Fifth Gear
The Fifth Gear logo (2005 - present)
Genre	Motoring
Directed by	Phil Hawkins Mark McQueen
Presented by	Tiff Needell Vicki Butler-Henderson Tom Ford Jason Plato Jonny Smith Tim Shaw
Composer(s)	David Lowe
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	16
No. of episodes	155 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Richard Pearson
Producer(s)	James Woodroffe
Editor(s)	Mike Bloore Mike Brown Martin Dowell James Hay Steve Killick Leigh Nicholls Tony Quinsee-Jover Peter Shannon
Running time	23 mintues originally[when?] 46 minutes currently[when?] (excluding adverts)
Production company(s)	North One
Broadcast
Original channel	Five
Picture format	16:9
Original run	8 April 2002 – 27 July 2009
Chronology
Preceded by	Top Gear (1977 TV series)

Fifth Gear (formerly 5th Gear) is a motoring television magazine from the United Kingdom that was broadcast from 2002-2009. The programme started its sixteenth series in June 2009. Originally shown on Five, Fifth Gear has also been broadcast on the Speed Channel in the USA for a short period in 2004 to early 2007. Repeats of Fifth Gear also started being broadcast on UKTV channel, Dave in April 2008. In October 2009 the Daily Mail reported that the show would end due to declining audience figures, however there has been no official confirmation yet.^[1]. Fifth Gear's cancellation was mentioned on rival programme Top Gear in a show first broadcast in November 2009.

Fifth Gear was first broadcast in 2002 as a continuation of the original incarnation of the BBC show Top Gear, which was cancelled in 2001 due to low ratings. Five originally wanted to carry on using the Top Gear name, but the BBC refused. Several of Top Gear's ex-presenters, including Quentin Willson, Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson were hired by Five to present Fifth Gear.^[2][3]

In Australia Fifth Gear will start being broadcast on Seven's new free-to-air digital channel 7Two on Thursdays at 7:30pm from Nov. 5, 2009, starting with 2004's fifth season.

[edit] Show format

The original format consisted of a 31 minute programme, including approximately 7 minutes of adverts.^[4] The eighth series returned in the autumn of 2005 in a longer format of 45 minutes, and the ninth series (which went to a 13-week run) was increased to a one hour airtime slot (approximately 46 minutes excluding adverts).

[edit] Location

At the start of series 10 the show introduced between-feature links filmed at the Ace Cafe in London. In previous series these links were filmed at the production company offices in Birmingham. Originally produced by Chrysalis Television, the Birmingham offices were situated on the top floor of the headquarters of 100.7 Heart FM (also, at that time, a Chrysalis Radio company), near Birmingham's Five Ways area. The team moved out when Chrysalis sold their Television Division to All3Media in September 2003 (the section which currently produces Fifth Gear is now known as North One Television, part of the All3Media group).

In series 14, a location change from the Ace Cafe meant link sequences were filmed instead at the Millbrook Proving Ground, along with some of the vehicle testing features.

[edit] Presenter Line-up

For series 10 Tim Lovejoy was introduced as a main presenter, this was short-lived when longtime presenter, Tom Ford replaced Lovejoy alongside Vicki Butler-Henderson for series 11 onwards. Ford and Butler-Henderson join regular presenters Jason Plato, Jonny Smith and Tiff Needell. Needell and Plato are predominantly used in performance car features where Smith and Ford cover lifestyle and general motoring. Previous presenters have included ex-Top Gear presenters Quentin Willson and Adrian Simpson as well as ex-Top Gear editor (and Fifth Gear producer) Jon Bentley who presented safety and scientific features. Tim Shaw was added to the line-up for the 14 series starting in the August 2008.

[edit] Canadian version

Fifth Gear started Canadian broadcast on Discovery Channel Canada in 2008, began with 2006 series. This version ran in half-hour format.

[edit] Series List

[edit] Accidents

During Series 12 Episode 7^[5] two accidents took place during filming.

• Tom Ford broke his foot and several toes^[6] when he crashed a modified Bedford Rascal van. Ford was recording a piece about drifting. He and co-host Jonny Smith were racing each other in a D1 Grand Prix style around a private track. After winning the event, Ford was performing a victory drift that went wrong, put his van (painted to resemble the A-Team GMC Van) up on two wheels and sent him into a safety barrier.

• BTCC driver Jason Plato suffered multiple burns when a Caparo T1 he was driving at Bruntingthorpe proving ground burst into flames^[7]. The car, capable of 200 mph (320 km/h), burst into flames at an estimated 150 mph (240 km/h). Plato said: "There was a slight loss of power, I looked in the mirror and saw some smoke, there was a slight smell of oil and then suddenly there was this intense heat. The car spontaneously erupted into a ball of flames and I was sat in the middle of a fireball." The presenter was initially taken to Market Harborough and District Hospital by former BTCC driver Phil Bennett before being treated at Kettering General Hospital. He later received specialist burns treatment at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. The incident was mentioned during Top Gear's discussion of the Caparo T1 the next year.

[edit] The Fifth Gear awards

Each year, the programme gives out various awards:

[edit] 2004

• Best small car – BMW 1-Series
• Best family car – Ford Focus
• Best fast car – Porsche 911 Carrera S
• Car of the year – Volkswagen Golf GTI

[edit] 2005

• Best small car – Ford Fiesta ST
• Best family car – Honda Civic
• Best fast car – BMW M5
• Car of the year – Porsche Boxster

[edit] 2006

• Best small car – MINI Cooper S
• Best family car – Citroen C4 Picasso
• Best fast car – Chevrolet Corvette Z06
• Car of the year – Audi TT

[edit] 2007

• Best small car – Fiat 500
• Best family car – Ford Mondeo
• Best fast car – Audi R8
• Car of the year – Audi R8

[edit] Shoot outs

Fifth Gear claims to be 'world renowned' for their 'infamous' shoot outs, between similarly priced, similarly powerful cars, or, recently, cars versus bikes. These shoot outs take place at the Anglesey Circuit on the Isle of Anglesey close to Aberffraw. During the refurbishment of Anglesey, shoot-outs were switched to Castle Combe Circuit.

[edit] 2002 (Series 1 and 2)

• Ford Focus RS vs. Honda Civic Type-R vs. SEAT León Cupra R

[edit] 2003 (Series 3 and 4)

• BMW Z4 3.0i vs. Porsche Boxster
• Radical SR3 vs. Ariel Atom
• Nissan 350Z vs. Audi TT 3.2 Quattro
• BMW M3 CSL vs. BMW M3

[edit] 2004 (Series 5 and 6)

• Citroen C2 GT vs. Ford SportKa
• Ford Transit 125 T280 vs. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 213CDI
• Skoda Fabia vRS TDi vs. MINI Cooper
• Lotus Elise 111R vs. Vauxhall VX220 Turbo

[edit] 2005 - Series 7

• Ducati 999 vs. Lamborghini Gallardo
• Honda Civic Type-R vs. Renaultsport Clio 182 Cup
• Vauxhall Monaro VXR vs. MG ZT260
• MINI Cooper S Convertible vs. Smart Brabus Roadster Coupe
• Mosler MT900S vs. Ducati 999
• Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG vs. Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG
• BMW X5 4.8is vs. Porsche Cayenne S
• Noble M400 vs. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII MR FQ-400

[edit] 2005 - Series 8

• Porsche 911 Carrera S vs. Lotus Exige 240R
• Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI GSR vs. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX FQ-320
• Westfield XTR4 vs. Suzuki GSXR1000
• Ford Fiesta ST150 vs. Mitsubishi Colt CZT
• Mazda RX-8 vs. Alfa Romeo GT 3.2 V6
• Nissan 350Z vs. Audi TT Sport Quattro 240
• Mercedes-Benz CLS55 AMG vs. Jaguar XJR
• Subaru Legacy 3.0 R spec. B Sports Tourer vs. Volvo V50 T5 SE AWD
• Lancia Delta Integrale vs. BMW M3 e30.

[edit] 2006 - Series 9

• Mazda MX-5 vs. Mazda MX-5 mk. I
• Subaru Impreza WRX STi Type-UK vs. Subaru Forester STi
• Vauxhall Astra VXR vs. Ford Focus ST
• Mercedes-Benz A200T vs. Toyota Corolla Verso T180
• BMW M6 vs. BMW M5
• Škoda Octavia vRS vs. Volkswagen Golf GTI
• Volkswagen Golf R32 vs. BMW 130i M Sport
• Nissan Navara vs. Mitsubishi L200

[edit] 2006 - Series 10

• Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MR FQ-360 vs. Stunt Plane

[edit] 2007 - Series 11

• Week 5: Renaultsport Clio 197 vs. Vauxhall Corsa VXR
• Week 6: MINI Cooper vs. Suzuki Swift Sport
• Week 9: White van Megane shoot-out: Renaultsport Megane 230 F1 Team R26 vs. Ford Transit Connect X-press
• Week 10: Hire car shoot-out: Vauxhall Astra 1.6 vs. Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec

[edit] 2007 - Series 12

• Week 1: BMW 335i vs. Audi S5
• Week 3: Honda Civic Type R (UK 198 bhp (148 kW) specification) vs. Honda Civic Type R (Japanese 222 bhp (166 kW) specification)
• Week 5: Audi TT 2.0T S-tronic vs. Audi TT 2.0T manual
• Week 7: Ford Gran Torino vs. Dodge Charger

[edit] 2008 - Series 13

• Week 1: Lotus Exige S 240 vs. Caterham CSR 260 Superlight
• Week 2: Renaultsport Clio 197 vs. Rage Buggy R180RT
• Week 3: Vauxhall VXR8 vs. Lotus Carlton
• Week 4: VW Transporter Sportline vs. Mercedes-Benz Vito X
• Week 5: Fiat Panda 100HP vs. Renault Twingo GT
• Week 6: MINI One vs. Fiat 500 1.4
• Week 7: Ford Fiesta ST vs. Vauxhall Corsa SRi
• Week 8: Porsche Cayenne GTS vs. BMW X5 4.8i
• Week 9: Volkswagen GTI vs. Subaru Impreza WRX
• Week 10: Ford Escort RS Cosworth vs. Ford Focus RS

[edit] 2009 - Series 14

• Week 1:
• Week 2:
• Week 3:
• Week 4:
• Week 5:
• Week 6:

[edit] Cancellation rumours

On 18th October 2009 the Daily Mail reported that the show has been cancelled.^[8] Up to now there has been no official announcement or confirmation. On Friday, 27th November 2009 Jeremy Clarkson mentioned on the Chris Moyles Show that when filming with Tiff Needell for his Christmas DVD he was filming "Top Gear vs Fifth Gear" and mentioned that it was a shame that it had been cancelled.

[edit] External links

• Fifth Gear at five.tv
• Fifth Gear at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] References