THE new version of Top Gear is reportedly in crisis, with a catalogue of recent setbacks leaving BBC executives panicked at the prospect of the world’s biggest motoring show becoming car crash television.

New host Chris Evans, an experienced broadcaster and car enthusiast, was hailed as a hero for “rescuing” Top Gear after Jeremy Clarkson was sacked for punching a producer, leading co-stars Richard Hammond and James May to leave as well.

But six months on, things aren’t looking quite so rosy.

“When Chris was hired it was like the problem of what to do with Top Gear after Clarkson left had been solved. But the problems keep on coming,” said one insider.

There was trouble from the very beginning.

“The first time Chris went around the Top Gear track he crashed the car,” an insider recalled. “Unfortunately for him, it was a brand new Jag that had been lent to the show.”

Just five months in, Top Gear’s well-respected executive producer Lisa Clark left, and she was followed out the door by script editor Tom Ford. The shock departures came amid claims BBC bosses were piling the pressure on Evans — who had insisted on taking an executive producer role — to deliver, while “meddling” in editorial decisions.

BBC2 controller Kim Shillinglaw has reportedly become the “nightmare” chief meddler. She was put in the role last year by former director of television Danny Cohen, who had fallen out with Clarkson, and made revamping Top Gear her top priority.

BBC executives have pointed to the damage done to the show after Clarkson was sacked in March and want the focus to again be on its content.

“Kim has been central to everything that is happening. Generally, she has a reputation as a meddler,” a source said.

“The show has had to become a lot more PC following the Clarkson row. There is less leeway to do out-there stuff and Kim has become a bit of a nightmare.”

Her relationship with Evans, who is known for being a control freak, has also come under the spotlight. Shillinglaw once admitted the “unpredictable” star taking over has host left her “terrified”. To some, it has become a battle of egos.

“In the old days Clarkson and (executive producer) Andy Wilman were left to get on with the show and that’s what Chris wants too,” one source said.

“Everything he’s done before has essentially been about him and everyone else has had to fall in line. But the BBC had their fingers burned that way and want a bigger say. They have too much at stake.

“Shows like TFI Friday (Evans’ TV talk show) were created by Chris, but Top Gear is an established brand. It should be bigger than any of its presenters.”

Speaking of Evans’ other show, TFI Friday also been a sticking point. BBC executives were reportedly exasperated that he agreed to front the ten-part series alongside Top Gear and his daily breakfast radio show, and forced him to walk away from it. When Evans indicated he wanted to do another series of TFI, the BBC said he couldn’t.

“When he was also working on TFI, Chris struggled to get to every Top Gear production meeting but still wanted to be fully across how the format was developing,” one source said. “Whatever was said about the old Top Gear, it ran like a well-oiled machine.”

Evans told how full-on his schedule had become in a magazine column last month. In it he described the “craziest day” of his life, when he worked for 26 hours non-stop.

BBC insiders say with TFI out of the picture Evans, who they feared was spreading himself too thin, will have more time to focus on Top Gear.

BBC bosses are said to be “highly unhappy” with what they have seen from early production of Top Gear’s initial run of eight episodes, although they’ve publicly denied it.

One source close to the show reportedly suggested pre-production had been “more Tiswas than Top Gear”, referring to the Saturday morning British children’s TV series.

“They’ve brought in a production team that doesn’t know anything about cars. Writers from Top Gear magazine have had to be called over to suggest ideas.”

“Chris has struggled to get his head around prerecorded videos, which is mostly what Top Gear is,” another source said. “Unfortunately, when you come to plan all this stuff, it can’t be done on the fly.”

There are also claims production has slipped behind schedule, with only a couple of sequences shot at Top Gear’s home at Dunsfold aerodrome, Surrey.

One toe-curling incident recounted by insiders concerned Evans recording a 12-page monologue for the cameras, before BBC bosses decided it was “totally unusable”.

Evans has even taken to making announcements about the show before telling his paymasters — another sore point.

They were angered last month when he revealed Top Gear would return on May 8, giving rivals a crucial five-month heads-up.

And he announced on Radio 2 that viewers would be able to audition to be presenters, which also took executives by surprise.

A BBC insider said: “Bosses have been left open-mouthed by some of the announcements Chris has been making. Giving away the exact start date months before is a complete no-no, as it gives rivals the chance to try to damage the show.

“People at the BBC who should be in the loop have been finding stuff out from Chris on the radio, on Twitter, or when he is a guest on other shows.”

The presenting line-up is also fairly underwhelming. News that former Formula One star David Coulthard, German motor racing driver Sabine Schmitz and journalist Chris Harris would be joining did not excite fans.

The appointments came after bigger names, including Zoe Ball, Jodie Kidd and Suzi Perry, were linked to the show before ruling themselves out. But for those who know Evans, the low-profile line-up was no surprise.

“Chris is always the boss of the show. He doesn’t want anyone to be bigger than him,” one said.

During a trip to southern France in October, Evans told how he had been considering whether or not to have co-stars.

“I’m on my own, so do I form a band or not?” he said.

He was taken to France by the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, to meet global broadcasters. Maintaining an international foothold is vital for Top Gear, which is the BBC’s biggest global brand with sales of the TV show, DVDs, books, live shows and other merchandise worth more than £50 million ($101 million) a year. BBC sources fear Evans is a complete unknown outside the UK.

Clarkson, Hammond and May may no longer be on Top Gear, but they are still vying for the same viewers. While Top Gear’s schemes play out in public, they are busy preparing their new rival big-budget show for Amazon — and crowing about how little interference they get from their latest masters.

Along with the lack of outside pressure, the team also has cash, and lots of it, with a budget reported to be at £4 million ($8.1 million) an episode — ten times that of Top Gear’s.

Altogether they have been handed £160 million ($323 million) to create three series of 12 episodes, more than double the amount Netflix paid for two seasons of hit US political drama House of Cards. They have started filming, recording a scene in central London in Reliant Robins and visiting Portugal in October to race three of the world’s most expensive supercars.

They also have more time on their hands, with their show expected to launch around September. However, knowing the proposed transmission date for Top Gear has given them another advantage, and they are primed to unveil a “taster” version of their lavishly funded show to run in the days leading up to Top Gear’s debut.

One Amazon executive said: “We’re not in the business of sabotage but why should we give them a free run?”

Evans does have the support of a former Stig, at least. Ben Collins, who was the mysterious man behind the helmet from 2003-11, says Top Gear was already running out of steam before Jeremy Clarkson was sacked.

“I think there are very few formats that survive. It’s usually three or four years max. Top Gear had that format for about 12 or 13 years so it was a very long time and I think that definitely everyone gets to come back with something different,” Collins told BANG Showbiz.

“It was an absolute riot coming up with this off wall stuff but it’s very hard to be new and innovating when you’re producing that many shows every year and the audience becomes wise to your tricks and they expect more with bigger and better all the time and it does become very hard.”

Viewers will get to make their own mind up when the new series airs.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.