History Characters / TopGearUK

** In S20E3, in Spain, he's cooking dinner while they talk about their cars.

--> '''May:''' ''[tonelessly]'' I have to have all my air vents aligned just right... and if anyone moves them... I get ''really angry''.

* BadassDriver: [=LeBlanc's=] first introduction on ''Top Gear'' was his turn as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, during which he posted a lap time of 1:42.1, which ended up being the fastest time by ''any'' star in ''any'' of the Reasonably Priced Cars during the Clarkson/Hammond/May run of ''Top Gear''. (Even the Formula 1 drivers never matched that time, although they ran their laps in the less-powerful Suzuki Liana instead of the Kia Cee'd that [=LeBlanc=] used to post his record time.)

* DeadpanSnarker: He's particularly good at delivering patently ridiculous lines in a serious, authoritative tone. He's almost always the one to recite the ridiculous Stig facts.

** Notably, while Clarkson and Hammond both drove the Bugatti Veyron (Clarkson in a car-vs-plane race, Hammond in races against a [=McLaren=] F1 and a Eurofighter Typhoon), May was the one who pushed the Veyron to its absolute maximum speed. Subsequently, he took the Veyron's Supersport variant for a speed run and drove it faster than anyone had ever driven a production car before. (Bugatti's test driver established a higher speed later that same day, but to reiterate: in doing so, he broke ''James May's'' record for fastest speed ever attained in a production car.)

* TwoDecadesBehind: Clarkson and Hammond often accuse May of being stuck in the 1950's in terms of attitude and sensibilities. Averted in real life, though; while he appreciates what came before, May is quite fond of modern technology.

Andy was one of the original hosts of Top Gear while the show was on the air in the 90s'. However, shortly after the show ended, he and Clarkson successfully pitched the idea of a "Same ''Top Gear'', but different". After discovering a love for producing shows from behind the scenes, Wilman stayed on as Executive Producer while Clarkson remained as one of the three hosts.

** s20e3, in Spain, he's cooking dinner while they talk about their cars.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: will play up his TV persona and act incredibly stupid for a laugh (he will often say absolutely outrageous things for the sake of entertainment, and for those who aren't in on the joke he will say things just to see how far people will believe what he's saying). He is far more intelligent than he acts, and will own up to playing the idiot when questioned seriously.

* DistractedByTheSexy: In the ''Top Gear'' vs. ''Fifth Gear'' show, he stopped to stare at Vicki holding a paintball gun.

** Jezza, Hamster, and Captain Slow - names which have been eagerly adopted by the fanbase. Clarkson has also called May 'Slow' and 'Captain Horrid' and has referred to Hammond as 'Teeth' and 'Officer Barbie'.

There have been three Stigs since the show's inception. The first Stig, Black Suit Stig (Perry [=McCarthy=], 2002-2003) [[DroppedABridgeOnHim was written out of the show]] after the BBC did not renew [=McCarthy=]'s contract. The first White Suit Stig (Ben Collins, 2003-2010) was sacked for publicly revealing his identity. [[note]]Although his identity was already a "trade secret", and the book was a mere formality.[[/note]]

!!All three Stigs

* BizarreAlienBiology: There's a great deal of rumour about the Stig's biology. All that's quite clear is that he isn't human.

!!Sacked Stig (Ben Collins)

* BigEater: Apparently he forages for wolves.
* BrokenAce: The reason why he became the Stig in the first place. He was a very talented young driver with even Jackie Stewart predicting his rise to Formula 1, and then things just fell apart and he ended up in Nascar for a bit before spending most of his time doing stunt work and teaching driving for the British Army. [[ForegoneConclusion Then the call from Top Gear came...]]

* FaceHeelTurn: In the 2010 specials, after writing his book.

** [[spoiler: He returns in the final episode of series 17 to help train the wounded British veterans competing in the Dakar Rally.]]
-->[[spoiler: '''Hammond:''' You know... to be honest, I ''am'' quite glad to see the old splitter back.]]
** [[spoiler: And he comes back again in the ''50 Years of Bond'' special to talk to Richard about his job as a stunt coordinator for the films.]]

Not to be confused with the [[Creator/ChrisEvans actor who plays Captain America]]. Primarily known as a DJ on BBC Radio 2 and a presenter on the BBC's ''The One Show'', Evans is also a well-known petrolhead with an impressive collection of sports cars. Starting from Series 23, he stepped into the role of lead presenter. His selection was... controversial, and as of July 2016 he has parted ways with the show.

One of the original presenters, alongside Clarkson and Hammond, for the 2002 incarnation. He specialized in providing practical advice for people looking to buy used cars. He was replaced by James May in Series 2, when the show dropped most pretenses of being a consumer-advice program and shifted to providing speed, stunts, and spectacle.

* HypocriticalHumor: He makes the occasional bald joke, only for the camera to zoom in and show that the hair at the top of his head is visibly thinning.

* DeadpanSnarker: In a twist on national stereotypes, he, the American, has the most understated sense of humor whereas his British and German colleagues are much more animated.

A German race-car driver best known as a caretaker for the famous Nürburgring race-track that surrounds her hometown of Adenau. She first appeared on ''Top Gear'' in 2004, where she taught Jeremy Clarkson how to drive around the track, greatly impressing him with her knowledge, brash attitude and humor. Famously, she drove so fast in the Jaguar that he had brought with him that the film crew had a tough time keeping up with her -- and she had never driven that car before. She appeared on the show several more times over the years, and her name had long been kicked around as a potential regular contributor because of her popularity with the hosts and audience. When she was announced as a co-host, she was arguably the least controversial choice of them all.

The quiet one (relatively speaking) somewhere between Clarkson and Hammond in age and height: a picture-perfect Straight Man with an understated sense of humor and a gift for deadpan delivery. Likes physics, classical music, alcohol, light aircraft and interesting facts. Far more careful than the other two, and obsessive (to the point of possibly suffering from OCD) about details, down to the proper arrangement of his tools. He is implicitly acknowledged to be the most technically savvy of the three. As he prefers control and good handling over power and speed -- and absolutely refuses to run on camera [[note]]Unless something is hurtling towards him... or it's to go yell at a lorry driver who just totaled his beloved new car[[/note]] -- the other two have dubbed him "Captain Slow".

* ConspicuousConsumption: The first car he ever bought was a [[CoolCar Porsche Boxster]][[note]]He'd turned pro at a young age and was provided cars by sponsors soon after he got his license. By the time he got around to actually buying a car for himself, he was making good money and could afford to indulge in boyish enthusiasms like a fast car[[/note]].

* UniversalDriversLicense: Subverted, as the Stig believes ''everything'' should be driven like a car. He's easily confused by things that aren't cars, such as bicycles, the "Big Red Car" (a Bus) and the "Underground Car" (a tube Train) from the London Rush Hour challenge.

* {{Jerkass}}: Mostly Clarkson, but all three presenters have their moments from time to time. A favorite trick is for two of them to sabotage the efforts of the third during challenges.

* UniversalDriversLicense: Although occasionally subverted when the challenge is purposefully something they'll have trouble with, such as Jeremy's dislike of motorcycles/scooters in the ''Vietnam Special''.

* HollywoodMidlifeCrisis: Admits to having gone through one for several years (starting around Series 10) as his hair and clothes became flashier with each passing series of ''Top Gear''. He eventually went back to having shorter, more manageable hair and more conservative clothing, but still dresses in louder colors than he did before the crisis began.

** The food doesn't even have to be particularly exotic either. He won't eat classically British dishes like Fish and Chips because he dislikes seafood and is completely put off by the sight of traditional Spaghetti Bolognese (which he claims is his favorite dish) because the sauce includes sausage[[note]]In Italy, what most of the world knows as Spaghetti Bolognese is referred to as Ragù.[[/note]]

May was also a co-presenter of the original ''Top Gear'' format, although his tenure on that programme was only for a brief time in 1999, replacing Clarkson just before the show got canceled. [[HeAlsoDid Aside from hosting]] ''Top Gear'', May has also hosted quirky, fact-based [[BritishBrevity single-series]] documentary programmes, as well as longer lasting ones such as ''James May's Toy Stories'', ''Series/OzAndJames'' and ''Series/JamesMaysManLab''.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: On the rare occasions he gets fed up with his co-presenters, what he does to them is usually much crueler than what they've been doing to him:

* RummageSaleReject: Some of his favorite shirts are... loud.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pies, of the traditional British variety. In the caravan race, he didn't clear it out for weight the night before so he could make one for dinner, which completely destroyed his chances of winning. It also comes up often during the news segments; in one memorable instance, where the boys discussed a grocery store deal that would give credits towards a new car, May actually calculated how many pies he'd have to buy in order to pay the car off completely.

* NiceGuy: Is a genuinely nice guy in RealLife and very easy to get along with. One of the reasons why he was so good as the Stig, apart from his incredible driving, was that he was so patient and accommodating with the celebrities, and his companionable nature made him a brilliant teacher[=/=]instructor -- even excitable and adrenaline-fueled drivers like footballer Ian Wright praised his ability to calm him down and get him focused[[note]]to get an idea of just how nice he is, when the law suit became big news he could be found [[UpToEleven quietly serving hot tea and umbrellas to the paparazzi who mobbed his house because it was cold and raining.]] Yes, really[[/note]]. Not even our trio of indignant presenters could stay mad at him for too long behind the scenes -- once he'd met with them a couple of times.

A 1963 Opel Kadett which Richard Hammond bought in Botswana during the African special. Despite "his" age and third-hand ownership, Oliver survived a one-thousand mile cross-country trip straight across the spine of Botswana, including the entirety of the Makgadikgadi Pan, the largest salt flat in the world. Hammond loved the car so much that he bought it with his own money and paid to have it shipped to Britain, lovingly restored it, and even fitted it with a vanity license plate ([=OLI V3R=]). Hammond is so fond of Oliver that he forfeited one of the challenges in the "How much Lorry can you get for £5,000?" segment in Series 12 rather than risk injuring the car. Now a featured character in Hammond's children's show, ''Richard Hammond's Series/BlastLab''.

!!Sabine Schmitz
A German race-car driver best known as a caretaker for the famous Nürburgring race-track that surrounds her hometown of Adenau. She first appeared on ''Top Gear'' in 2004, where she taught Jeremy Clarkson how to drive around the track, greatly impressing him with her knowledge, brash attitude and humor. Famously, she drove so fast in the Jaguar that he had brought with him that the film crew had a tough time keeping up with her -- and she had never driven that car before. She appeared on the show several more times over the years, and her name had long been kicked around as a potential regular contributor because of her popularity with the hosts and audience. When she was announced as a co-host, she was arguably the least controversial choice of them all.

* TheAce: ''The'' fastest presenter on Top Gear UK, bar none.
* BadassDriver: To the point where she had her own, ''Top Gear''-esque show for a while in Germany called ''D-Motor'', which was largely an excuse for her to drive cool cars extremely fast.
* BadassBoast: On her first time on the show, and after Clarkson did a 9:59 around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in a diesel Jaguar, Schmitz declared "I do that lap time in a ''van''!" When given the chance she failed but was so close that she didn't harm her reputation as a BadassDriver; He did a 9:59, while she did a 10:08 (again, in a ''van''. Around the ''Nürburgring''.)
* DeadpanSnarker: Quite famously out-snarked Clarkson in her first appearance.

!!Creator/MattLeBlanc

!!Rory Reid

!!James May (2003–15)

** He is extremely unhappy with cars developed on the Nürburgring and will often rant about car companies that brag on this, going so far as suggesting the Allies should have bombed the Nürburgring instead of Dresden.

** In the Burma Special, the three break out the liquor while taking a break from bridge building and James takes a swig from a bottle labeled "White Spirit." After choking and apparently spitting out the liquid, James reveals to Jeremy and Richard that the "White Spirit" wasn't a high proof grain alcohol but mineral spirits as in the kind used in paint thinners.

* {{Adorkable}}: He was one of many thousands who auditioned simply because he loves cars and the show so much and his enthusiasm is obvious in all of his appearances.

!!Richard Hammond (2002-2015)

* DeadpanSnarker: He's particularly good at delivering patently ridiculous lines in a serious, authoritative tone. He's almost always the one to recite the ridiculous the Stig facts.

-->[[OoCIsSeriousBusiness '''Clarkson]]:''' Is that technically possible? ... You know, in 47 years I've never been speechless.

* SpellMyNameWithAThe: "Some say that his first name really is "the"."

->'''Presenter (VO):''' Still, could be worse. ''[cue GilliganCut to one of the other presenters in an even worse situation]''

His contract was terminated in March 2015, after a fracas with a producer (involving punching said producer in the face.)

* TheLancer: To Clarkson

** "Buffeting...Buffeting"

* DrunkenMaster: Manages to defeat Creator/GordonRamsay during ''[=TheFWord=]'''s [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame cooking challenge]] despite knocking back several glasses of wine while making his deceptively simple fish pie.

** On ''[=TheFWord=]'', he defeated Creator/GordonRamsay's challenge by drinking snake whiskey, eating a bull penis, and then trying fermented (read: rotten) shark. Ramsay reached for the bucket after the shark, but May barely even made a face.

--> '''May:''' ''[tonelessly]'' I have to have all my air vents aligned just right...and if anyone moves them... I get ''really angry''.

-->[[OoCIsSeriousBusiness Clarkson]]: "Is that technically possible? ... You know, in 47 years I've never been speechless."

* CompanionCube
** Featuring in the opening credits of Series/BlastLab.
* ICallItVera
--> '''Hammond''': "This is just the happiest car in the world. I shall call it Oliver. [''suddenly sobering''] Not that I would ever name a car on Top Gear. I wish I hadn't said that."

-->'''Clarkson/[=LeBlanc=]''': Some say that he [''something improbable''], and that he/his [''something equally improbable if not more so, often RippedFromTheHeadlines'']. All we know is, he's called The Stig.

* SpellMyNameWithAThe:
-->'''Clarkson''': Some say that his first name really is "the".

* BorrowedCatchphrase: He took over introducing The Stig for power laps, keeping Clarkson's format of two non-sequitors and "All we know is...he's called: The Stig!"

* {{Catchphrase}}: when something goes wrong for one of the guys:
->'''Presenter (VO):''' “Still, could be worse”. ''(Cue GilliganCut to one of the other presenters in an even worse situation.)''

--> '''May''': I like it, it's romantic.
--> '''Hammond''': ''Don't say things like that!'' I'm in the same bed as you!

--> '''May''': "Much as I think he's a knob, I quite like working with Jeremy."

--> '''May''': The great thing about Jeremy's shooting is that you are perfectly safe just as long as you stand right in front of the target.

-->I don't like being overtaken, its a sign of ''weakness''! Let's get him!

** "...and on that bombshell...",

** "...in the ''world''."
** "...but that's exactly what they're ''expecting'' us to do."

* DeadpanSnarker: He's particularly good at delivering patently ridiculous lines in a serious, authoritative tone. He's almost always is the one to recite the ridiculous the Stig facts.

-->'''Clarkson''': I want to talk about magpies...
-->'''Hammond''': This is a ''car'' show, Jeremy!

---> '''James''': I've got the name for it: the ''Bloody Awful.''

--->'''Hammond''': Would it interfere with this debate if I were suddenly and violently sick?

--> '''Jezza''': The baddies have made the ''classic'' baddie error, he's got ''too'' much power! I've got 120 horsepower in this. You don't want any more than that [[ItMakesSenseInContext on marble]].

-->I have this thing where, if I'm stuck in a $*#@(ing queue too long, I, #%43, wait, I just did it there, didn't I? #&^@. I need to ^#(@&ing get out of here.

--->''(Upon hearing Genesis' "I Know What You Like", particularly after the chorus...)''\\
'''Hammond:''' '''AAARGAAARGHAAAAAARAGH!!!! I HATE THAT BIT! IT'S THAT BIT!!!!'''

-->'''Richard''': "I love muscle cars. I love the fact that they're about standing quarter-miles, they're about racing away from the lights when the police aren't looking. They're about cowboy boots, work boots, denim jeans, dime stores, bars. I love that."

-->'''James''': "Well you're coming to the wrong country."

* CloudCuckooLander: Seems to genuinely have this aspect to his personality, especially when it comes to directions and orientation in a physical [=3-D=] space. Sometimes comes off as this during the news segments as well, with such InsaneTrollLogic as:

* DrunkenMaster: Manages to defeat Creator/GordonRamsay during ''TheFWord'''s [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame cooking challenge]] despite knocking back several glasses of wine while making his deceptively simple fish pie.

** On ''Series/TheFWord'', he defeated Creator/GordonRamsay's challenge by drinking snake whiskey, eating a bull penis, and then trying fermented (read: rotten) shark. Ramsay reached for the bucket after the shark, but May barely even made a face.

-->'''Clarkson''': Are you wearing that for a bet?
-->'''May''': No.

--> '''May''': ''[Tonelessly]'' I have to have all my air vents aligned just right...and if anyone moves them...I get ''really angry''.

!!Jeremy Clarkson (1988–99, 2002-15)

* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: He's the presenter most likely to cheat to win challanges, such as cutting across the grass on a track to shave seconds off his lap time.

* DoNotCallMePaul: When Chris addresses him by his given name, he immediately says that people can only address him as "Freddie" until he gives permission for them to address him as "Andrew".

* HiddenDepths: Clarkson is a bird watcher which is sometimes mentioned in the series. During foreign road trips he can sometimes be seen watching birds. During the Botswana special, the team stops to observe the wildlife and he identifies a bird and marks it down in a field guide. He also mentions his interest in bird watching in [[http://www.topgear.com/uk/jeremy-clarkson/jeremy-clarkson-top-gear-column-environment-2011-09-15 this article]] about cars and the environment.