Top Gear Australia is returning for a brand new season on Paramount+ today, and in a first for the Australian iteration, won’t premiere on the free-to-air 10.
Speaking to Mediaweek, Network 10/Paramount+ Australia network executive producer Ciaran Flannery said that Paramount+ would never make Top Gear again if it wasn’t able to match the production value of the best versions.
“It’s got to be up there, and the reality is the scale that Paramount+ gives us allows us to go global,” he said.
“This is not just a local show, we have that global scale, not just where we go in the show, but also getting the show into international markets through Paramount+.
“Paramount+ delivered a production value that arguably a local version might not quite have matched.”
The original series premiered on SBS in 2008 and then moved to Nine in 2010. In 2012, it was cancelled due to declining ratings.
Launching today, 17 May, in Australia, Top Gear Australia will also premiere in Latin America, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, and Japan later this year.
The eight-part series will be hosted by Blair Joscelyne, Beau Ryan and Jonathan LaPaglia as the trio takes audiences across Australia, through the French Alps and the historic streets of Rome, around the St Tropez coastline, and to the rugged Colombian jungle, driving whatever they can get their hands on and completing outrageous challenges.
Speaking to Mediaweek, the hosts shared their experiences on the show and the importance of maintaining the format’s greatness while giving it their own personality through Aussie humour and camaraderie.
“We didn’t overthink anything, we just stayed true to ourselves and our personality shone from the get-go,” Ryan said.
“The day we all met each other, we realised how different we all actually are, but we clicked straight away, and that was the key to the success of the previous iterations of this show and I think that’s why we had so much fun.
“While we were so open with each other, bantering and calling each other out, we also lifted each other up when we had moments of struggle because it was a long, taxing shoot [production took four months]. In saying that, it was something that I couldn’t have really enjoyed more.”
LaPaglia echoed Ryan’s sentiments, saying the hosts brought a particular Aussie sensibility in terms of the humour on the show.
“I think a lot of that is poking fun at each other, calling each other out. That’s typically Australian so from my perspective, I think that gives the show its Aussie flavour,” he said.
Flannery joked that he is excited to see how the rest of the world reacts to the Aussie humour on the show.
“I wonder if they can work out what ‘fanging it’ is, because there’s a lot of that in there. There’s going to be a lot of Australian language in there that the rest of the world will probably have to go on the internet to work out what we’re talking about.”
Joscelyne is the only host out of the three who has no prior history of being on TV. He comes from a music and YouTube background, best-known for being behind the long-running YouTube channel, Mighty Car Mods. He said the shift to TV was helped immensely by his co-hosts.
“Initially, I was looking to these guys being like, ‘how does this whole game work?’ because not only am I hosting a TV show, there are 55 more people from the crew than I’m used to working with,” he said.
“I eventually got the hang of it, because I think us coming from all vastly different backgrounds helped keep the chemistry alive. Jonathan is from an acting and medical background, Beau is from a sporting and TV background, and I’m from a music and YouTube background.
“We’re all each very good at doing what it is that we do, and throwing us in together I think certainly has worked because I’ve really enjoyed – for the most part – hanging out with these guys for the last few months.”
Top Gear Australia is produced by BBC Studios Productions Australia and joins a host of the Paramount+ Australian Originals currently streaming, including Last King Of The Cross, Five Bedrooms, NCIS: Sydney, The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers, plus Fake streaming soon.