Tiff Needell Announces The End Of Fifth Gear

Fifth Gear, the TV show that focused on cars and that starred former Top Gear host Tiff Needell will not record any new episodes.

While the news is not exactly official, it comes from Tiff Needell’s Twitter account, and the presenter explained that the producers have a hard time to re-commission the show.

As he explained in a Tweet published on the same day of the announcement that said the last episode of Fifth Gear was filmed last Friday, it’s all a problem related to money.

Mr. Needell has been presenting car shows for 29 years straight. As his bio explains, he has been on Top Gear for 15 years, until 2001. From there on, he started appearing on Fifth Gear, where he also spent almost the same period. Tiff says he “feels weird not to have any filming dates in his diary.”

The British TV show titled Fifth Gear first appeared on Channel 5 from 2002 to 2011. From there, it was taken over by Discovery and History, as well as ITV4. Initially, it was named “5th Gear,” as a continuation of the original BBC Top Gear, which had been canceled in 2001.

While Channel 5 wanted the original name, the BBC declined and eventually relaunched the show called “Top Gear.” It is now at its second rebirth, as former stars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May have moved on to Amazon Video to film “The Grand Tour.” Meanwhile, the Top Gear show has an all-new crew, and the battle for the viewer’s attention will rage on in the coming months. We believe you might have heard of them.

Tiff Needell is joined the cast of presenters of Fifth Gear by Jonny Smith and Vicki Butler-Henderson. The latter and Needell have been with the show since the beginning, while Jonny Smith came ten years ago. Meanwhile, presenters like Jason Plato, Quentin Wilson, Adrian Simpson, and Tom Ford have moved on to other projects. Jon Bentley, the former producer of the show, appeared in several episodes.

So busy enjoying Mille Miglia forgot to point out @FifthGearTV on @ITV4 on Friday was last one ever recorded. And no news of any more …

— Tiff Needell (@tiff_tv) May 22, 2016

After an unbroken run of 29 years presenting either Top Gear or Fifth Gear it feels weird not to have any filming dates in my diary!

— Tiff Needell (@tiff_tv) May 22, 2016

No!! Fifth Gear is finding it hard to get re-commissioned … #money https://t.co/97uQzIuM3f

— Tiff Needell (@tiff_tv) May 22, 2016