Top Gear: BBC entertainment boss Alan Tyler ‘really pleased’ with performance of Chris Evans’ episodes

The viewing figures on Sunday night were the weakest yet for the new series
'Performing brilliantly': BBC entertainment boss Alan Tyler is pleased with the series' viewing figures
BBC
Ben Travis21 June 2016

The return of Top Gear minus original presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May has proved a mixed bag.

The rebooted series led by Chris Evans was initially met with some criticism from viewers, while viewing figures for the most recent episode fell to 2.3 million on Sunday night – the smallest number since the new series began.

However, despite the falling ratings, BBC acting controller of entertainment commissioning Alan Tyler has praised and defended the ‘performance’ of the recent episodes.

“We are four episodes into the new Top Gear era with its new presenting line up, and remain really pleased with the way the series is performing,” he explained.

“[Sunday] night's episode was another great watch and yet again was easily the biggest show of the day on BBC Two.

“Being up against a major sporting event is always tough and that is partly why the series is performing so brilliantly on catch up and BBC iPlayer.”

Chris Evans has taken to Twitter to defend the show, claiming that iPlayer has significantly increased the overall viewing figures for each episode following their TV debut.

While his second episode only pulled in 2.8 million viewers on the Sunday, by Tuesday June 14 the figures including catch-up and iPlayer raised the overall number to 6.2 million.

BBC Two, Sunday, 8pm

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