So the third instalment of the new Top Gear was aired last night, and unless you have been in deep self-induced coma, or deliberately ignoring the news which is plastered all across the internet, the new viewing figures does not look good. The latest episode drew in 2.4 million viewers and compared to the 4.3 million viewers for the first episode, it is a resounding kick to a show that it’s dithering at the edge of an abyss. The reduction in viewing numbers might have been affected by the Euro 2016 match between Germany and Ukraine, and we are still at the time of writing this article, waiting to receive the full figures which will include on-demand and i-player.

I have to say that last night episode by far was the best so far. Chris Harris made his Top Gear debut driving a Ferrari, followed by Rory Reid reviewing hot hatchbacks which saw him pitting three cars (Ford Focus RS, Mercedes AMG 45 and The Honda Civic) against each other. We also saw Le Blanc getting another tour of London sitting beside Ken Block tearing around the streets of London. The delightful Sabine Schmitz was back again, dazzling the viewers with her amazing driving skills sitting behind the wheel of super-fast Audi R10 V8 and yes you guessed it right; making our not so young but controversial host, feeling a bit queasy and worse for wear. I am sorry to say this is becoming rather tiresome and repetitive, and the gag is losing its novelty. However she did a great job and my favourite moment has to be the introduction of “The STIG”, in German.

Social Media Reaction

There was a usual twitter action, mostly not really flattering, but we really didn’t expect them to be either.

The BBC’s decision to axe the footage of Le Blanc and Blank controversial Cenotaph stunt was met with approvals, but that was not enough to make people to fall in love with the TV show.

Some viewers were still upset:

And some even thought, it should have been shown:

Conclusion:

The road ahead will be tough, however with the crowed not really falling behind Chris Evans, the road ahead will be even tougher than anticipated. Chris Evans is contracted to do three series and each of the other presenters, are on a rolling one year contract, if the fall of the viewing figures continues spiralling downwards, BBC will be forced to make number seriously tough decisions. There are already calls in some circles to approach and hire the enigmatic and popular Formula 1 driver Jenson Button to take over as the main host. These are turbulent days for Top Gear for sure, and if BBC wants to keep the show on our screens, they need to come up with a new strategy.