Series 29 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One during 2020,[1] consisting of five episodes between 4 October and 1 November.[2] The COVID-19 pandemic affected production of the series, with several changes made as a result—studio segments were filmed on an outdoor set with social distancing maintained between presenters, audience members and production staff, the celebrity segment was dropped, and most films were recorded within Britain; a single international film was created, but this was produced in February 2020.[3]

Top Gear
Series 29
Starring
No. of episodes5
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release4 October (2020-10-04) –
1 November 2020 (2020-11-01)
Series chronology
← Previous
Series 28
Next →
Series 30
List of episodes

This series' highlights included the presenters making their own home-made ice cream van, enduring a 24-hour challenge with saloon cars, motoring challenges involving cheap hire cars in Cyprus, and a tribute to racing legend Stirling Moss.

Production

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On 10 February 2020, it was announced that a twenty-ninth series of Top Gear had begun filming and would air on BBC One, being the first series of the show to do so. On 16 May 2020, it was announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the series would not feature international films (with the exception of the Cyprus rental car challenge, which was filmed in February 2020); instead the show would film in and around the UK.

On 9 September 2020, it was announced that the show would feature a new drive in studio on the runway at Dunsfold, to ensure that audience members were physically distanced during filming.[4] This series was the last series to have its studio segments filmed at Dunsfold Aerodrome as had been the case since 2002. Television Centre, London was used for filming studio segments from the thirtieth series onwards.

For this series the Star in a Reasonably Fast Car segment was dropped to maintain social distancing.[5]

Episodes

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No.
overall
No. in
series
ReviewsFeatures/challengesOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [6]
2161Ferrari SF90 StradaleSpending 24 Hours in Company Saloons (Volvo S60Tesla Model 3BMW 3 Series)4 October 2020 (2020-10-04)5.40
2172NoneOriginal 200mph Supercars in Yorkshire (Jaguar XJ220Lamborghini DiabloFerrari F40) • Performance Insurance Write Offs (Maserati QuattroportePorsche Cayman SFord Focus RS)11 October 2020 (2020-10-11)5.05
2183Lamborghini UrusAudi RS6Cheap Hire Cars in Cyprus (Suzuki JimnyFord Focus CCKia Picanto)18 October 2020 (2020-10-18)6.04
2194NoneWelsh roadtrip in New British GTs (McLaren GTAston Martin DBXBentley Flying Spur) • Tribute to Stirling Moss25 October 2020 (2020-10-25)5.85
2205Mini ElectricVauxhall Corsa-eHonda eBuilding an Electric All-Terrain Ice cream van1 November 2020 (2020-11-01)6.06

References

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  1. ^ "Top Gear Moving to BBC One". Top Gear. 10 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Top Gear Series 29 Air Date". BBC. 4 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Top Gear scraps International Films for Series 29". Radio Times. 16 May 2020.
  4. ^ "Top Gear Returns with a Drive In Movie Twist". Top Gear. 9 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Top Gear Drops Star in a Reasonably Priced Car Segment". Radio Times. 28 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Four-screen dashboard". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
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