Top Gear new series 2016: We're live as Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc take over the BBC show

Join us for the first episode of what could prove to be a short-lived Top Gear revamp

Top Gear returns on BBC Two at 8pm tonight under new stewardship. But how can Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc top the antics of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, by firing a Reliant Robin into space? By competitively downing leaded petrol? By just straight up shooting some foreigners?

“This whole competition thing is hilarious, it’s not just me being a diplomat,” Evans insisted earlier this week.

“They do what they do and we do what we do, which is some of what they used to do [on Top Gear]. We would be stupid to throw away the masterpieces and formats and production values that they brought to the table.

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“If you inherit an old building, like a castle or something, you don’t knock it down, you say where does it leak and you fix it. Basically we put a glass roof on it.”

It remains to be seen if this glass roof is enough to win over the show's ardent fan base, especially given the rumours that some audience members got bored and walked out during filming.

Joining Evans and LeBlanc as hosts are F1 commentator Eddie Jordan, world record-breaking German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, car reviewer and TV presenter Rory Reid, YouTube star Chris Harris and long-serving race driver, the Stig.