Hello CT. My name is Richard Porter and I was the script editor on Top Gear. Ask me anything.

28 Oct 2015

After working on the show for 13 years, 22 series and 175 programmes, there’s quite a lot I can tell you about Top Gear. I know whose idea it was to get a dog, I was there when we got threatened by drug barons in Bolivia, I can give you the real story of that Porsche number plate. I’ve put all these things in my new book, but you can ask me about them anyway. Or something else. Up to you. I’m here all night. Try the soup in a basket.

Comments

What is ur favorite song

Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel.

How did you guys decide where to go for the road trips? Was there a careful selection or was it random?

A lot of careful selection to make sure there was interesting stuff to see and do.

What were some of the things that were going to be in the last episodes of the show but have gone unseen due to the Clarkson incident?

A track test of a couple of cars but that’s about it. Oh, and a thing where they drove cars they loved across the moors.

How hard was it getting the toybota across the channel and how many attempts did it really take?

Not wishing to be pedantic, but the channel crossing was in the Nissank rather than the Toyboata. It was done pretty much as you saw on TV, but that was still quite an undertaking. Especially because they drifted and came ashore miles from where they were meant to. We had a crew on the French side waiting for them who had to make a sudden mad dash down the coast when we realised that, against the odds, they were actually going to bloody make it.

Is your book for sale in Australia cause i really want to buy it?

And I really want you to buy it, anonymous car guy. It should be on sale in Australia now. Try Booktopia or Bookworld online.

IS hammond actually gay

Not that I’m aware of. You should ask his wife.

Did Clarkson really enjoy driving the Mazda 6 MPS or was that just how the script was?

Jeremy would never say he liked a car unless he liked a car.

On the British-Leyland special, was Jeremy’s Rover actually unable to make it up the hill for the parking brake challenge, or was he roasting the tire for fun?

No, I think he was having genuine problems. Although, as ever, one of those problems is usually related to the man in the driving seat and his heavy feet.