BBC Announces Resting of 'Top Gear' "For the Foreseeable Future”

The BBC has announced a decision to “rest” the British automotive entertainment show Top Gear, following the accident at Dunsfold Aerodrome by its presenter Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff in 2022. Despite the show shutting down, the broadcaster did share that other Top Gear activities, like its digital magazine, remain unaffected.

“We’ve agreed with BBC Content that given the exceptional circumstances, we will be resting production of the Top Gear UK show for the foreseeable future,” said the BBC in a public statement.

Despite this statement, however, it did offer some hope for a possible restart, stating “We’ll continue to support the programme’s core production team and will be leaning on their expertise in a broader production capacity until such time as the UK show can restart.”

The decision to rest the show, which has been on the air in its current form since 2002, came as the filming for its 34th season was put on hold following Flintoff’s crash, which resulted in a safety investigation. That being said, the BBC did express that its independent health and safety review showed that the production had complied with the required BBC policies and industry best practices but that “there were important learnings.”

For the time being, fans of the IP will have to find their fix via various international formats or via Top Gear‘s digital magazine, which at the time of writing remains unaffected and will continue to operate independently of the UK-based TV show.