'I love Top Gear but not enough to pay £80 for it': Viewers' fury after Clarkson, May and Hammond sign £20million deal to make new show for Amazon's streaming service 

  • Former BBC Top Gear presenters sign three-season deal with Amazon
  • Top Gear's former executive producer Andy Wilman will be involved
  • Official title is unconfirmed but Amazon used hashtag #Drive2Prime
  • Mr Wilman happy that Amazon will 'leave us alone to make our show'

Top Gear viewers today expressed their anger at how they will have to pay £79 a year to watch Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s new show on Amazon’s streaming service.

The ex-BBC hosts announced a deal with the online giant this morning to present three seasons of the as-yet untitled programme, with work on the first series expected to begin this autumn.

Amazon is said to be investing at least £20million in the hotly-anticipated show, including pay packets and production costs.

The programme will be available to Amazon Prime customers worldwide, but Top Gear fans took to Twitter to voice their fury at how the show will no longer be on terrestrial television.

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Signed for Amazon: Former BBC Top Gear presenters James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond

Signed for Amazon: Former BBC Top Gear presenters James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond

Hosts on tour: Hammond, Clarkson and May at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia, last Saturday

Hosts on tour: Hammond, Clarkson and May at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia, last Saturday

One of the many unimpressed fans of the show was Becky Twynham, who tweeted: 'So you now have to pay to watch Jeremy Clarkson and crew. Nah, I'll stick to reruns of Top Gear, thanks.'

And maths student Alan Brook added: 'Can we keep signing up for new 30-day free trials of Amazon Prime whenever the new Top Gear is on? Don't really want to pay £79.'

Meanwhile Adam Minford, from Antrim in Northern Ireland, tweeted: 'I love Top Gear but not enough to pay Amazon £80 for it. I'm sure I'll find another way.'

Sources told MailOnline in March that ITV may have been preparing a £10million 'golden handcuffs' bid to lure Clarkson away from the BBC for at least one series of a new motoring show. Above, the former Top Gear hosts pictured today

Sources told MailOnline in March that ITV may have been preparing a £10million 'golden handcuffs' bid to lure Clarkson away from the BBC for at least one series of a new motoring show. Above, the former Top Gear hosts pictured today

But Jack Lazarski then compared the situation to watching on BBC Two: 'Basically have to pay £79 for Amazon Prime just to watch the new Top Gear. Still cheaper than a TV licence I suppose.'

Hammond, Clarkson and May will be working with ex-Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman.

Clarkson - whose contract was not renewed by the BBC earlier this year after the infamous ‘fracas’ with producer Oisin Tymon - said: ‘I feel like I’ve climbed out of a bi-plane and into a spaceship.’

Turned off: One of the many unimpressed fans of the show was Becky Twynham, who tweeted: 'So you now have to pay to watch Jeremy Clarkson and crew. Nah, I'll stick to reruns of Top Gear, thanks'

Turned off: One of the many unimpressed fans of the show was Becky Twynham, who tweeted: 'So you now have to pay to watch Jeremy Clarkson and crew. Nah, I'll stick to reruns of Top Gear, thanks'

Thinking about it: Adam Minford, from Antrim in Northern Ireland, tweeted: 'I love Top Gear but not enough to pay Amazon £80 for it. I'm sure I'll find another way'

Thinking about it: Adam Minford, from Antrim in Northern Ireland, tweeted: 'I love Top Gear but not enough to pay Amazon £80 for it. I'm sure I'll find another way'

Joke: Maths student Alan Brook added: 'Can we keep signing up for new 30-day free trials of Amazon Prime whenever the new Top Gear is on? Don't really want to pay £79'

Joke: Maths student Alan Brook added: 'Can we keep signing up for new 30-day free trials of Amazon Prime whenever the new Top Gear is on? Don't really want to pay £79'

The announcement ends months of speculation about the trio's future after they left the BBC amid much controversy following the incident at a hotel in North Yorkshire in March.

Mr Wilman said today how the former Top Gear team were delighted to be ‘left alone’ to take the best of their old show after receiving the ‘strongest and most intelligent offer’ from Amazon.

So you now have to pay to watch Jeremy Clarkson and crew. Nah, I'll stick to reruns of Top Gear, thanks
Becky Twynham, Top Gear fan

He told Broadcast magazine: ‘Everyone we have talked to has said to us: “They leave you alone to make your show”. That’s a big one for us - we don’t like interference, we don’t need to be policed…

‘You can’t reinvent the sideways, Last of the Summer Wine-type relationship they have because that is outside of television, that is theirs. But there will be a new look, new elements, new home.’

He added that he was starting to put together a crew for the show and wants a ‘s*** hot’ production manager, joking that the team used to ‘run f***ing riot with money” while at the BBC.

In a press release, May joked: ‘We have become part of the new age of smart TV. Ironic, isn't it?’ And Hammond added: ‘Amazon? Oh yes. I have already been there. I got bitten by a bullet ant.’  

Tweet: Clarkson announced the deal on Twitter today, saying he was 'very excited' about the new show

Tweet: Clarkson announced the deal on Twitter today, saying he was 'very excited' about the new show

'Good news' May joked in a tweet that 'the other two' have also got a job on the show with Amazon Prime

'Good news' May joked in a tweet that 'the other two' have also got a job on the show with Amazon Prime

'I've got a job': Hammond appeared excited that he would have a haircut and be wearing clean jeans again

'I've got a job': Hammond appeared excited that he would have a haircut and be wearing clean jeans again

PRODUCER WILMAN IN SWIPE AT BBC: 'WE DON'T NEED TO BE POLICED'

Producer Andy Wilman today took a swipe at the BBC as he revealed one of the attractions of moving to Amazon were that they would be 'left alone' to make the show. 

Speaking today, he said:  'Everyone we have talked to has said to us: “They leave you alone to make your show”. That’s a big one for us - we don’t like interference, we don’t need to be policed…'

Wilman has previously been outspoken about his annoyance with the corporation for trying to interfere in the making of Top Gear, for example trying to make them include a female presenter. 

Speaking to Radiotimes.com, he added: 'The ITV thing was never really going to happen, but there has been lots of interest.

'They’ll give us the freedom to make the programmes we want – and you know how we love that freedom – there’s a budget to produce programmes of the quality we want and this is the future.

'No one telling us what we can and can’t do, just us hopefully producing great programmes. It feels really liberating.'

Sources told MailOnline in March that ITV may have been preparing a £10million 'golden handcuffs' bid to lure Clarkson away from the BBC for at least one series of a new motoring show.

Happy: Former Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman said how the team were delighted to be ‘left alone’ to take the best of their old show

Happy: Former Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman said how the team were delighted to be ‘left alone’ to take the best of their old show

But it later emerged that Clarkson, 55, Hammond, 45, and May, 52, had been blocked from working for a rival British broadcaster for two years by a clause in their BBC contracts.

However, despite the BBC's 'non-compete' clause, the hosts reportedly believed any new show could be shown online or, if an overseas production company was used, UK terrestrial channels.

Clarkson, whose net worth is reportedly £30million, earned £14million after the BBC purchased the commercial rights to Top Gear three years ago.

Top Gear is the BBC’s biggest global brand and is believed to be worth around £50million to the corporation’s commercial arm thanks to sales of the programme, DVDs, books and live shows.

The Daily Mail reported last month how the BBC had offered May and Hammond a £4.6million deal for up to three years to continue hosting Top Gear for another two or three series. 

It was thought they would have earned between £760,000 and £1.15million per year in the deal, which would have been an increase on the £500,000 per series they were previously paid.

Clarkson earned nearly £1.5million a year as a Top Gear presenter. The new host was eventually announced five weeks ago as Chris Evans, whose three-year contract is said to be worth £3million.

While the official title is still unconfirmed, Amazon Prime used the hashtag #Drive2Prime in its announcement on social media today - leading to speculation that this could be the name. 

Responses to this were unenthusiastic, with 'Super Chris' tweeting: ‘#Drive2Prime ... not the best name but if it's the same format as Top gear you can call it whatever you want. #HappyChris.’ 

Presenting trio: Hammond, Clarkson, and May during their live tour at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast in May

Presenting trio: Hammond, Clarkson, and May during their live tour at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast in May

Joke: Clarkson said he Amazon had blocked him from becoming their 'chief drone pilot '- a reference to the Amazon Prime Air delivery system proposal which will use drones to deliver packages in 30 minutes or less

Joke: Clarkson said he Amazon had blocked him from becoming their 'chief drone pilot '- a reference to the Amazon Prime Air delivery system proposal which will use drones to deliver packages in 30 minutes or less

Jay Marine, vice president of Amazon Prime Video EU, said: ‘Customers told us they wanted to see the team back on screen, and we are excited to make that happen. 

‘Millions of Prime members are already enjoying our ground-breaking original shows. We can't wait to see what Jeremy, Richard, James and the team will create in what is sure to be one of the most globally anticipated shows of 2016.

I feel like I’ve climbed out of a bi-plane and into a spaceship
Jeremy Clarkson 

‘This is a golden age of television, a great time for TV makers and storytellers.

‘Our approach is to give programme makers creative freedom to be innovative and make the shows they want to make. This is just the start, you should expect to see more world-leading talent and the biggest shows on Prime Video.’

Clarkson left the show after assaulting producer Mr Tymon after reportedly hearing there was no hot food available at hotel in North Yorkshire after a day of filming.

The attack lasted for around 30 seconds and Tymon was subjected to ‘derogatory and abusive language’ for a sustained period of time, according to the BBC investigation. 

The move is a major step into TV by Amazon who previously resurrected Ripper Street after it was axed by the BBC. However, the new show will not feature Top Gear’s mystery driver The Stig.

Robert Taylor, commercial media lawyer at Cubism Law, said of the deal: ‘This appears to show the BBC’s two year restriction on the trio presenting rival motoring programmes only applied to other Broadcasters.

Punched: Clarkson's contract was not renewed by the BBC after a ‘fracas’ with producer Oisin Tymon (above)

Punched: Clarkson's contract was not renewed by the BBC after a ‘fracas’ with producer Oisin Tymon (above)

‘This loophole in the Top Gear contracts has allowed the team to move to a non-broadcast platform, Amazon Prime. This may serve as a warning to broadcasters to widen the restrictions in their talent’s contracts across a wider platform than just terrestrial TV.’

Last week Seattle-based Amazon, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, surpassed Asda owner Wal-Mart Stores to become the world's biggest retailer by market value. 

This is a mutually beneficial agreement. It sidesteps Clarkson and co’s clause in their BBC contracts that made it hard to work for a UK broadcaster for the next few years
Kathleen Brooks, City Index

Kathleen Brooks, research director at broker City Index, told MailOnline today: 'This is a big acquisition for Amazon Prime and makes it a real player in the streaming video/TV service sector.

'Although Amazon Prime has already launched some critically successful TV shows in recent years, this is the most populist move yet and groups Amazon Prime together with Netflix as a true threat to traditional TV channels and networks.

'This is a mutually beneficial agreement. It sidesteps Clarkson and co’s clause in their BBC contracts that made it hard to work for a UK broadcaster for the next few years. 

'It also gives the Top Gear team the freedom from advertiser demands that is crucial for the independence of the show, which it also enjoyed at the BBC.' 

And XCAR.com editor Drew Stearne said: ‘Top Gear had evolved over the past 14 years to not only attract a colossal global audience but also to push the limits of what could be done on the BBC.

‘Clarkson, Hammond and May need a carte blanche from a broadcaster with the pockets to support what they need to do and Amazon should be able to provide both.’

HOW AMAZON PRIME IS MUSCLING IN ON THE BROADCASTING WORLD

Amazon's deal with the former Top Gear team is another example of how internet firms are carving out their own corner of the broadcasting world.

The firm - which started life in 1995 as an online book shop - and rivals such as Netflix are going beyond streaming other broadcaster's shows and moving into their own content.

Clarkson, Hammond and May are not the first big names to join forces with Amazon - legendary filmmaker Woody Allen signed up with them to make his first ever TV series.

Online access: The new, as-yet untitled, show will be available to Amazon Prime customers around the world

Online access: The new, as-yet untitled, show will be available to Amazon Prime customers around the world

It also resurrected period crime drama, Ripper Street, after it was axed by the BBC and its comedy series Transparent has been a critical hit winning two Golden Globes.

Amazon also uses its customer base to push its Prime service - earlier this week it announced a new music streaming app with more than a million songs available to users.

And it celebrated its 20th birthday with the inaugural Prime Day, a global shopping event designed to drive subscriptions to its membership programme.

Analysts believe Prime could be the first retail membership club to reach 100million, with the firm reporting worldwide year-on-year growth of the service of 53 per cent last year.

Taken on: Amazon resurrected period crime drama Ripper Street (pictured), after it was axed by the BBC

Taken on: Amazon resurrected period crime drama Ripper Street (pictured), after it was axed by the BBC

Anyone can sign up for Amazon Prime for £79 a year, although you can also get a 30-day free trial. Members can then watch films and TV shows using the Amazon Video app.

This is available on hundreds of devices including Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Roku, smart TVs and Blu-ray players, the Xbox, PlayStation, and Wii game consoles.

It can also be downloaded onto mobile devices such as Fire tablets, iPhones, iPads and Android tablets and phones. Customers of Prime can also watch online.

It is more expensive than Netflix, which has plans from £5.99 a month, but the popularity of the Top Gear hosts gives Amazon an exclusive that Netflix cannot currently match.

Netflix only launched in Britain three years ago, but it has soared in popularity thanks to hit series like Orange Is The New Black and House Of Cards, the political drama starring Kevin Spacey.

More than one in ten households are thought to have signed up to the American streaming service, helping it to amass 4.5million customers by summer last year, according to researcher by Digital TV service.

In its continuing bid to take on TV networks, Netflix is busy preparing a slew of original programming.

To date, the site has already released eight series that are available only on the digital platform.

And in December 2014, the company announced it hopes to have up to 20 original series running alongside its other shows and movies.

This is apparently a move to try and replicate the success of channels such as HBO.

 

Racism rows, being forced to flee Argentina and the infamous 'fracas' with a producer: A 27-year timeline of BBC's Top Gear

Jeremy Clarkson became the famous face of Top Gear - a motoring show he first appeared on almost 27 years ago. Following months of speculation about what his next career move would be after he was dropped, here is a series of events on Clarkson's path to Amazon. 

Clarkson in an early undated episode on Top Gear

Clarkson in an early undated episode on Top Gear

  • October 1988: Clarkson makes his first appearance on Top Gear, with a visibly more reserved on-screen persona than he later became known for. He commented on the Michael McIntyre chat show several years later that his accent in the early series was ‘incredible’.
  • November 1999: MPs criticise the increasingly controversial show for being ‘too macho’ and for encouraging ‘irresponsible’ driving, but it continues to regularly pull in several million weekly viewers.
  • February 2000: Clarkson leaves after more than a decade working on the motoring show, having described it in Top Gear magazine as ‘tedious’ in 1999.
  • October 2002: A revamped Top Gear is launched on the BBC with Clarkson returning to the helm.
  • 2003: Clarkson drives a pick-up into a horse chestnut tree in a car park in Somerset, to test the strength of a Toyota. The BBC apologises to the parish council.
  • November 2008: Clarkson makes a joke during an episode about lorry drivers murdering prostitutes, which attracts more than 1,000 complaints to the BBC.
  • January 2011: Jokes made during the show about Mexicans, which include them being branded ‘lazy’, ‘feckless’ and ‘flatulent’, spark controversy and prompt an apology from the BBC to the Mexican ambassador.
  • December 2011: During a 90-minute India special a car fitted with a toilet in the boot is described by Clarkson as ‘perfect for India because everyone who comes here gets the trots’.
  • February 2012: Clarkson compares a Japanese car to people with growths on their faces. He is later found to have breached BBC guidelines.
  • May 2014: Clarkson is embroiled in controversy when it is claimed he used the n-word while reciting the nursery rhyme Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe during filming.
  • July 2014: Top Gear is ruled to have breached broadcasting rules after Clarkson used the word ‘slope’ to describe an Asian man.
  • October 2014: The Top Gear crew is forced to flee Argentina after trouble erupts when it emerges they were using a Porsche with the registration number H982 FKL, which some suggest could refer to the Falklands conflict of 1982.
  • March 4, 2015: Following a day of filming in North Yorkshire, Clarkson assaults BBC producer Oisin Tymon after reportedly hearing there was no hot food available. The attack lasted for around 30 seconds and Tymon was subjected to ‘derogatory and abusive language’ for a sustained period of time, according to the BBC investigation. Tymon goes to A&E to have his injuries checked.
  • March 9, 2015 Clarkson first reports to the BBC that he was involved in the incident.
  • March 10, 2015: The BBC suspends Clarkson and an investigation is launched, while all three remaining episodes of the series are postponed.
  • March 11, 2015: Prime Minister David Cameron weighs into the row, calling Clarkson a ‘huge talent’ and saying he hopes the situation can be resolved so his children will not be left ‘heartbroken’.
  • March 15, 2015: The BBC's decision to postpone the remaining episodes of Top Gear sees it lose millions of viewers. A Red Arrows documentary which is shown in place of the planned episode pulls in just one million viewers - compared with the five million who regularly tune in for the popular motoring show.
  • March 19, 2015: Clarkson launches an expletive-laden broadside against BBC executives who he claim are about to sack him. He reveals he wants to do ‘one last ever lap’ of the Top Gear test track. In video footage obtained by the Daily Mirror, Clarkson says: ‘I'll go down to Surrey and I'll do one last lap of that track before the f****** b******* sack me.’
  • March 20, 2015: A million-strong petition calling for Clarkson's reinstatement is delivered by tank to the BBC's headquarters. Someone dressed as the motoring show's enigmatic professional driver The Stig is on board as the military vehicle arrives outside New Broadcasting House, central London.
  • March 22, 2015: Four Top Gear live shows that were scheduled to take place in Norway are postponed.
  • March 24, 2015: The BBC denied it had made a decision following its internal investigation into what happened during the ‘fracas’ with Mr Tymon - and Clarkson's future - as reports suggested he would be sacked by the corporation.
  • March 25, 2015: BBC director-general Tony Hall announces he will not be renewing Clarkson's contract, saying ‘a line has been crossed’ and that ‘there cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another’, but praises Clarkson's ‘huge talent’. He also confirms that the BBC will attempt to make another series of Top Gear in 2016.
  • June 16, 2015: Chris Evans is revealed as the new host of Top Gear.
  • June 28, 2015: Top Gear's finale with Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May fails to break records when it bows out with 5.8 million viewers.
  • July 30, 2015: It is announced that Clarkson, Hammond and May have signed a deal for a new motoring show with Amazon.

Over and out: Top Gear's final episode with Clarkson, Hammond and May bowed out with 5.8million viewers

HEAD-TO-HEAD: CLARKSON v EVANS IN CARS, DRIVING, CASH AND CAREERS

With a new motoring show in town, it will be a case of Jeremy Clarkson v Chris Evans. But how do the two petrol-heads compare? Here is a look at the rivalry in numbers:

CARS

Evans takes the chequered flag for the most expensive. In 2010, the DJ shelled out £12 million for a 1960 Ferrari GTO, one of just 36 built. The Radio 2 presenter added to his Ferrari collection last year, paying £2.27million at auction for a 1971 Daytona Spyder. In comparison, Clarkson's Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder only cost him a measly £147,000.

DRIVING

Both men have been handed driving bans for speeding. In 2001, Evans was banned from the road for 56 days for driving his Ferrari 550 Maranello at 105mph in a 70mph zone in Esher, Surrey. Clarkson was given a three-month ban by the French authorities in 2013 for driving his Aston Martin Vanquish at 88mph.

Rivalry: With a new motoring show in town, it will be a case of Chris Evans (left) v Jeremy Clarkson (right)

Rivalry: With a new motoring show in town, it will be a case of Chris Evans (left) v Jeremy Clarkson (right)

MONEY

Clarkson's net worth is reportedly £30million. He earned £14million after the BBC purchased the commercial rights to Top Gear back in 2012. But Evans trumps that with a fortune in the region of £50million. He made a fortune with the sale of his Ginger Media Group.

BBC CAREERS

Evans first worked for the BBC in 1995 when he joined the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. He quit two years later, before returning to Radio 2 in 2005. Clarkson's career with the corporation stretches back 27 years to 1988 when he first joined Top Gear. In 2002, Clarkson and executive producer Andy Wilman re-launched the show in its current format.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Clarkson has a powerful social media presence with 5.42million followers on Twitter. Evans lags behind with 1.94 million.

NUMBER OF TIMES FIRED

The pair draw 1-1 for this round. Clarkson was let go from Top Gear in March for punching a producer. Back in 2001, Evans was sacked by Virgin Radio for a ‘breach of contract’ after he failed to turn up for his presenting slot for six consecutive days.

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