The Grand Tour
Top Gear’s Greatest Behind The Scenes Moments Told By Script Editor Richard Porter
How The Star In A Reasonably Priced Car Came About
Porter tells us exactly how The Star In A Reasonably Priced Car came about, and it’s quite a shock. Apparently, it was constructed around Bryan Ferry, who was going to be forced to drive a cheap car regardless of his suave reputation.
He explains that the team had a scoring system for how they expected to be good guests. It would sit on the following awards, defined by Porter.
- Drove themselves to the studio. Turning down a chauffeured Merc spoke of a passion for cars, and so it would prove to be with notable self-drivers including Chris Evans, Stephen Fry, Simon Cowell and Jenson Button.
- Hung around afterwards, like Sienna Miller, Steve Coogan and John Prescott.
- Came with a minimal entourage. Roger Daltrey turned up with just one old mate, a plasterer. Top blokes.
- Made themselves at home. Michael Fassbender plonked himself on our tatty sofa as if he was at a mate’s. Matt LeBlanc never wanted to leave, or at least not until we’d concluded a hyper-nerdic conversation about Porsche engines.
- Gave the impression they wanted to be there. An amazing number of stars were fired up about being part of Top Gear. None more so than Tom Cruise.
This is a great read, to be sure, and Mr. Porter is a very clever boy. 🙂