The revived series of Top Gear has had a rough ride so far – receiving criticism from former fans of the series in the first episode, and the second instalment seeing a significant ratings drop.
While the launch of the new series with Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc saw 4.3 million tune in, the next episode saw a huge drop to 2.8 million viewers.
Tweeting about the 1.5 million drop in audience figures, former Never Mind the Buzzcocks team captain Phill Jupitus sent a major “hint” to BBC Two.
With Buzzcocks unexpectly cancelled in 2014, Jupitus suggested that the music panel show could help BBC Two recover the lost Top Gear viewership.
He posted: “So Top Gear has lost 1.5m viewers. If only there was a way for @BBCTwo to get 1.5m viewers back. Hint f****** hint. #neverhappen #nmtb.”
While the tweet saw fans of the show become excited about the prospect of a revival, Jupitus followed it up with another message saying it was just “a maths gag”.
Twitter: @jupitusphillipJupitus isn’t the only one who misses Buzzcocks – his fellow team captain Noel Fielding told the Evening Standard: “I miss Phill [Jupitus] a lot and I miss the crew because it was the only proper job I had. I thought that would go on forever and I'd get a clock at the end of it and a handshake.
“Shame that that had to go really. I think out of all the panel shows they should have kept that one. They made an error really. But who am I to say?”
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Chris Evans hit back at reports of Top Gear’s falling ratings earlier this week on Twitter, saying: “Overnight television viewing figures for Top Gear have never been less relevant. Obviously some newspapers prefer to live in the past.”
BBC Two, Sunday, 8pm