[James]

75 minute episode tonight at 8:00.

The final episode of Top Gear to feature Jeremy Clarkson will be shown on BBC Two on Sunday, but the star has called it "cobbled together".

The 75-minute special has been compiled from footage shot before Clarkson was sacked by the BBC for punching a producer.



Writing in The Sun, he said: "BBC Two is screening an edition of Top Gear cobbled together from two films that were made before I was fired.

"One of them is quite good."

The show, which airs at 20:00 BST on BBC Two, acts as a swansong for Clarkson and his co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond, who both turned down the opportunity to return to the series.

It is predicted to become the highest-rated episode in Top Gear history, beating the audience of 8.35 million who tuned in to see Lewis Hamilton's appearance in December 2007.

Clarkson has recorded a new voiceover for the show, although he was not paid. Hammond and May filmed new links, but without the traditional Top Gear studio audience.








Executive producer Andy Wilman said the compilation was "very sad, absolutely awful to make".

"The films are good but they were never designed to carry this burden of being the last thing you'll ever see from us on Top Gear," Wilman told the Guardian.

"What's quite poignant for me is they are not the most ambitious films we have ever done but by accident they happen to be very strong on camaraderie."

Three episodes of the smash hit motoring show were left unfinished when Clarkson was suspended in March.

Of the two completed segments, one saw the presenters take a road trip across Bsritain in a trio of classic cars: A Fiat 124 Spider, an MGB GT and a Peugeot 304 Cabriolet.

The second instructs the team to purchase an SUV on a £250 budget, before setting off on a series of action-packed challenges.

Clarkson said he would be "watching with a tear in my eye because, my God, it's been one hell of a ride."

But, he added: "I won't miss making a car show - because other broadcasters are available so I don't have to stop doing that."

The old Top Gear team, including Wilman, are expected to take their talents to a rival broadcaster, with streaming services Netflix and Amazon also being touted as a future home for their talents.

However, Chris Evans will take over the BBC brand, and has launched an open audition for co-hosts ahead of the show's relaunch next year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/33304225

[arista]

Yes worth recording on BBC2HD

as at 9PM its CH5HD Big Brother : Back To The 80's

[arista]

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