Chris Evans’s Top Gear launch date is confirmed – find out when it’s back on the BBC

Clarkson, together with his former Top Gear colleagues Richard Hammond and James May, only recently revealed the name of their new Amazon Prime car show The Grand Tour.

Evans is joined on the show by his co-hosts Rory Reid, Sabine Schmitz, Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris, Eddie Jordan and The Stig. Top Gear will also get its own spin-off show Extra Gear, which will air on BBC Three and be fronted by Reid.

Evans signed a three-year deal to front the show, but will continue to host his breakfast show on BBC Radio 2. The BBC has repeatedly defended Evans and the show from reports of disharmony on set and other problems.

It’s a sad day for everyone who’s shunned scheduled broadcasting for catch-up content. The BBC has announced you’re going to have to start paying to watch BBC iPlayer. While there won’t be any Netflix-style subscription fees, the Beeb has confirmed it will close the iPlayer licence fee loophole that’s been saving people serious money for years.

The loophole, which deems you don’t need to splash out more than £145 on a licence fee as long as you only watch iPlayer catch-up content after it has been broadcast live, will be closed by the BBC this autumn.

Tech savvy schedule shunners aren’t the only people set to be hit by licence fee changes – the over-75s will no longer get a free licence.

At the moment, the BBC states that ‘You do not need a TV licence to catch-up on television programmes in BBC iPlayer.’

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