Top Gear Live (previously known as the MPH Show) was a supercar motor show. Created as a crossover between the recently relaunched Top Gear and Fifth Gear, it was initially hosted by presenters of both programmes. It was held annually at Earls Court beginning in 2003, later expanding to be also held at the Birmingham NEC from 2005 with the two shows being around one week apart. The show took up either one or two halls at both venues, and there were usually two parts to it: the Exhibition and the Main Show. From 2011 the show was rebranded and relaunched as "Top Gear Live", tying together its close links to the Top Gear television series and with a venue change to ExCeL London. Top Gear Live was later expanded, being used by BBC Worldwide as a brand of touring stadium show.
Exhibition Section Visitors arrive and have the opportunity to take a look at exhibitors' stands. Many are there to advertise a product that they sell (for example there was a 'Shell' stand at MPH '06 advertising Shell V Power) There are also exhibition stands advertising car lease, whilst showing actual cars that can be leased at the stand. These are the likes of the Ferrari Enzo, Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, Ferrari F430 or the Aston Martin DBS V12. There are also a few car manufacturers exhibiting, although not to the scale of the 'Sunday Times Motor Show'. At MPH 2006, Land Rover turned half of the hall into a simulated off-road environment with ramps and severe slopes, on which people could drive the new Land Rover Discovery 3.
There are also VIP enclosures such as 'The Sunday Times' enclosure, or the 'Auto Express' enclosure in which people with VIP tickets can go and enjoy a glass of wine for example. Overall, the exhibition side of the show is very and does not include many car manufacturers.
Main show
The main event is a 90-minute show, which takes up an entire hall and has the audience sitting in stadium-like seating. The show features stunt driving and a catwalk-style presentation of new cars. Also included in the show are the usual team antics, well known from Top Gear and TGT; at MPH 2006 they placed James May in a shopping trolley and pushed him across the hall with a Ford Mustang at 40 mph into huge ten-pin bowling skittles.
There were also 3D presentations during the show; for example MPH 2005, included a virtual and life-size 3D Apache helicopter shooting at a real Lotus Elise as it raced around the arena. Pyrotechnics added live explosions to the display, simulating missile hits and ricochets from gunfire; due to its success, it made a return appearance in 2006. MPH 2006 also included a virtual 3D Hummer being dropped out of an aircraft, shot down by a Tornado jet, and landing in pieces in the ocean. A 3D Gatso Camera/Dragon of the future battled it out with the Stig at MPH 2007.
In 2006, the MPH show was presented by Jeremy Clarkson and James May (Top Gear presenters), and Tiff Needell (Fifth Gear presenter) who was drafted in to cover for Richard Hammond who could not make the show due to a crash. At MPH 2007 the presenters were Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond (then the Top Gear presenters).
Exhibited cars in the MPH 2006 show included the Caparo T1, Pagani Zonda F, Jaguar XKR, Lamborghini LP640, Bentley GTC, Koenigsegg CCX, Spyker C8, Spyker D8, Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, Invicta, and the Porsche Cayenne Magnum black gunsmoke.
Tours YearTitleHostsCountries2003MPH '03Jeremy ClarksonEngland2004MPH '04England2005Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, Tiff Needell2006Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Tiff Needell2007Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Richard Hammond2008England, Ireland2009South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, England, Ireland2010Netherlands, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland2011Top Gear LiveAustralia, South Africa, Norway, Russia, England, Australia2012Russia, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa, England, Finland2013Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Richard HammondRussia, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Poland2014Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Richard HammondScotland, Australia, Russia, Barbados, South Africa, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Italy2015Clarkson, Hammond & May LiveJeremy Clarkson, James May, Richard HammondEngland, Northern Ireland, England, South Africa, Norway, Australia, Poland, England + List of show dates and venues Date City Country Venue2003December 11-14LondonEnglandEarls Court Exhibition Centre2004December 18-21LondonEnglandEarls Court Exhibition Centre2008October 30LondonEnglandEarls Court Exhibition CentreOctober 31November 1November 2November 13BirminghamNational Exhibition CentreNovember 14November 15November 16November 27DublinIrelandRDS SimmoncourtNovember 28November 29November 302009January 29JohannesburgSouth AfricaCoca Cola DomeJanuary 30January 31February 1February 6SydneyAustraliaAcer ArenaFebruary 7February 8February 9February 12AucklandNew ZealandASB ShowgroundsFebruary 13February 14February 15February 19Hong KongHong KongHong Kong Convention and Exhibition CentreFebruary 20February 21February 22November 5LondonEnglandEarls Court Exhibition CentreNovember 6November 7November 8November 12BirminghamNational Exhibition CentreNovember 13November 14November 15December 3DublinIrelandRoyal Dublin SocietyDecember 4December 5December 62010January 21AmsterdamNetherlandsHeineken Music HallJanuary 22January 23January 24January 28Cape TownSouth AfricaGrand ArenaJanuary 29January 30January 31February 4JohannesburgCoca Cola DomeFebruary 5February 6February 7February 11SydneyAustraliaAcer ArenaFebruary 12February 13February 14February 18AucklandNew ZealandASB ShowgroundsFebruary 19February 20February 21November 4LondonEnglandEarles Court Exhibition CentreNovember 5November 6November 7November 11BirminghamNational Exhibition CentreNovember 12November 13November 142011March 3BrisbaneAustraliaBrisbane Entertainment CentreMarch 4March 5March 6March 7March 11MelbourneMelbourne ShowgroundsMarch 12March 13March 14March 17JohannesburgSouth AfricaKyalamiMarch 18March 19March 20March 24OsloNorwayOslo SpektrumMarch 25March 26March 27July 16MoscowRussiaRed SquareJuly 17July 22July 23July 24November 11BirminghamEnglandNational Exhibition CentreNovember 12November 13November 24LondonExCel, LondonNovember 25November 26November 27December 8PerthAustraliaBurswood DomeDecember 9December 102012February 23MoscowRussiaOlympic Stadium (Moscow)February 24February 25March 15StockholmSwedenEricsson GlobeMarch 16March 17March 29CopenhagenDenmarkForum CopenhagenMarch 30March 31April 1June 16DurbanSouth AfricaMoses Mabhida StadiumJune 17October 25BirminghamEnglandNational Exhibition CentreOctober 26October 27October 28November 23HelsinkiFinlandMessukeskus HelsinkiNovember 24November 252013February 22MoscowRussiaOlympic Stadium (Moscow)February 23March 9SydneyAustraliaSydney Motorsport ParkMarch 10April 26AmsterdamNetherlandsZiggo DomeApril 27April 28AntwerpBelgiumSportpaleisJune 15DurbanSouth AfricaMoses Mabhida StadiumJune 16September 21WarsawPolandPGE Narodowy2014January 17GlasgowScotlandOVO HydroJanuary 18January 19March 8SydneyAustraliaSydney Motorsport ParkMarch 9March 25MoscowRussiaOlympic Stadium (Moscow)March 26March 29Saint PetersburgIce Palace (Saint Petersburg)May 17Saint PhilipBarbadosBushy Park CircuitMay 18June 21DurbanSouth AfricaMoses Mabhida StadiumJune 22June 27PragueCzech RepublicO2 Arena (Prague)June 28July 1BudapestHungaryBudapest Sports ArenaJuly 3ZagrebCroatiaArena ZagrebJuly 5TurinItalyPala AlpitourJuly 62015February 13LiverpoolEnglandLiverpool Echo ArenaFebruary 14February 20NewcastleNewcastle Metro Radio ArenaFebruary 21May 22BelfastNorthern IrelandOdyssey ComplexMay 23May 24June 5SheffieldEnglandSheffield ArenaJune 6June 7June 12JohannesburgSouth AfricaWeBuyCars DomeJune 13June 14June 19StavangerNorwaySørmarka ArenaJune 20June 21July 18PerthAustraliaRAC ArenaJuly 19July 25SydneySydney Super DomeJuly 26October 24WarsawPolandPGE NarodowyNovember 27LondonEnglandThe O2 ArenaNovember 28November 29
Notes
References
External links Official MPH 07 Site MPH 07 Exhibitor List MPH Theatrical Show MPH 06 Shopping Trolley Bowling MPH 06 Car Football