Top gear is the most entertaining car show to ever appear on australian television. The original top gear was launched in the uk in 2002 - has now filmed 11 series, each featuring 6 - 8 episodes to an estimated global audience of 385 million. Based on the large and loyal base of local fans and fanatics and a long term commitment to the show, sbs commissioned a completely aussie version of the format that commenced on air end of september. The first episode had a viewing audience of 1.3 million people - the highest ever rating for a locally produced show in the history of sbs.