The boys are back

Yes, it’s official: Top Gear is back for Christmas, and we’re heading to India. Tune in on BBC2 and BBC HD at 8pm on 28 December. We’ll have more news for you later, but now over to big boss Andy Wilman for a few words on what you can expect…  

The backbone of the Top Gearspecials has always been the toughness of the challenge, from the frozen North Pole to the desolate salt pans of Botswana to the jungles and mountains of South America. But, this year, we’ve taken on our biggest challenge of all: sorting out the British economy.

Let me explain. A few months ago, Mr Cameron said our nation must become a favoured trading partner of India: currently, we do more business with Ireland than with this country of 1.2 billion people. Top Gear, we thought, could help solve this problem with a trade mission, flying the flag for UKPLC. Our plan was to drive across India, drumming up interest in British goods, advertising the peerless standards of British skills, British nous, British Britishness. We would make the Indians think: “No, we shall not buy mayonnaise from Belgium, but Angel Delight and Kendal Mint Cake from the British.”

Usually, on Top Gear challenges, we give ourselves a pitiful budget of a couple of hundred quid for each car. But, this time, Britain’s reputation was at stake. We couldn’t be seen sitting in a puddle of engine oil by the side of the road. You don’t see Prince Andrew cracking out the spanners on his foreign visits.