It is now almost 18 months since the BBC placed its long running motoring show Top Gear on hiatus, following the dramatic events that led to one of its then hosts, Freddie Flintoff, being injured whilst filming for the show at their test track in Surrey in December 2022.
But the temporary demise of the show has now brought about the partnership of two of its current presenting team, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris, for a brand new series. The BBC have confirmed that they have been signed up to host Road Trippin, which will follow them as they travel around Europe together.
However, even though the show's title suggests more hijinks of the fast cars on the open road variety, the BBC have said it won't be the main focus. In a press release issued this week, they said the series would "look at how our European neighbours grow old gracefully and make their years ahead their best yet."
The three part series, which will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at a yet to be confirmed transmission date, will see both Paddy - who says he is "well and truly middle aged" by his own admission - and "soon to be fifty" Chris go on a trip of discovery and exploration into the secrets of living a long and fulfilled life.
The European destinations they will be heading to include Sweden, Greece and Switzerland, and has promised to take "a deep dive to discover some of the most brilliant mid-life secrets on the planet."
Of course, Paddy and Chris have both said how delighted they are to be working together again (as well as some things they're not looking forward to - sharing car space with Chris' lack of deodorant use, according to Paddy), and the series does sound like an entertaining one. However, at three episodes long, it doesn't yet seem as if it will be an ongoing project that gets commissioned beyond this one series.
And undoubtedly, a large percentage of its initial viewing figures with the first episode will come mainly from fans of Top Gear who want to see how Paddy and Chris get on without their third wheel. Time will tell, ultimately, as to how it performs with audiences and if it gets the green light for another run.
That said, we can't help but empathise with fans who are still waiting for Top Gear to be uncovered and bought back out the garage. Otherwise, for the Beeb, there's a fine line between letting the dust settle on the hair-raising circumstances that surrounded it coming off air in the first place, and the hiatus going on so long to an extent that fans forget about the show altogether.
Of course, the former hosts of the show - Jeremy Clarkson et al - are now the team on the Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour. And if you fancy booking a Supercar Driving Experience at the show's test track, The Eboladrome, on one of two events at the beginning of July, you can book for these now from our Events Calendar.
