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Top Gear is presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig, an anonymous test driver.

The ninth series of Top Gear premiered on 28 January 2007, having been delayed since October 2006 because of Hammond's car accident in September 2006.

The last episode of series nine was broadcast on 4 March 2007. According to the BBC, Top Gear will return in Fall of 2007.

The original Top Gear was a half-hour show produced by BBC Birmingham that ran from 1977 to 2001. Top Gear magazine is a separate publication produced by BBC Magazines which shares some contributors, editors and features with the TV show including contributions by the presenters themselves.After a period of recording other programmes, Clarkson, along with producer Andy Wilman, successfully pitched a new format for Top Gear to the BBC, and a new series began airing in 2002.

The format incorporated a number of major changes. The show was lengthened to an hour and two new presenters were introduced: Richard Hammond and Jason Dawe, with James May replacing Dawe after the first series. The Stig, an anonymous masked racing driver, was introduced as test driver.

New segments were also added, including "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car", the "Cool Wall", "Car News", "Power Laps" as well as numerous one-off features such as races, competitions and the frequent destruction of caravans.

The programme is filmed at Dunsfold Park, a former airfield in Surrey, where a custom race circuit was built and a large hangar is used for inside filming. A standing studio audience of about 400 people, who apply to the BBC for free tickets, was also included.

Series 9 was scheduled to air on BBC Two from 8 October 2006 and end sometime in November. However, on 20 September 2006 Hammond was seriously injured while driving a jet-propelled drag-racing car at up to 314 mph (502 km/h) for a feature for the show.

The ninth series began airing on 28 January 2007, and footage of Hammond's crash was shown with Hammond's commentary and reaction from the presenters. The first show of the ninth series attracted higher ratings than the finale of Celebrity Big Brother and the final episode of the series getting 8 million viewers — BBC2's biggest ratings for a decade.

At the beginning of Series 8, Hammond introduced a female Labradoodle, the Top Gear Dog. However, she was not featured regularly in series 9.

A special edition of Top Gear - filmed for Red Nose Day 2007 - called Top Gear of the Pops mixed the show's typical format with music and appearances from artists Lethal Bizzle, Travis, Supergrass, and McFly with a challenge to write a song including the words "sofa", "administration" and "Hyundai" and a performance by Clarkson, Hammond and May with Justin Hawkins of a song by Billy Ocean.

Top Gear has been broadcast in other countries either in its original format, in a re-edited version, or (as in the case of the North American version) with specially shot segments in front of the UK audience.

The BBC also broadcasts edited versions of Top Gear on its international BBC World TV channel. Episodes are edited from their original length of one hour to 30 minutes, often leaving dangling references and inconsistencies in the episodes. Additionally, the original order of the episodes is sometimes not kept, so references to un-aired events are even more common. The only footage specially shot for the international version is for the end of each episode, where Clarkson bids his goodbye to BBC World viewers, instead of BBC viewers.

Recently, BBC World has not shown cut versions of the current series, but has resorted to "best of" collections of the previous series. In both cases the BBC World edition mainly features the challenges and races from the normal episodes, with Clarkson's 'stronger' remarks removed. Interviews and "Car of the Year" are generally not shown.

In April 2007, the BBC reported on a Sun story that Top Gear is in talks for creating an American version. The current presenters would remain as hosts, but the programme would focus on American cars and include American celebrities.