For those perhaps wondering what would become of The Stig now that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and producer Andy Wilman of the most recent “Top Gear” have vacated the BBC premises for Amazon – wonder no more – as a property of the BBC, he will show up in a new BBC show entitled “The Getaway Car” to be hosted by UK radio/television presenter Dermot O’Leary. The show pits couples against each other in various driving contests with the winners going up against The Stig in the ultimate test.
The character of an anonymous race car driver called The Stig was originally created by Clarkson and Wilman for the reboot of the “Top Gear” program in 2002 and remains the contractual property of the BBC and will be part of the Chris Evans-hosted reboot of the program. The current Stig’s identity is unknown [since 2010] but the two previous Stig’s were Perry McCarthy and Ben Collins.
The BBC will produce 12 episodes of “The Getaway Car” for its inaugural season.