BBCThe BBC is apparently panicking after Top Gear producers started spending £200,000 extra on each episode of the show.
Sources have allegedly revealed episode budgets have skyrocketed from £450,000 under Jeremy Clarkson and co. to £650,000 with Chris Evans new look team, reports the Daily Mail.
As a result the series may be cut for a second time from eight episodes to six, with it originally scheduled for ten.
It seems producers are desperate to prove the show can rival Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May’s new Amazon venture.
It is just another blow in a list of setbacks for the show.
Executive producer Lisa Clark was reported to have walked out amid reports of Chris Evans ‘control freak’ mentality. She allegedly said the new host believes he can ‘trample over everyone’.
Clark was followed by script editor Tom Ford, prompting the release of a statement from the BBC this week.
Senior executive Mark Linsey said:
It is rubbish to suggest Chris Evans’s behaviour on the set of Top Gear has been in any way unprofessional.
Chris and Matt are part of a wider production team that is full of brilliant and talented people. That team is tight.
No wonder the Beeb is going to start charging for iPlayer services…
