Top Gear production to move to Bristol

The London-based, BBC Studios produced, BBC One motoring entertainment show will relocate to the South West from Spring next year

" “Our Bristol hub is an already incredibly successful and vibrant production base that makes many of our highly popular returning factual entertainment series and blue-chip natural history titles - so the Top Gear team will be in very good creative company." — Hannah Wyatt, Managing Director for Factual Entertainment and Events Productions, BBC Studios

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BBC Studios is transferring production of the show to its Bristol base from 2022. The move will create a number of openings for editorial and production management personnel based in the nations and regions.

BBC Studios Bristol is the production hub for many long-running factual entertainment programmes including Countryfile, DIY SOS, Antiques Roadshow, Fake or Fortune and Gardeners’ World. It’s also home to the world-renowned Natural History Unit which produces landmark titles such as Blue Planet II and the popular live Watches series including Springwatch and Winterwatch.

Top Gear’s iconic track and spiritual home at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey will continue to be utilised for filming recordings whilst the series itself films across the UK and around the world.

Production for the show’s 31st series has been taking place all over the UK during the Summer and the team recently completed its first international shoot since prior to the pandemic when the presenters and crew visited Iceland. The 33rd series, due on screens in 2022, will be the first to be produced from the new base in Bristol.

Hannah Wyatt, BBC Studios’ Managing Director for Factual Entertainment and Events Productions commented: “Our Bristol hub is an already incredibly successful and vibrant production base that makes many of our highly popular returning factual entertainment series and blue-chip natural history titles - so the Top Gear team will be in very good creative company. It’s an exciting move for the show.”

Top Gear is made by BBC Studios Factual Entertainment Productions for BBC One.

-ENDS-

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About BBC Studios

BBC Studios, a global content company with bold British creativity at its heart, is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group, supporting the licence fee and enhancing programmes for UK audiences. Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, its activities span content financing, development, production, sales, branded services, and ancillaries across both its own productions, and programmes and formats made by high-quality UK independents. Award-winning British programmes made by the business are internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear, Doctor Who and Bluey. BBC Studios has offices in over 20 markets globally, including ten production bases in the UK and production bases or partnerships in a further seven countries around the world. The company, which ordinarily makes around 2000 hours of content a year for both the BBC and third parties including Apple, Netflix and Migu, is a champion for British creativity around the world. It is also a committed partner for the UK’s independent sector through a mix of equity partnerships, content investment and international distribution for programme titles.

Source BBC One