Last week, we announced that the BBC intends to salvage the remaining content and deliver the final three episodes of "Top Gear" Season 22. At the time, an e-mail from Andy Wilman said something along the lines of "It is sad to see the departure of Jeremy Clarkson and an end of an era, but now let's get back to work."
"For those of you who still rely on it for work, don't worry, because the BBC will make sure the show continues," Top Gear producer Andy Wilman wrote. "Our stint as guardians of 'Top Gear' was a good one, but we were only part of the show's history, not the whole of it. Those two words are bigger than us."
As it stands, there is enough footage for two programs, said a source within "Top Gear" in an interview with The Mirror. However, the episodes are not ready for air because virtually all studio links have not been shot yet.
Despite Wilman's assuring email that the "Top Gear" show will continue on after Jeremy Clarkson, co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May don't see it that way. On Twitter, Hammond tweeted that he was "gutted at such a sad end to an era." Meanwhile, James May shared a number of tweets that suggest he has no interest in returning to Top Gear without the three presenters together.
“I think we’re very much the three of us as a package, it works for very complicated reasons that a lot of people don’t fully understand,” said James May last month.
"There is a feeling that this would look a little odd and is difficult to overcome. Jeremy’s presence in the films, but absence in the studio, is just too difficult to cover,” said the source. “Some connected to the show believe that the footage, sadly, will never be screened.”
BBC has yet to make a final announcement on the fate of the final episodes of "Top Gear" Season 22. Stay tuned as the story develops.
