We shouldn’t be surprised by an explosive parting of the ways, but Jeremy Clarkson and the BBC were always heading in different directions, says Matt Joy.

Hopefully some of you out there are old enough to remember Top Gear in the days before it was the mighty colossus it is now; yes, there really was Top Gear BC. Having started out as a regional programme created by BBC Midlands in the late 1970s, it went national and took on a Thursday evening slot on BBC2.

I remember it well, because as a snotty schoolboy it was my weekly dose of motoring. I didn’t know any better at the time, of course, but 1980s-era Top Gear was worthy but dull. Hosted in trademark metronomic style by William Woollard, with others such as Frank Page, Chris Goffey and Tiff Needell among others chipping in, excitement was delivered in small bursts as long as it was surrounded by something sensible about fuel prices and crash testing.

This all changed when Jeremy Clarkson turned up. Until then he was relatively unheard of, but those who were familiar with his columns and articles in Performance Car magazine knew he had a tremendous wit and a gift for skewering anything below par. Although it took him a little while to build up a head of steam, his pieces soon became the highlight of the weekly show.

Then we had Top Gear MkII (the facelifted version, if you like), cooked up by Clarkson and long-time producer-cum-collaborator Andy Wilman. It wasnot until James May arrived in series two that the formula really started to pay off.

The rest should have been history, of course, but now everything has changed. The BBC have committed to a new series next year, but who will present it? Whether James May and Richard Hammond will return remains to be seen, but chances are they won’t. The vast majority of the production team will remain, and Top Gear v3 will have all the same beautiful camera work, direction and polish that made it such a visual treat. It was a pro-duct created by a huge team of talented people, not just the three that were in front of the cameras.

Unfortunately the fact it will no longer have one or even possibly all three of its original presenters means some people won’t tune in. It doesn’t matter if it’s just as good or if the new presenters are terrific; for many viewers it’s not Top Gear without JC and company.

But don’t think that a re-birth on another channel will be just like the good old days, either. You could parachute Clarkson, Hammond and May onto another channel overnight and give them a silly budget to play with, but I guarantee it won’t be a patch on the BBC Top Gear format. Try one of Clarkson’s Christmas DVDs if you don’t believe me.

All good things must come to an end, and the worst part about the denouement of this particular episode is not so much that it’s all over, but the manner in which it occurred. Here’s hoping Jeremy Clarkson doesn’t try another chat show …