The boss behind the reinvention of the new Top Gear series featuring Chris Evans has quit her role as controller of BBC Two and BBC Four, it was revealed today.

Kim Shillinglaw, 47, is leaving and her post will be closed, with Charlotte Moore - who was behind the commissioning of The Great British Bake Off - becoming the new controller of BBC TV and iPlayer.

The pair had vied to take control of the £1billion-plus budget for the broadcaster's main television channels.

There had been claims that married mother-of-two Miss Shillinglaw had been ‘meddling’ in the new series featuring Evans, after she had previously admitted she was 'terrified' at him taking the lead.

Changes: Kim Shillinglaw (left) is leaving her post at the BBC and it will be closed, with Charlotte Moore (right) – who is behind the commissioning of The Great British Bake Off - the new controller of BBC TV and iPlayer

Chris Evans and The Stig: The BBC has insisted filming of the new series of the hit motoring show Top Gear is going ahead as planned, despite reports suggesting that it may not be ready for its launch in May

Her departure comes as the BBC insisted filming of the new series of the hit motoring show is going ahead as planned, despite reports suggesting that it may not be ready for its launch in May.

Miss Shillinglaw, who earns an annual salary of £227,800 at the corporation, said today: ‘I wish the BBC, Mark [Linsey] and Charlotte every success with the many changes BBC TV needs to make.

‘I’ve loved modernising BBC Two and Four over the last two years but when you don’t get the big job it’s time to move on. And I’m looking forward to another big challenge.’

She will leave the BBC within the next six months, with the maximum redundancy payout of £150,000. She was tight-lipped about her next move, but sources said she had several job offers.

As well as Miss Shillinglaw being tasked with the relaunch after Jeremy Clarkson left Top Gear, BBC Two also recently announced that Robot Wars would be returning after a 13-year absence.

And speaking at a Bafta event in April last year, she was quoted by the Guardian as saying that BBC Two needed ‘fresh ideas and renewal right across the landscape’ of the schedule.

On paper, the two women have similar credentials: they were both born in 1969, studied history, and married men in their industry before settling in Shepherd’s Bush, West London. In reality, however, they cut very different figures.

Miss Shillinglaw, 47, is the more divisive. She collects animal bones, wears leather jackets and ‘speaks in plain English instead of BBC-speak’, according to sources. She famously described her viewers as ‘punks at heart’, even though their average age is over 60. ‘She’s brave, direct and insightful,’ said Jay Hunt, director of television at Channel 4.

Miss Hunt, who was controller of BBC1 until 2010, added: ‘I thought she’d be a great channel controller one day. It seems a shame that we will now not get to see what she would have made of BBC2. She’s not had time to make her mark.’

New host: Evans (left) is taking over Top Gear from Jeremy Clarkson (right) whose job presenting the hit BBC motoring programme ended following a fracas with a producer

However, others paint Miss Shillinglaw as a sharp-elbowed micro-manager, and blame her for the unravelling of Top Gear. Miss Shillinglaw was in charge of reinventing the show following Jeremy Clarkson’s departure, but insiders claim she has been ‘meddling’, sparking a series of bust-ups and prompting its production chief to quit.

Miss Moore is a favourite of director-general Lord Tony Hall, partly thanks to the success of programmes such as Poldark and Great British Bake Off. Some tip her as a director-general – the first woman in that role. However, friends say she is keen to return to programme-making at some point, rather than climbing relentlessly up the corporate ladder.

The BBC will not disclose her new salary until later this year, but Lord Hall said the shake-up would help the corporation save money. When Miss Moore takes up her new post later this month, it will be the first time in 50 years that the BBC has not had controllers for its two main channels.

Last August, Miss Shillinglaw said she was 'really excited' about the next series of the hit motoring show with Evans as host - which she added would be 'really different'.

CV: KIM SHILLINGLAW Age : 47

Salary : £227,800

Personal life : Married to TV producer Steve Condie, 51, with two children

Education : Holland Park Comprehensive in West London and Oxford University

Current job : BBC Two and BBC Four controller, responsible for 'creative and strategic direction’ since April 2014

Previous role : BBC commissioning editor for science and natural history

Former workplaces : Observer Films, ITV, Channel 4, BBC News, Newsnight Miss Shillinglaw, who was part of the team behind the first series of Horrible Histories, has also become known for Wolf Hall, Meet the Ukippers and the Great Pottery Throw Down. She has also been credited with pushing more edgy documentaries such as Britain’s Jihadi Brides and getting more science on BBC TV. But more controversially, she has also been working on the new Top Gear, amid claims by an insider that her 'reputation as a meddler' had seen her become ‘a bit of a nightmare'. Miss Shillinglaw, who met her husband while working on Newsnight, is expected to consider where she will work next during her six-month notice period at the corporation. Advertisement

CV: CHARLOTTE MOORE Age : 47

Job : BBC One controller, responsible for 'strategy' since June 2013

Salary : £264,000 (total remuneration £268,800)

Personal life : Married with two children

Education : Bristol University

Previous role : Acting controller of BBC daytime television

Former workplace s : IWC Media, Ideal World Productions, BBC Documentaries Mrs Moore held - and will still hold - one of the most important posts in British TV, and is now responsible for the £1billion budget for all the corporation’s TV channels. She is known for being the brains behind the commissioning of The Great British Bake Off, but also attracted scorn in 2014 for spending six nights at luxury Los Angeles hotel Sunset Marquis at a cost of almost £1,200. Mrs Moore was staying there for the LA Screenings where hundreds of top TV buyers from across the world arrive in California to watch the US networks' new shows and potentially buy the international rights to them. The corporation said at the time that 'value for money is always a priority'. Mrs Moore joined the BBC in 2006, having worked in independent production since the 1990s. Advertisement

Speaking in front of an audience at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, the chief from West London also said that Clarkson's controversial departure from Top Gear was 'very, very sad'.

When asked about the new series with Evans at the helm, Miss Shillinglaw said she was 'so excited and of course terrified', adding: 'You don't quite know what's going to happen next.’

Changes for the next series include the track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey being 'super-sized'.

Miss Shillinglaw also said that she will always be 'fond' of Clarkson and his former co-stars James May and Richard Hammond, adding: 'For me, I think it was a very sad episode in lots of ways.’

Clarkson’s job presenting the show ended last year after he punched show producer Oisin Tymon. Clarkson is currently filming a new motoring show for Amazon Prime alongside May and Hammond.

This week May accused the BBC of double standards after it aired a celebration of the years in which Clarkson fronted Top Gear only months after he was sacked. May said it was also unfair on Evans to air the two-part Christmas special.

He told Radio Times: ‘The BBC may have ruled me out, but I don’t rule out the BBC. I was surprised they showed lots of Top Gear compilations over Christmas. I thought, “Oh, so now they’re celebrating us,” but I also thought it’s harsh on Chris Evans.’

Fresh material: Clarkson is currently filming a new motoring show for Amazon Prime alongside his former co-stars James May (left) and Richard Hammond (right)

It was also claimed this week that the relaunch ‘has stalled’, but a BBC spokesman denied there were problems, insisting: ‘Filming on Top Gear continues as planned and on schedule.’

Pictures published last weekend appeared to show Evans looking unwell, wearing a white helmet and holding his glasses as he was bent over on the track, watched by the show's crew.

A report in The Sun claimed Evans felt ill after a fast drive in an Audi R8 V10 with his rumoured co-presenter Sabine Schmitz in California.

Last week, former F1 driver David Coulthard was confirmed as a presenter for Channel 4's F1 coverage, ending speculation he had been set to join the BBC Two presenting team with Evans.

When you don’t get the big job it’s time to move on. And I’m looking forward to another big challenge Kim Shillinglaw, controller of BBC One and Four

In December, reports suggested motoring journalist Chris Harris would be joining the presenting line-up. There was also news of the exit of executive producer Lisa Clark.

She said she was leaving Top Gear after five months on the show, insisting she was ‘moving on to new projects’, and adding: ‘I'd like to wish production all the very best with the show.’

The BBC issued a statement thanking her for her ‘incredible work for the last five months readying new Top Gear for its busy filming schedule in 2016 and planned return in May’.

At the Television Critics Association winter press tour in California last week, Evans admitted rebuilding the show, which makes £150million a year for the BBC, has been a ‘baptism of fire’.

Meanwhile Mrs Moore, who currently earns £268,800 as the head of BBC One, will become the new controller of TV channels and iPlayer - a newly created role that is part of a wider reorganisation across the corporation.

The role will see Mrs Moore - who brought Mary Berry’s Bake Off to BBC One - take the creative, editorial and strategic lead for BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and BBC iPlayer.

She said: ‘I’m honoured to lead the BBC’s channel portfolio into the future at such a significant time. The creative opportunities this new approach brings will ensure the BBC keeps pace with our rapidly changing media industry.

‘It is more important than ever for audiences and programme makers that we have a clearly defined sense of purpose for each channel to ensure we deliver even higher quality and more distinctive content.’

She will now effectively be responsible for about £1billion of licence fee money decision-making, according to the Guardian. Mrs Moore will report to the acting director of television, Mark Linsey and will start her new remit on January 25.

Mr Linsey said the role would ‘allow her to take a view across channels to drive distinctiveness, quality and risk-taking even further, whilst offering a single point of contact for programme makers and ensuring audiences get the best programmes, however and wherever they choose to watch’.

During one of her earlier roles as the BBC’s commissioning editor of documentaries, she was behind successful documentaries such as Terry Prachett’s Choosing To Die - which dealt with assisted suicide.