cars that work on the road and the lake by driving to a reservoir and then testing them on the reservoir. | Lotus Exige S (Jeremy) | Philip Glenister |
| 4 (70) | Jeremy reviews the Mercedes S-Class before buying an Old S-Class and redesigning the interior to the same spec as his house which Richard and James later test. Later Richard races the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S against a British Army Parachuter. | BMW Z4 M (Richard) | Ewan McGregor |
| 5 (71) | Jeremy reviews the Citroen C6 racing it against a horse. James sees how fast he can drive with assistance from Jackie Oliver before replaying a game of car football in Toyota Aygos against Richard in Volkswagen Foxes. | Prodrive P2 (Jeremy) | Sir Michael Gambon |
| 6 (72) | The presenters go on a caravan holiday to see what is involved and why 40% of people in Britain enjoy caravanning. Elsewhere Richard and the Stig attempt to set an all new speed record indoors. | Ford Mondeo ST220 vs Mazda 6 MPS vs Vauxhall Vectra VXR (Jeremy) | Brian Cox |
| 7 (73) | The presenters attempt to build a Caterham in a shorter time than the Stig can drive a ready build Caterham from the factory to their Location. James races two tracers across Liverpool in the Peugeot 207 before he and Richard have a look at some sporty people carriers. | Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder (Jeremy) | Steve Coogan |
| 8 (74) | The presenters attempt to be roadies for the who to see which modern Van is best. After failing at this they are each given a budget of £1000 and told to buy a Van before being put through a series of challenges. | Noble M15 (Richard) | Jenson Button (Liana), Ray Winstone (Lacetti) |
Production[]
The series saw the introduction of a new opening title sequence, replacing the one which had been in use since 2002, which featured segments of footage taken from previous series behind silhouettes of the three presenters. This particular intro would be redesigned the series after and was not intended to retain the cover of "Jessica" originally, but kept it after a prospective new theme with an electronic twist was unanimously vetoed by Jeremy Clarkson.
The studio segments also saw the introduction of a new "permanent" cast member; Top Gear Dog. Owned by Richard Hammond, this dog would appear on the studio floor in each episode, and would later appear in a few studio segments for both Series 8 and its immediate successor; plans for the dog to appear in later episodes were shelved once Hammond's accident had occurred and its tendency to be sick whilst on the road meant it would no longer appear.
One of the later segments filmed due to its relative simplicity, the BBC Southern Counties radio show, which formed a segment for Episode 2 was filmed between 4:03 PM and approximately 7:00 PM on the 26th of April, 2006.
The Power Lap Times Board was redesigned; the heading 'POWER LAP TIME' was redone in a smaller size and fabricated from red foam block capitals.
Unusually, a surplus of footage for the series was recorded, namely a road test of the Lotus Europa S and a race between an Alfa Romeo 159 and Graham Boanas across the Humber Bridge. The test of the Europa was cut entirely, appearing only in a promotional trailer, and the race was deferred twice; first to Series 9, and then to Series 10, airing 19 months after it was originally filmed.
Reception[]
The show's IMDb page rated this series at an average score of 7.3/10, its joint-highest score up to that point, indicating a positive reception overall.
Trivia[]
- This is the first series to utilise the new Top Gear Title card that would become a standard for the series until Jeremy's departure in Series 22.
- This is also the first series to feature Top Gear Dog.
- This is the second series to be the only one of a year (2006), the first was Series 1 (2002), then Series 15 (2010), Series 18 (2012), Series 21 (2014) and Series 22 (2015).
[]
| Series (2002 format) | |
|---|---|
| 2016+ | Series 23 | Series 24 | Series 25 | Series 26 | Series 27 |
| 2002 - 2015 | Series 1 | Series 2 | Series 3 | Series 4 | Series 5 | Series 6 | Series 7 | Series 8 | Series 9 | Series 10 | Series 11 Series 12 | Series 13 | Series 14 | Series 15 | Series 16 | Series 17 | Series 18 | Series 19 | Series 20 | Series 21 | Series 22 |