Top Gear

Does Top Gear Need to Feature Eddie Jordan More Often?

With the 24th Season of Top Gear coming to a close, we finally see in Episode 5 the return of one of the least favorite presenters from the disastrous 23rd season, Eddie Jordan. His brittle nature and quirky attitude simply did not play well with Top Gears audience, leaving most folks surprised that he had not been axed along with Chris Evans. However, in this most recent episode, we seemed to see a version of Eddie Jordan that might actually work for the dynamic that is beginning to form amongst the shows new line up of presenters. Will we see more Eddie Jordan in the future?

The producers at BBC certainly know how to produce a great show, which is why it was so surprising when they failed to clearly identify who had final editorial control between Chris Evans and the rest of the producers. Honestly, a little more supervision and guidance from the BBC would have done wonders for Season 23.

The ball-dropping by the BBC during Season 23 didn’t simply end at failing to properly supervise Chris Evans and produce a decent show, it also failed to give Eddie Jordan the presentation on the show that he deserved. Don’t get me wrong, I doubt I would want to hang-out with Eddie anytime soon. Unlike Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris, Rory Read, and Sabine Schmitz, who come across as folks you would love to hang out in a bar and down a few beers with, Eddie would most likely get even more annoying after each successive drink… not fun.

However, given the relatively friendly nature of the three new stars of the show and how congenial Sabine Schmitz naturally is, the show really could use a character to provide the role of antagonist. And out of all of the new presenters on the show, Eddie Jordan is without a doubt the biggest character of them all.

It is arguably the toughest role in all of acting to play the lovable antagonist. Being friends in one scene and then playing the role of advisories in the next, is something very few performers can pull off. Seriously, does anyone believe that these guys are going to recreate the same high-wire balancing act between friend and foe that Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond pulled off? Would you really want them to? The new Top Gear presenters need to be themselves, which is a group of friendly affable people, with one big pain in the ass tagging along for the ride… Eddie Jordan. Who wouldn’t want to see that?

The new line up at Top Gear deserves to have a quirky car-expert playing the role of antagonist, and it looks like the BBC is finally beginning to figure out how to portray Eddie Jordan properly; as the grumpy old racer with a wacky, yet lovable, personality. Let’s hope that for Season 25, the BBC continues to fine-tune the presenter’s roles and that they figure out the all too critical balance between friends and foes.

Keep driving my friends!

Special thanks to Leslie for helping me with this article!

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One Comment

  1. Eddie is good for very small parts, in very small doses. Sabine is good for special events only, limited talking, racing events only. Matt, Chris and Rory are starting to work well together, introduce new characters in small parts to the show. Build on various personalities that add humour as well as automobile knowledge.

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