The ninth series of the BBC motoring show Top Gear, starring presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, premiered on the 28th of January, 2007 and concluded on the 4th of March, 2007. Production of the series was delayed due to Hammond's accident in September 2006, costing the show a month's worth of footage, with the first episode of the series never repeated on TV owing to Hammond's near-death experience and his personal wishes.
Series 9 was the shortest series up to that point, with just 6 episodes on the whole. On the 16th of March, almost two weeks following the final episode, a charity special entitled Top Gear of the Pops aired. This was done due to BBC's original charity special, A Question of Comedy, being cancelled due to Jade Goody being one of the contestants and her ongoing racism scandal. Four months later, the series would have a standalone special featuring the trio racing to the North Pole.
Viewing figures were dramatically higher than its immediate predecessor, and any series which had previously aired, seeing over 7.45 million viewers per episode on average. This is a record that would never be broken in the show's history. As a result, the show was easily renewed for a tenth series, which began airing in October 2007.
Episodes
| Episode | Film(s) | Track Test | SIARPC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (75) | The presenters attempt to improve the duration of roadworks by attempting to do re-tarmac a road within 24 hours as apposed to a week. Later they have a re-visit to Hammond's Dragster Crash. | Jaguar XKR (Jeremy) | Jamie Oliver |
| 2 (76) | The presenters head to Scotland to see which £25,000 Modern Coupe is best. Elsewhere James attempts to take the Bugatti Veyron up to it's alleged top speed of 253mph. | None | Hugh Grant |
| 3 (77) | USA Special | None | None |
| 4 (78) | Richard and James attempt to convert a 1992 Reliant Robin into a space shuttle before sending it on a Space Mission. Jeremy buts his bias aside for a review of Porsche's latest 911 Turbo. | Brabus S Biturbo (Jeremy) | Simon Pegg |
| 5 (79) | The presenters have a go agriculture by borrowing a Tractor and growing their own biofuel which they attempt to use later on. Elsewhere Jeremy attempts to do Public Service Video with regards to Level Crossings. | Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 (Jeremy) | Kristin Scott Thomas |
| 6 (80) | The presenters each attempt to create a stretched limousine after which they are set a number of challenges before each transporting a guest to 2007 Brit Awards. | Shelby Mustang GT500 (Richard) | Billie Piper |
Production
After a leaked shooting schedule was posted to the internet in the summer of 2006, much of the content for the first half of Series 9 was made available to the public months in advance. This included the ill-fated Vampire Dragster segment, which would have originally featured James May in Hammond's place, but was changed due to scheduling conflicts. After the accident, production of the series was frozen until October, when Hammond expressed his wish for production to continue. By the end of December, Hammond was in an ambulatory state and could return to presenting the studio segments of the show. Filming would resume in January, returning to TV that same month, 3 months behind schedule, before concluding in mid-February with the 2007 BRIT Awards.
Airing History
Series 9 originally aired on BBC 2 from January to March 2007 in its initial unmodified broadcast. It would be re-aired in this form on BBC Three a week following the initial broadcasts, which repeated from the start once the sixth episode had been shown for a second time. The UKTV network would then make various cuts to each episode, barring the first episode, in order to shorten them to 45 minutes long for commercial broadcast and syndicated re-runs.
Reception
The show's IMDb page rated this series at an average score of 7.6/10, its highest score up to that point, indicating a positive reception overall. In particular, fans most enjoyed the USA Special, which stands out from the rest of the episodes with an 8.3 rating. This is in spite of the fact it was the least viewed episode of the series by a considerable margin, with only 6.18 million people tuning in on the date of broadcast.
Trailer
| Series (2002 format) | |
|---|---|
| 2016+ | Series 23 | Series 24 | Series 25 | Series 26 | Series 27 |
| 2002 - 2015 | Series 1 | Series 2 | Series 3 | Series 4 | Series 5 | Series 6 | Series 7 | Series 8 | Series 9 | Series 10 | Series 11 Series 12 | Series 13 | Series 14 | Series 15 | Series 16 | Series 17 | Series 18 | Series 19 | Series 20 | Series 21 | Series 22 |