--[ TOP GEAR U.K SERIES 24 Started Mar. 6 ]--[The GRAND TOUR ]

Top Gear: James May and Richard Hammond finish filming 'lost' episodes

Pair complete filming of episodes left unfinished when fellow host Jeremy Clarkson was suspended

James May and Richard Hammond have finally finished filming the Top Gear episodes that were put on hold in the wake of Jeremy Clarkson's controversial departure from the show.

The pair filmed a series of links, at the show's test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, earlier this week.

The episodes, which were left unfinished when Clarkson was suspended after assaulting producer Oisin Tymon, will be shown later this year.

It is still unclear if it is the last time fans will see Hammond and May on Top Gear after it was reported the pair were offered deals in the region of £1 million a year to stay with the hit motoring show.

That deal, which would make the pair among the corporation's highest earners, is said to be part of a plan to include a different guest host on each show rather than directly replacing Clarkson.

The corporation used a similar tactic when another of its best-known faces - Have I Got News For You host Angus Deayton - was fired after reports emerged of drug use and encounters with prostitutes.

A BBC spokeswoman and representatives of the two men declined to comment, but bookmakers have slashed the odds on the pair returning.

William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: "Just a week ago we were offering 5/1 for them to return for another series of Top Gear, but following news of the sums that have been offered to the pair, we have slashed the odds to 5/4."

All three men's contracts ran out earlier this year and the BBC refused to renew Clarkson's after his much-publicised attack on Mr Tymon.

Andy Wilman, Top Gear's former executive producer - and an old school friend of Clarkson - has left the show, which sparked rumours he was joining up with all three men to make an alternative programme, with Netflix and ITV among the broadcasters rumoured to be in the running to screen it.

BBC2 controller Kim Shillinglaw, the woman tasked with putting the programme back together after Clarkson's exit, has previously refused to rule out a return to the show for May and Hammond.

Speaking in April, she said conversations were "ongoing" with the pair and confirmed scenes filmed before Clarkson was suspended were likely to air this summer.

Several names have been put forward as possible replacements for Clarkson, including Guy Martin and Jodie Kidd, but another contender - Dermot O'Leary - has ruled himself out.

The former X Factor host told the Daily Mirror he had not been approached about the job.

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Hammond And May Reportedly Refused £4 Million To Do Top Gear Without Clarkson


The Top Gear saga continues with a fresh report from the UK which claims that the BBC offered Hammond and May £4 million for a two-year deal.

However, the two presenters allegedly refused to return to the show without Jeremy Clarkson. A source cited by The Daily Mirror said Hammond, May and Clarkson are “very close” to signing a big-money deal with Netflix for a new show, which could be called “House of Cars”.

Although the three presenters have been in talks with several media outlets, including ITV, Netflix is said to be their favored option now, the insider added.

“They are all very excited at the prospect of having total editorial control over their new show, to make it and get it distributed. It would be groundbreaking and also incredibly lucrative. They would stand to earn much, much more than they would with the BBC,” the source said.

Last week Richard Hammond and James May shot studio scenes for two Top Gear episodes, made before Clarkson’s departure following a fracas with producer Oisin Tymon. The two episodes will be released within the next weeks.

However, Top Gear fans must wait until next year at the earliest for a new season, as BBC bosses realize it will be very difficult to successfully replace Clarkson, May and Hammond. Hopefully the House of Cars series will launch earlier.

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Icecixz said:

I heard Netflix is a done deal. I just dont know when they will announce it yet. Possibly after the last Top Gear episodes air.

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RFX45 said:

They will, I just posted above that May and Hammond finished filming for the rest of the episodes ("lost episodes") and also posted the trailer for it.

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RFX45 said:

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a55a5in11 said:

Whoever they sign with has to go Yolo with the budget. Some of these things they did must have cost crazy money

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SinnerP said:

BREAKING: Chris Evans has signed a three-year deal to lead a new Top Gear line-up, BBC says

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SinnerP said:

I actually have no idea what he does (though I've seen him on the show before), but didn't he say, after Jezza got fired, that he'd never take over the show?

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SinnerP said:

Where does he get all that money?! 

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RFX45 said:

That's the same guy that has the all white Ferrari collection that he had Cap Slow drive the 250 California?

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eiddyfouw said:

SinnerP said:

Where does he get all that money?! 

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He has a production company. Dude doesn't just sit on radio talking into the mic, his production company produces the content.

Net worth of around 50m pounds (apparently), but he's publicly said he spends a fortune on cars cause it's what he loves.

One of his Ferrari's sits in a room all by it's self where he just goes to look at it.

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