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Philip Glenister is being lined up to join Top Gear.

The Life on Mars actor - who has appeared in the star in a reasonably priced segment of the show before - is reportedly in line to replace sacked Jeremy Clarkson as the BBC hope to save the show from the axe.

Glenister is currently hosting For the Love of Cars on Channel 4, where he restores classic cars with the help of designer Ant Anstead.

It is this presenting experience that insiders claim has meant the BBC has decided he's the perfect man for the job.

"Philip is a real man’s man, so we know he will appeal to the viewers who tuned in because they liked Jeremy," an insider told The Sun.

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"But we also know he has a lot of credibility because he is a genuine car fanatic, and is clearly very comfortable talking about them."

Spokesman for both the BBC and Glenister did not return a comment to the publication.

While Clarkson's forced exit has meant the future of the show is in crisis, it's been good news for the repeats.

Tiny digital station Dave - the only UK channel still screening the motoring show - has received a huge ratings boost since his exit.

Dave’s viewing figures have enjoyed a 50% rise - gaining tens of thousands of extra viewers - since BBC executives took the show off-air last month.

It has been screening old episodes - including the Burma and Indian specials - up to ten hours a day - under the tag: “The only place to watch Top Gear.”

(Image: Reuters)

Fans suffering Top Gear withdrawal symptoms have helped ratings soar in recent weeks - in what jubilant Dave insiders have dubbed “The Clarkson Factor”.

It’s prime-time 8pm screenings have become the most watched digital programme after Sky Sports’ football coverage.

Friday night’s Top Gear episode enjoyed a 46 per cent boost in ratings in its time slot, to 400,000 according to official figures.

Before the show was dropped from BBC 2, Dave’s repeats were attracted around 300,000 viewers - now, the episode screened in Top Gear’s old Sunday night slot is regularly pulling between 460,000 and 500,000 fans.

A source at the station, which is half-owned by BBC Worldwide, said: “We are getting more and more viewers tuning into to get a fix of Top Gear - it just goes to show how popular this show is that these repeats are proving hugely popular.

“It seems a lot of people are desperately missing Clarkson and co on the telly and so are turning to our episodes. This is especially true on Sunday nights.”

“There is an extensive Top Gear back catalogue which we have access to. We hope to keep fans of the show happy for a long time to come.”

As a response to Dave’s Top Gear-fuelled ratings bonanza, BBC 3 will be screening episodes from Series 17 - first aired in 2011 - on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7pm.

Tonight’s 8pm Top Gear on Dave - available on Sky and Freeview - dates from February 2103 and features Clarkson in a Shelby Mustang GT500 racing his colleagues - who take the train - to Milan.

(Image: PA)

Earlier shows from Series 19 - also screened in 2013 - feature Wolf Hall star Damian Lewis and Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood drummer Mick Fleetwood as the Stars in a Reasonably Priced Car.

Meanwhile, as Dave enjoys a ratings boom,Top Gear’s Sunday night slot has seen viewing figures slide from 5m to just 1m since the show was taken off air after 55-year-old Clarkson was suspended over a fracas involving producer Oisin Tymon, 36.

BBC chiefs have since not renewed his contract - while his co-stars James May, 52, and Richard Hammond, 45, are also out of contract.

Sources have revealed that there is enough unused footage to edit into two final progammes - executives are now considering whether it will ever been screened.

Clarkson, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday with close friends and family at his home in Oxfordshire, has hinted that he is considering going to make programmes for Netflix in the US - as the Sunday Mirror exclusively revealed last week.

Meanwhile, it has been claimed he put the brake on his Have I Got News For You appearance because he feared being “slaughtered” by Paul Merton and Ian Hislop.

(Image: PA / BBC)

BBC executives gave the go ahead for the 54-year-old to front the satirical news quiz - despite his Top Gear contract not being renewed.

However, within hours, BBC insiders claimed, Clarkson carried out a U-turn and changed his mind about hosting the show, due to be aired on May 7.

A source claimed he’d had “second thoughts” after recalling the stick Angus Deayton had received from his fellow panellists in 2002 over allegations linking him to hookers and cocaine.

“Basically Angus got slaughtered and Clarkson suddenly realised he would be in the firing line himself. He would be in a no-win situation.

“He knew he couldn’t expect an easy ride from Ian and Paul and would be held up to ridicule. He maybe felt it wasn’t worth the hassle.

“In the cold light of day he decided it would be a wise move to pull out of the show and wait until the dust has settled later in the year before going onto the show.

“His decision came as quite a shock to BBC bosses - because they’d only just given the go ahead for him to appear and had gone public with it.”

Clarkson was suspended by the BBC for allegedly attacking Tymon at a Yorkshire hotel on 4 March in a row over cold food.

(Image: Barcroft / PA)

But, a BBC spokesman confirmed that he isn’t banned from appearing on the BBC and his HIGNFY appearance had been cleared at the highest level.

Clarkson, who has hosted the show on two previous occasions, is set to appear with Top Gear colleagues James May and Richard Hammond at a series of live performances organised before he left the show

A BBC spokesman confirmed that Clarkson would not now be fronting the show on May 7.

Neither Clarkson, nor his spokesman, was available for comment.