Bottom Gear.

The much-vaunted new incarnation of Top Gear was finally screened last night, a poor imitation of the old one. Chris Evans is brilliant on radio but we don’t really warm to him on TV. Apart from being the only man in the world who dyes his hair ginger, there’s something in his demeanour that suggests that he isn’t very nice. And he isn’t Jeremy Clarkson. The transformation of Top Gear from a dry, factual motoring programme into a multi-platform global phenomenon was Clarkson’s brainchild. He’s a bit like the Daily Mail. You may hate what he does, but you have to concede that he does it really well. By comparison, Chris Evans is the Daily Express. Top Gear isn’t his gig. He just can’t do it. Any more than Clarkson could do the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. Without him, Top Gear is going to fall apart. One piece at a time.