If you saw Top Gear last night, some of you will have been introduced to Chris Harris for the first time and you may have liked his piece on the new Ferrari TDF (I did too! #sideways!!! #power!!!).
I really hope the TG decision makers can include non-shouty Chris more in the main show. He’s not the kind of guy to tolerate bullshit or play up to the camera for a pay-cheque so there’ll be no staged nonsense. Just put him in some cars and film what happens, that’s all it needs to be!
For an example of how anti-bullshit he is, here’s the article that got him banned from testing Ferraris and in my view earned him total “legend” status. It’s very good reading and an interesting insight into what car journalism was really like at the time and what it may even still be like… but not if Chris Harris has anything to do with it!
People have been unfairly hard on new TG, it really hasn’t been as terrible as some loud people on the internet have been making it out to be. In general I’ve enjoyed it and am glad to have a car show return to our screens. Chris (not the ginger one) actually brings the new show some credibility. He knows cars on a level so intricate it is frankly ridiculous and yet manages to convey these details in a way that doesn’t melt your brain and is actually super entertaining (way more entertaining than a 40mph top speed challenge at Blackpool seafront).
Matt and Chris (Evans) have been better than I expected, they both clearly love cars and have the kind of understanding I’d expect from rich people who have access to nice cars. Even if Chris (Harris) is totally loaded, his perspective brings something else. I’m not even sure I can pinpoint it, I just know it’s something I want to watch more than Evans shouting or Matt being cooler than me.
Do it for the viewers Top Gear, and do it before your budget gets sliced in half to match the viewing figures.
You can watch Chris Harris going fast and doing cool stuff on his YouTube channel: Chris Harris on Cars
How about that, I actually wrote a proper blog post for once!
// Matt