Top Gear fans are in for a treat with news that the much-loved series is coming to Discovery following an agreement with BBC Studios to secure a comprehensive catalogue of the world’s biggest motoring show. Top Gear will air on both Discovery Channel and Discovery Turbo in Australia and New Zealand from March 2020.
New and old fans of the multi-award-winning series will be able to tune in for classic seasons of the show which sees hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, along with The Stig, cover all things motoring related from A-Z. The agreement sees Discovery acquire a comprehensive catalogue which initially includes 143 hours of Top Gear and series one of Top Gear: America with hosts William Fitchner, Tom Ford and Antron Brown, along with specials and spin-offs from the franchise.
“We are thrilled to bring Top Gear to Discovery,” said Darren Chau, Director of Factual Content & Channels, Discovery Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands.
“The biggest motoring show is the perfect fit for Australia and New Zealand’s only 24/7 motoring channel Discovery Turbo and our flagship Discovery Channel. We appreciate our friends at BBC Studios entrusting Discovery with the powerhouse that is Top Gear and are proud to further strengthen our offering of premium motoring content with this globally renowned and loved franchise.”
Bruno Liporoni, Sales Executive for BBC Studios ANZ said,
“This is a great partnership between two exciting factual entertainment brands. I am delighted that fans can continue to enjoy some of their favourite Top Gear moments through this new deal with Discovery.”
Celebrated for turning the premise of a car show into an entertainment experience, Top Gear is the world’s biggest and longest-running motoring entertainment show which has had a huge global following across 200+ territories. Top Gear takes the public’s passion for cars and strips away the boring stats, adds enthusiasm, stunts and challenges. It’s a fun-fuelled journey of road trips, over-ambitious projects, and lashings of good old-fashioned mucking about by presenters and celebrities alike.
Top Gear will air Monday nights at 7.30pm on Discovery Channel from 9 March during its Motor Mondays program block and weeknights at 6.30pm on Discovery Turbo from 2 March. Top Gear: America starts Friday 6 March at 8.30pm on Discovery Turbo. The catalogue will be also be available On Demand.
Discovery Channel and Discovery Turbo are available on Foxtel and Fetch in Australia
March programming highlights:
DISCOVERY CHANNEL
Top Gear Season 21 (7×60) – stream or watch Mondays from 9 March at 7:30pm AEDT
In this season of Top Gear, the team embark on a huge road trip across Ukraine in three small cars with even smaller engines, re-live the glory days of the 1980s in three ‘classic’ hot hatchbacks, and have a ham-fisted crack at making a public safety film for the government. There’s also the new Alfa 4C sports car racing a very unusual quad bike, the sensational McLaren P1 tearing a strip off Belgium, an insane six-wheeled Mercedes in the desert, and the unusual sight of James May in a Caterham. And as if that wasn’t enough, the series includes an epic two-part adventure across the wilds of Burma, as the presenters take three lorries on what is one of Top Gear’s toughest challenges ever! Images HERE
DISCOVERY TURBO
Top Gear Seasons 13-16 (21×60) – stream or watch weekdays from 2 March at 6:30pm AEDT
Top Gear is the world’s biggest and most revered car show, and now you can get up to speed on Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s antics on Discovery Turbo. In Season 13, the boys buy three £1,500 rear-drive sports cars and somehow find themselves in a terrifying French ice race! More importantly – in a television first – the mysterious Stig takes off his helmet to reveal who he really is. In Season 14, James makes a rare appearance on the track as he compares two absurdly powerful limos, and Jeremy and Richard settle the thorny issue of which company has made the greatest number of truly brilliant cars. Throughout, guest appearances in ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ includes Sienna Miller, Guy Ritchie, Stephen Fry, and Jay Leno – to name a few. In Season 15, James drives a Toyota pick-up up an active volcano in Iceland and The Stig rips up the track in the new Bentley Continental Supersports. Images HERE
Top Gear: America (8×60) – stream or watch Fridays from 6 March at 8:30pm
There’s a whole lot of motoring mayhem and mischief on Top Gear: America, but that’s what you get when a trio of car-mad hosts embark on fun, action-packed adventures across the U.S. Hollywood actor William Fichtner, Top Fuel drag racing triple champion Antron Brown, and British motoring journalist Tom ‘Wookie’ Ford join forces in this entertaining series, as they review exclusive, state-of-the-art vehicles and put the cars of America’s culture-defining past through their paces. In the series premiere, the crew set out on a true bonding adventure in VW Bugs in Baja Mexico, and later, they find out what it was like to be Steve McQueen as they learn the tricks of the movie trade and test out the iconic Mustang that starred in the greatest car chase of all time in 1968’s Bullitt. The series also features celebrity guests taking part in a spin ‘round the Speed Vegas track and Top Gear’s mysterious test driver, The Stig.
