MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CELEBRITY NEWS

BBC axes Top Gear after Freddy Flintoff crash, Internet says 'remember Richard Hammond'

Richard Hammond, a journalist, television presenter, mechanic, and writer, co-hosted the show with Jeremy Clarkson and James May from 2002 until 2015

SURREY, ENGLAND: The BBC has axed its latest series of 'Top Gear' after co-presenter Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff was left with facial injuries and broken ribs in a horrific crash last year at the Top Gear test track on December 13, 2022, at Dunsfold Park aerodrome in Surrey. In a statement, the BBC said it had finished an investigation into the accident and wrote, “Under the circumstances, we feel it would be inappropriate to resume making series 34 of Top Gear at this time,” and also apologized to the former England cricket captain, who has hosted Top Gear since 2019, stating, “We have sincerely apologised to Freddie and will continue to support him with his recovery.”

The statement further read, "We understand this [halting the show] will be disappointing for fans, but it is the right thing to do, and we'll make a judgement about how best to continue later this year," reports BBC. However, netizens were quick to comment saying, "Top Gear needs cancelling anyway. Has been awful for over a decade." One wrote, "Just replace him with Richard Hammond. What could possibly go wrong?"

READ MORE

Highly anticipated Netflix sci-fi series '1899' CANCELED after one season

'They’ll cancel it after one season': Fans upset as Netflix announces another series with creators of 'Dark' and '1899'

Who is Richard Hammond?

Born on December 19, 1969, Richard Mark Hammond, a journalist, television presenter, mechanic, and writer, co-hosted the show with Jeremy Clarkson and James May from 2002 until 2015 when Clarkson punched a producer and it all fell apart. Both May and Hammond publicly stated that they will not continue with the show without Clarkson.

Speaking about the show, Hammond said, as reported by LAD Bible, "We just thought we'd make a car show, I remember the conversation in White City BBC HQ. It was before James (May) joined but the rest of us were all in place and weirdly some of the people we still work with now, we were all in that room. We all said, Right, these are the grand rules of Top Gear, it's about the real world, cars that people really buy, no supercars, no foreign travel, we're only going to drive proper cars that people buy in this country. Then, that didn't last very long at all, we realised that's not what people wanted, not what we wanted to make. We never made it with any science or calculation, we just made the best car show we could."

Richard Hammond's horrific 2006 crash

However, in September 2006, Hammond met with a horrific crash while making the show. He climbed into a jet-powered dragster called 'Vampire' and crashed while driving almost 320mph at the RAF Elvington airbase in York. He lost two weeks to a coma and doctors weren't sure if he'd survive. But he recovered and returned to the show in early 2007.

Pointing this out, many fans asked to get Hammond back while one wrote, "Didn’t scrap it when Hammond went flying at 300 miles an hour". Another commented, "Not a day of filming was delayed for any of Hammond's accidents". One of many continued to write, "Bring back Clarkson, May and Hammond so we can all resume watching it once more." One more said, "It's been rubbish since Clarkson Hammond & May left, seriously time to give it a rest."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.