Shropshire Star

Production of Top Gear to relocate outside London

The 33rd series will be the first to be produced in Bristol.

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Top Gear Bond special

BBC Studios is moving production of Top Gear from London to Bristol.

The BBC One motoring programme, which is presented by Andrew Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris, will relocate to the city from spring next year, according to a statement.

Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey will continue to be used as the Top Gear track, while the series will also still feature films shot around the world.

Top Gear
Freddie Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris (Jeff Spicer/BBC)

The 33rd series of the programme, which is scheduled to be broadcast in 2022, will be the first to be produced from the new base in Bristol.

Hannah Wyatt, managing director for factual entertainment and events productions at BBC Studios, said: “Our Bristol hub is an already incredibly successful and vibrant production base that makes many of our highly popular returning factual entertainment series and blue-chip natural history titles – so the Top Gear team will be in very good creative company.

“It’s an exciting move for the show.”

The move will create “a number of openings for editorial and production management personnel based in the nations and regions”, the statement said.

BBC Studios’ base in Bristol produces programmes such as Countryfile, DIY SOS, Antiques Roadshow, Fake Or Fortune? and Gardeners’ World.

It is also home to the Natural History Unit, which created Blue Planet II, Springwatch and Winterwatch.

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